The 45th Atlantic International Film Festival (AIFF) taking place September 10 to 17, 2025, announced the full program of 108 feature and short films.
Titles include the feature-length debut from critically celebrated Canadian filmmaker Sophy Romvari, Blue Heron; highly anticipated small-town thriller by Andy Hines, Little Lorraine; and Oscar-winner Bill Condon’s musical-thriller Kiss of the Spider Woman starring Jennifer Lopez and Diego Luna closing out the festival.
“We are thrilled to continue to bring ground-breaking Atlantic and World Cinema to Halifax for our 45th edition of the Atlantic International Film Festival,” says Lisa Haller, Director of Programming and interim Executive Director of AIFF. “This year promises innovative, emotional, nostalgic, and diverse stories that our audiences are hungry for.”
The 2025 festival will present four Gala Presentations:
To kick off the festival as the Opening Night Gala, AIFF presents the genre-bending drama SK+TE’KMUJUE’KATIK (At the Place of Ghosts), directed by Bretten Hannam and featuringGlen Gould and Brendan Oakes. The film follows two estranged M’ikmaq brothers who are haunted by a malevolent spirit following their childhood traumas.
From Nova Scotian writer and director Andy Hines, this year’s Atlantic Gala is Little Lorraine. His debut feature-length film, Hines’ Little Lorraine is a compelling small-town drama based on real-life events starring Stephen Amell, Sean Astin, Stephen McHattie, and J Balvin in his acting debut. The film also features music from local East Coast musician Adam Baldwin.
The Reel East Coast Shorts Gala will boast the World Premieres of Wolverine and Little Thunder: An Eel Fishing Story by celebrated Mi’kmaw artist Alan Syliboy (NS) and documentary The Muse directed by Newfoundland filmmaker Wanda Nolan, as well as the Atlantic Canadian Premiere of the affecting drama A Soft Touch by FIPRESCI-winner Heather Young (NS).
Spanning from Brazil to Iceland, the World Cinema program highlights features from around the world, including brand new works from Canadian talents, cinema auteurs, and critically buzz-worthy international films making waves on the festival circuit. Films include the anticipated sophomore feature from Chandler Levack, Mile End Kicks, Joachim Trier’s Cannes Grand Prix winner Sentimental Value, Kelly Reichardt’s The Mastermind starring Josh O’ Connor, Gaby Hoffman, and Alana Haim, and the World Premiere of My Son Came Back to Disappear by Quebecois filmmaker Yan Giroux.
This year’s documentaries line-up will include the World Premiere of Gemini-winner Michèle Hozer’s newest film The Pitch, a David vs Goliath story about the creation of Canada’s first women’s professional soccer league; Oscar-winner and Nova Scotian filmmaker Ben Proudfoot’s dives into a lost archive of film about African leader Kwame Nkrumah in The Eyes of Ghana; John Candy: I Like Me, the heartfelt tribute to Canadian comedy icon directed by Colin Hanks and produced by Ryan Reynolds; and music-focused doc Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery from Ally Pankiw which takes a deep dive into the cultural impact of the all-female music festival.
Narrative New Waves spotlights debut features from around the world and has everything from coming-of-age drama to romantic comedy. Political tensions rise in Nigerian drama My Father’s Shadow directed by emerging director Akinola Ogunmade-Davies Jr.; and the World Premiere directorial debut from actor Amy Trefry, produced by Nova Scotian Katerina Bakolias, with roadtrip romance Vermillion.
AIFF’s Late Night Visions program brings weird, wild, and boundary-pushing films to the big screen, including Honey Bunch from Dusty Mancinelli and Madeleine Sims-Fewer, which follows a woman who wakes from a coma in search of her own memories and is instead confronted by sinister truths about her marriage. The film stars TIFF Rising Star alumna, Grace Glowicki.
Atlantic In Focus: AIFF at 45 will showcase award-winning documentary Shadow Men (NB) from director Renée Blanchar, the 10th anniversary of Stephen Dunn’s cult-classic Closet Monster (NL), the 25th anniversary of Andrea Dorfman’s newly restored Parsley Days (NS), and the 40th anniversary of Kevin Sullivan’s iconic Emmy-winning miniseries Anne of Green Gables (PEI).
The Short Programs of 48 short films include a selection of films from Canada and around the world. The selection includes the World Premieres of Power by award-winning director Jordan Canning and the experimental (For Once I Dreamed of You) by rising Nova Scotian talent Kate Solar, a tender drama about motherhood from Chinese-Canadian filmmaker Giran Findlay Liu with Year of the Dragon, and the award-winning short from Iraqi filmmaker Ali Yahya, Beneath Which River Flows.
Sundance hit Kiss of the Spider Woman, starring Jennifer Lopez and directed by Oscar-winner Bill Condon and based on the stage musical by Terrence McNally, John Kander, and Fred Ebb will close the festival as the Closing Night Gala.
In addition to the selection of films, AIFF offer a series of special events for 2025. In celebration of the 45th milestone, all public industry events this year, which includes 3 days of panels and workshops will be available and open to the public for free.
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