# 2023 Atlantic International Film Festival

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.
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. 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.

## Awards

| Award | Film | Recipient |
| Gordon Parsons Award for Best Atlantic Canadian Feature | The King Tide | Christian Sparkes |
| Best Atlantic Canadian Director | Sweetland | Christian Sparkes |
| Joan Orenstein & David Renton Award for Outstanding Performance in Acting | Mother's Skin | Briar Ainslie |
| Joan Orenstein & David Renton Award for Outstanding Performance in Acting | 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

| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
| Flora and Son | Flora and Son | John Carney | United States, Ireland |
| The Queen of My Dreams | The Queen of My Dreams | Fawzia Mirza | Canada |
| Sweetland | Sweetland | Christian Sparkes | Canada |

### Reel East Coast Shorts

| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Province |
| Escape the Usual | Escape the Usual | Colby Conrad | Nova Scotia |
| Evelyn | Evelyn | Millefiore Clarkes | Prince Edward Island |
| Father Archie | Father Archie | Todd Fraser | New Brunswick |
| The Healing Jar | The Healing Jar | Andreas Cass | Newfoundland and Labrador |
| Hebron Relocation | Hebron Relocation | Holly Anderson | Newfoundland and Labrador |
| Mother's Skin | Mother's Skin | Leah Johnston | Nova Scotia |
| Slay | Slay | Kevin Hartford | Nova Scotia |

### Narrative New Waves

| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
| Backspot | Backspot | D. W. Waterson | Canada |
| Banel & Adama | Banel et Adama | Ramata-Toulaye Sy | France, Senegal, Mali |
| Boca Chica | Boca Chica | Gabriella Athena Moses | Dominican Republic |
| Doubles | Doubles | Ian Harnarine | Canada |
| Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person | Vampire humaniste cherche suicidaire consentant | Ariane Louis-Seize | Canada |
| I Used to Be Funny | I Used to Be Funny | Ally Pankiw | Canada |
| In Flames | In Flames | Zarrar Kahn | Canada |
| Richelieu | Richelieu | Pier-Philippe Chevigny | Canada |
| Seagrass | Seagrass | Meredith Hama-Brown | Canada |
| The Settlers | Los Colonos | Felipe Gálvez Haberle | Chile, Argentina, France, Denmark, United Kingdom, Taiwan, Sweden, Germany |
| With Love and a Major Organ | With Love and a Major Organ | Kim Albright | Canada |

### 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 | La Chimera | Alice Rohrwacher | Italy, France, Switzerland |
| Close to You | 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 | Fitting In | Molly McGlynn | Canada |
| The King Tide | The King Tide | Christian Sparkes | Canada |
| Monster | 怪物 | Hirokazu Kore-eda | Japan |
| The Old Oak | The Old Oak | Ken Loach | United Kingdom, France, Belgium |
| Perfect Days | Perfect Days | Wim Wenders | Japan |
| The Promised Land | Bastarden | Nikolaj Arcel | Denmark |
| Red, White & Brass | Red, White & Brass | Damon Fepulea'i | New Zealand |
| Seven Veils | Seven Veils | Atom Egoyan | Canada |
| Suze | Suze | Dane Clark, Linsey Stewart | Canada |
| Tautuktavuk (What We See) | Tautuktavuk (What We See) | Carol Kunnuk, Lucy Tulugarjuk | Canada |
| Tótem | Tótem | Lila Avilés | Mexico, Denmark, France |
| Who's Yer Father? | Who's Yer Father? | Jeremy Larter | Canada |

### Late Night Visions

| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
| Deliver Us | Deliver Us | Cru Ennis, Lee Roy Kunz | United States |
| Raging Grace | Raging Grace | Paris Zarcilla | United Kingdom |
| Red Rooms | Les Chambres rouges | Pascal Plante | Canada |

### Classics Restored & In Focus

| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
| The Grand Seduction | The Grand Seduction | Don McKellar | Canada |
| John and the Missus | John and the Missus | Gordon Pinsent | Canada |
| Life Classes | Life Classes | William D. MacGillivray | Canada |
| The Mother and the Whore | La maman et la putain | Jean Eustache | France |

### Documentaries

| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
| Against the Tide | Against the Tide | Sarvnik Kaur | India |
| Analogue Revolution: How Feminist Media Changed the World | Analogue Revolution: How Feminist Media Changed the World | Marusya Bociurkiw | Canada |
| Celestial Queer: The Life, Work and Wonder of James MacSwain | Celestial Queer: The Life, Work and Wonder of James MacSwain | Sue Johnson, Eryn Foster | Canada |
| The Elephant 6 Recording Co, | 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 | In the Quiet and the Dark | Nance Ackerman | Canada |
| Innocence | Innocence | Guy Davidi | Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Israel |
| Invisible Beauty | Invisible Beauty | Bethann Hardison, Frédéric Tcheng | United States |
| Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe | 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 | A Quiet Girl | Adrian Wills | Canada |
| Smoke Sauna Sisterhood | Savvusanna sõsarad | Anna Hints | Estonia, France, Iceland |
| Someone Lives Here | Someone Lives Here | Zack Russell | Canada |
| Songs of Unama'ki | Songs of Unama'ki | Dawn Wells, Jeff Miller | Canada |
| Stolen Time | Stolen Time | Helene Klodawsky | Canada |
| Swan Song | Swan Song | Chelsea McMullan | Canada |
| Unsyncable | Unsyncable | Megan Wennberg | Canada |

### Shorts

| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
| 6 Minutes per Kilometre | 6 minutes/km | Catherine Boivin | Canada |
| 27 | 27 | Flóra Anna Buda | France, Hungary |
| 48 Hours | 48 Hours | Azadeh Moussavi | Iran |
| All the Days of May | Tous les jours de mai | Miryam Charles | Canada |
| Aphasia | Aphasie | Marielle Dalpé | Canada |
| Atlantis | Atlantis | Zoé Pelchat | Canada |
| Blueberries for Iris | Blueberries for Iris | Zoe Cleland | Canada |
| Carnaval | Carnaval | Justine Martin | Canada |
| Daughter of the Sea | Daughter of the Sea | Nicole Gormley, Nancy Kwon | United States |
| Electra | Electra | Daria Kashcheeva | Czech Republic, France, Slovakia |
| Entrée | Entrée | Akshay Shirke | Canada |
| Favourite Only Child | Favourite Only Child | Juliette Poitras | Canada |
| The Gaze | The Gaze | Stacy Gardner | Canada |
| Gold and Mud | 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 | 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 | In Between | Clara Prévost | Canada |
| In the Garden of Tulips | In the Garden of Tulips | Julia Elihu | United States |
| Joie de vivre | Joie de vivre | Dada | Canada |
| Klette | Klette | Michael Abay | Belgium |
| A Love Letter to Léopold L. Foulem | Lettre d’amour à Léopold L. Foulem | Renée Blanchar | Canada |
| Madeleine | Madeleine | Raquel Sancinetti | Canada |
| Mamita | Mamita | Luis Molinié | Canada |
| Mickey | Mickey | Stevey Hunter | Canada |
| The Miracle | The Miracle | Nienke Deutz | Belgium |
| Miserable Miracle | Miserable Miracle | Ryo Orikas | Canada |
| Miss Campbell: Inuk Teacher | Miss Campbell: Inuk Teacher | Heather Campbell | Canada |
| Mitata (Grandfather) | Mitata (Grandfather) | Desmond Simon | Canada |
| Modern Goose | Modern Goose | Karsten Wall | Canada |
| Nun or Never! | Nun or Never! | Heta Jäälinoja | Finland |
| Payback | Payback | Jesse Harley | Canada |
| The Score 97.9 | The Score 97.9 | Violet Shoshana Pask | Canada |
| Shallots and Garlic | Bawang Merah Bawang Putih | Andrea Nirmala Widjajanto | Canada |
| Signal and Noise | Signal and Noise | Jess Shane, Katie Matthews | Canada |
| The Skates | Les Patins | Halima Ouardiri | Canada |
| Starry-Eyed | 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 | Things Unheard Of | Ramazan Kilic | Turkey |
| Thriving: A Dissociated Reverie | Thriving: A Dissociated Reverie | Nicole Bazuin | Canada |
| Two Apples | Two Apples | Bahram Javahery | Canada |
| The Vacation | The Vacation | Jarreau Carrillo | United States |
| The Waves | The Waves | Young Yumi | South Korea |
| Wolf | Wolf | Kathleen Dorian | Canada |