Grab some popcorn now, because time is running out to take in a flick at the 29th annual Atlantic Film Festival.
But don’t fret just yet, because Friday and Saturday offer up a plethora of local, national and international film fare to keep movie buffs satisfied right up until the Empire Theatre’s Closing Night Gala Party. So take programming manager Andrew Murphy’s advice and check out these gems while you can:
First on Murphy’s list of must-sees is Suck, starring Canadian actress Jessica Pare as part of “a vampire rock band.” The film is directed by Rob Stefaniuk, who also appears in Suck alongside the likes of Iggy Pop and Alice Cooper. The screening starts at 7 p.m. Friday in the Oxford Theatre.
Murphy says he’s a huge fan of Ole Bornedal, the director of Danish film Deliver Us From Evil, which plays Friday at 7:10 p.m. in the Park Lane theatre on Spring Garden Road. He called it a “dark film” that is “pretty amazing to watch visually.”
From dark to light, Murphy described Pop Star On Ice as “one of the funniest” films at the festival. It tells the tale of award-wining American figure skater Johnny Weir and rolls Friday at 9:35 p.m., also in Park Lane. “You’re just laughing from start to finish with him.”
The ViewFinders Gala features Irish animated film The Secret of Kells, which will be followed by seven pieces produced locally by young people, including Sprytown: The Real Deal by three Nova Scotians trying “to dispel the stereotypes,” the festival website says. The gala begins at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Oxford Theatre.
Murphy admitted he’s “most excited about closing night” – both the much-anticipated The Trotsky and the after-party at the Shoe Shop and the Seahorse on Halifax’s always hopping Argyle Street. Check out Jay Baruchel starring in The Trotsky on Saturday at 7 p.m., also in the Oxford Theatre.
