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AFF 2013: Day Four
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AFF 2014: Day Six

AFF 2014: Day Five

by Zack Miller on September 15, 2014

Today was it: the big day. I may have soldiered through six screenings on day three, including an impenetrable and self-satisfied Godard, but day five boasted the most leg-numbing film of the festival: Nuri Bilge Ceylan’s 196-minute Palme d’Or winner “Winter Sleep.”

I decided to ease myself in with a repeat screening of some short films from earlier in the festival. The shorts programs always have some great local talent on display – this time I was impressed with the exquisitely lensed “Father” from Jordan Tannahill and Robert Gray’s Super 8 split-screen romance “Zack & Luc.” My favorite, though, was “54 Hours,” an animated retelling of a 1914 seal hunting disaster in Newfoundland. The stunning visuals are eerily silhouetted in a style similar to “Feral,” a nominee for Best Animated Short at last year’s Academy Awards. I spoke with one of the directors, Paton Francis, after the short. He informed me that individual silhouettes were created from archival photographs of each man that was trapped out on the ice; there were 132 of them in total. “54 Hours” is available to stream here.

After a bathroom break and a coffee, I was ready to tackle “Winter Sleep.” It was my first Ceylan film. I had heard two things about his films: that they can be slow, and that they are breathtakingly beautiful. In this case, the slowness only lasted for me until roughly 30 minutes in, when the first in a series of several brilliant dialogue set pieces really keyed me in to Ceylan’s world. The beauty, however, lasted the entire time, and the Anatolia countryside is captured so that it looks both alien and inviting. The film is dense, but I’m eager to revisit it (and more than once) and try to unpack the many themes that it comprises.

Today was also notable in that it offered the first “festival badge of honour” film, as one of the AFF programmers introduced it. These are the films that are far too weird to draw a big crowd and, consequently, far too interesting to miss. Tonight’s badge was awarded to “Alleluia.” Director Fabrice Du Welz has created a nightmarish story of obsession that falls somewhere between “Bonnie & Clyde” and a Park Chan-wook film, and is full of intriguing directorial choices like spontaneous songs, rich colours, frantic editing, and shooting on grainy 16mm film.

Also screening today was “’71,” the visceral military film that takes place during a riot in Belfast. It got raves at TIFF and the word here was also overwhelmingly positive, so I’ll definitely be seeking it out in the future.

Return to AFF 2014 Daily Coverage
(All Features), Atlantic Film Festival 2014, Event Coverage, Features
AFFCannesShort FilmsWinter Sleep
AFF, Cannes, Short Films, Winter Sleep
About the Author
Zack Miller
Zack Miller
Zack is a software developer from Halifax, Nova Scotia moonlighting as a cinephile - until the weekend, when those roles reverse. He can often be found thoughtfully stroking his beard or thoughtfully stroking his cat. Despite remaining in the sitting position almost exclusively, he occasionally makes time to be bent into other shapes during jiu jitsu practice. You can aggresively shout your opinions and objections at him via Twitter or in person (anywhere beer is served).
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AFF 2014: Best of the Fest!

by Zack Miller on September 21, 2014
When you watch enough films in a concentrated period of time, everything can seem like a blur. Film festivals are an amazing opportunity to scope out the best in foreign and domestic cinema, but it’s always good to allow yourself some time afterwards to process the many hours that you spent in the dark with […]
 

AFF 2014: Day Eight

by Zack Miller on September 19, 2014
The 34th Atlantic Film Festival has wound down, and so have I (as it turns out, the “non-drowsy” part of cold medicine isn’t quite as effective after nearly 60 hours of film). Luckily, I was able to soldier through three of my four planned screenings on the final night before finally succumbing to what I’m […]
 

AFF 2014: Day Seven

by Zack Miller on September 17, 2014
Sorry to disappoint all you vicarious festival attendees out there, but today’s films were pretty conventional stories. First, I saw a relationship movie about desire, the importance of communication, and how all take and no give can start to drive a wedge between two people. After that was a standard gangster flick in which a […]
 

AFF 2014: Day Six

by Zack Miller on September 16, 2014
As the festival leaves weekend mode – where days are stacked, top to bottom, with great regional and international features – you may have noticed that I’m allowing myself to decompress a bit by starting my days with a shorts program. Today, that program included an honourable mention for the Best Atlantic Short award, “The […]
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