FIN Atlantic International Film Festival announces lineup

HALIFAX — Cinema aficionados will get the best of both worlds at this year's hybrid edition of FIN Atlantic International Film Festival.

Last week FIN organizers revealed highlights of the Sept. 16-23 event under the banner of Your festival. Your way, and announced the opening of the online box office on Wednesday.

Due to COVID-19, the 2020 edition was purely an online undertaking, with the side benefit that for the first time, its lineup was available to viewers throughout Atlantic Canada. With gathering restrictions easing in Nova Scotia, the festival is encouraging viewers to return safely to its home base at Cineplex Cinemas Park Lane for its curated collection of East Coast features and shorts as well as highly anticipated releases from across Canada and around the world.

“Sitting at home watching a movie is an act we have all grown very accustomed to, but it certainly does not have the same sensory impact as big-screen excitement,” said FIN executive director Wayne Carter. “The ability to get lost in entertainment and thought is truly the domain of the cinema and we are so happy to be back and to have you with us.”

Following the previously announced Sept. 16 opening gala "Wildhood" by Nova Scotia filmmaker Bretten Hannam, highly awaited Atlantic Canadian films debuting at FIN include actor/ director Shelley Thompson's feature debut "Dawn, Her Dad & the Tractor," Seth Smith's sci-fi nightmare "Tin Can" and the feature film version of the Hadhad family's "Peace By Chocolate" story directed by Jonathan Keijser.

“It's great to be able to have such a strong lineup from Atlantic Canada this year,” said FIN program manager Alex Brundige, offering strong recommendations for P.E.I. filmmaker Adam Perry's crime thriller "A Small Fortune as well as the rewarding variety of the East Coast short film programs.

“We feel very lucky to be able to show such highquality films for our return to theatres. It's going to make it a very special experience.”