The 2023 edition of the Atlantic International Film Festival, the 43rd edition in the event's history, took place from September 14 to 21, 2023 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.[1]
Some screenings at the festival were disrupted by Tropical Storm Lee, but the festival was not cancelled and all affected screenings were rescheduled for another time.[2] Following the conclusion of the official in-person festival, the Atlantic Canadian films from the program were also made available on a dedicated streaming platform for three additional days to help publicize the films in the rest of the region.[2]
Awards
| Award | Film | Recipient |
| Gordon Parsons Award for Best Atlantic Canadian Feature | The King Tide | Christian Sparkes |
| Best Atlantic Canadian Director | Sweetland |
| Joan Orenstein & David Renton Award for Outstanding Performance in Acting | Mother's Skin | Briar Ainslie |
| Who's Yer Father? | Susan Kent |
| Best Atlantic Documentary | Celestial Queer: The Life, Work and Wonder of James MacSwain | Erin Foster, Sue Johnson |
| Best Atlantic Short Documentary | Songs of Unama'ki | Dawn Wells, Jeff Miller |
| Best Atlantic Short Film | Mother's Skin | Leah Johnston |
| Best Atlantic Short Film, Honorable Mention | Father Archie | Todd Fraser |
| Michael Weir Award for Best Atlantic Screenwriting | Sweetland | Christian Sparkes |
| Best Atlantic Cinematographer | Mitata (Grandfather) | Desmond Simon |
| Best Atlantic Editor | The King Tide | Justin Oakey |
| Best Atlantic Original Score | Evelyn | Devon Ross |
Official selections
Gala Presentations
Reel East Coast Shorts
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Province |
| Escape the Usual | Colby Conrad | Nova Scotia |
| Evelyn | Millefiore Clarkes | Prince Edward Island |
| Father Archie | Todd Fraser | New Brunswick |
| The Healing Jar | Andreas Cass | Newfoundland and Labrador |
| Hebron Relocation | Holly Anderson | Newfoundland and Labrador |
| Mother's Skin | Leah Johnston | Nova Scotia |
| Slay | Kevin Hartford | Nova Scotia |
Narrative New Waves
World Cinema
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
| About Dry Grasses | Kuru Otlar Üstüne | Nuri Bilge Ceylan | Turkey, France, Germany, Sweden |
| Anatomy of a Fall | Anatomie d'une chute | Justine Triet | France |
| La Chimera | Alice Rohrwacher | Italy, France, Switzerland |
| Close to You | Dominic Savage | Canada, United Kingdom |
| Days of Happiness | Les Jours heureux | Chloé Robichaud | Canada |
| The Delinquents | Los delincuentes | Rodrigo Moreno | Argentina, Brazil, Luxembourg, Chile |
| Fallen Leaves | Kuolleet lehdet | Aki Kaurismäki | Finland, Germany |
| Fitting In | Molly McGlynn | Canada |
| The King Tide | Christian Sparkes | Canada |
| Monster | 怪物 | Hirokazu Kore-eda | Japan |
| The Old Oak | Ken Loach | United Kingdom, France, Belgium |
| Perfect Days | Wim Wenders | Japan |
| The Promised Land | Bastarden | Nikolaj Arcel | Denmark |
| Red, White & Brass | Damon Fepulea'i | New Zealand |
| Seven Veils | Atom Egoyan | Canada |
| Suze | Dane Clark, Linsey Stewart | Canada |
| Tautuktavuk (What We See) | Carol Kunnuk, Lucy Tulugarjuk | Canada |
| Tótem | Lila Avilés | Mexico, Denmark, France |
| Who's Yer Father? | Jeremy Larter | Canada |
Late Night Visions
Classics Restored & In Focus
Documentaries
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
| Against the Tide | Sarvnik Kaur | India |
| Analogue Revolution: How Feminist Media Changed the World | Marusya Bociurkiw | Canada |
| Celestial Queer: The Life, Work and Wonder of James MacSwain | Sue Johnson, Eryn Foster | Canada |
| The Elephant 6 Recording Co, | C.B. Stockfleth | United States |
| I Lost My Mom | J'ai placé ma mère | Denys Desjardins | Canada |
| In the Quiet and the Dark | Nance Ackerman | Canada |
| Innocence | Guy Davidi | Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Israel |
| Invisible Beauty | Bethann Hardison, Frédéric Tcheng | United States |
| Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe | Robert McCallum | Canada |
| Orlando, My Political Biography | Orlando, ma biographie politique | Paul B. Preciado | France |
| A Quiet Girl | Adrian Wills | Canada |
| Smoke Sauna Sisterhood | Savvusanna sõsarad | Anna Hints | Estonia, France, Iceland |
| Someone Lives Here | Zack Russell | Canada |
| Songs of Unama'ki | Dawn Wells, Jeff Miller | Canada |
| Stolen Time | Helene Klodawsky | Canada |
| Swan Song | Chelsea McMullan | Canada |
| Unsyncable | Megan Wennberg | Canada |
Shorts
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
| 6 Minutes per Kilometre | 6 minutes/km | Catherine Boivin | Canada |
| 27 | Flóra Anna Buda | France, Hungary |
| 48 Hours | Azadeh Moussavi | Iran |
| All the Days of May | Tous les jours de mai | Miryam Charles | Canada |
| Aphasia | Aphasie | Marielle Dalpé | Canada |
| Atlantis | Zoé Pelchat | Canada |
| Blueberries for Iris | Zoe Cleland | Canada |
| Carnaval | Justine Martin | Canada |
| Daughter of the Sea | Nicole Gormley, Nancy Kwon | United States |
| Electra | Daria Kashcheeva | Czech Republic, France, Slovakia |
| Entrée | Akshay Shirke | Canada |
| Favourite Only Child | Juliette Poitras | Canada |
| The Gaze | Stacy Gardner | Canada |
| Gold and Mud | Conor Dooley | United States |
| Human Resources | Ressources humaines | Trinidad Plass, Titouan Tillier, Isaac Wenzek | France |
| I Have No Tears and I Must Cry | Luis Fernando Puente | United States |
| I Promise You Paradise | Paradis | Morad Mostafa | France, Egypt, Qatar |
| In Between | Clara Prévost | Canada |
| In the Garden of Tulips | Julia Elihu | United States |
| Joie de vivre | Dada | Canada |
| Klette | Michael Abay | Belgium |
| A Love Letter to Léopold L. Foulem | Lettre d’amour à Léopold L. Foulem | Renée Blanchar | Canada |
| Madeleine | Raquel Sancinetti | Canada |
| Mamita | Luis Molinié | Canada |
| Mickey | Stevey Hunter | Canada |
| The Miracle | Nienke Deutz | Belgium |
| Miserable Miracle | Ryo Orikas | Canada |
| Miss Campbell: Inuk Teacher | Heather Campbell | Canada |
| Mitata (Grandfather) | Desmond Simon | Canada |
| Modern Goose | Karsten Wall | Canada |
| Nun or Never! | Heta Jäälinoja | Finland |
| Payback | Jesse Harley | Canada |
| The Score 97.9 | Violet Shoshana Pask | Canada |
| Shallots and Garlic | Bawang Merah Bawang Putih | Andrea Nirmala Widjajanto | Canada |
| Signal and Noise | Jess Shane, Katie Matthews | Canada |
| The Skates | Les Patins | Halima Ouardiri | Canada |
| Starry-Eyed | Emma MacCabe | Canada |
| Summer 96 | Été 96 | Mathilde Bédouet | France |
| Summer of 2000 | Été 2000 | Virginie Nolin, Laurence Olivier | Canada |
| Things Unheard Of | Ramazan Kilic | Turkey |
| Thriving: A Dissociated Reverie | Nicole Bazuin | Canada |
| Two Apples | Bahram Javahery | Canada |
| The Vacation | Jarreau Carrillo | United States |
| The Waves | Young Yumi | South Korea |
| Wolf | Kathleen Dorian | Canada |
References