It’s not Cannes, but Atlantic Canada is a hub of film festival activity. Beyond providing the typical starry forum for films and filmmakers, the Maritimes festivals link the local industry with the world film community.

Halifax boasts three international film fests: Peggy’s Festival (a gay and lesbian-themed fest held in June), the mega Atlantic Film Festival (Sept. 23-Oct. 2), and Reel Life: A Women’s Film & Video Festival (Oct. 26-30). Moncton hosts the Festival international du cinema francophone en Acadie (Sept. 16-23), and in Newfoundland, there’s another international film event, the St. John’s International Women’s Film & Video Festival (Oct. 13-16), which turns five this year.

In 1989, when the National Film Board organized a weekend mini-fest to celebrate the prodigious yield of films from Studio D, the groundwork was laid for a women’s film fest in St. John’s. Positive response to the first edition led to the creation in 1990 of a permanent event, replete with public film seminars, a youth program and screenings of 30 productions by Canadians and overseas directors.

Now an annual fixture in the festival firmament, it has presented the Newfoundland premiere of women’s work from both Americas, Europe, Australia, Asia, the Caribbean and Scandinavia. Newfoundland filmmakers’ new work is showcased in the opening-night presentations.

Organized by a volunteer committee on a wafer-thin budget (around $30,000), the non-competitive festival’s popularity is enhanced by the fact that there’s no entry fee (the festival is open to all genres of films, primarily those directed, written or produced by women) and the cost to attend is ‘kept at bargain prices.’

To thank for this emphasis on universality are cochairs and founding organizers, nfb representative Alison Dyer and Dr. Noreen Golfman (a film studies and English prof at Memorial University), abetted by Anne Budgell, Angela Drake, Danine Farquharson and Jeannie O’Brien.

The proposed agenda for the upcoming festival’s fifth edition includes guest filmmakers from Britain and the u.s. as well as Canada, filmmaking workshops and seminars, fun and frolic in the form of a b-movie Midnight Madness, and a public forum on ‘the use of video as a tool for change.’

Among the films selected for this year’s festival is Newfoundland filmmaker Gerry Rogers’ documentary The Vienna Tribunal. Shot in Vienna during the U.N. Conference, it tells the stories of women who testified at the Global Tribunal on Violations of Human Rights.

Rogers discusses the impact of the St. John’s event: ‘Filmmaking in Newfoundland is a growing industry, and government is recognizing this. The film festival gives us visibility at an important time (re: funding), by celebrating and giving profile to the industry on the cusp of the provincial government seeing filmmaking as a viable growth industry.’

In a city where it’s hard to find more than first-run fare, the festival is a godsend to cinephiles. In addition to providing a welcome forum for otherwise unavailable foreign fare, the window for local films is also appreciated. Rogers says the province has such an appetite for homegrown fare that when cbc airs Newfoundland-made programming, half the viewing audience tunes in.

Professional development is also key. Rogers says because access to the ongoing educational programs available in the larger production centers is very expensive for local filmmakers, the workshop component of the schedule offers rare opportunitiesÉand not just for learning. ‘It also affords us networking opportunities. Because we’re so geographically isolated, this aspect of the film festival (access to people from abroad and mainlanders), is so important to us.’

Director Anita McGee is a two-time festival participant. Last year, her Out on a Limb: A Poem by Geraldine Chafe Rubia was screened; this year, McGee’s second project, a short drama entitled The Trunk, will be in the spotlight.

For a relative newcomer like herself, McGee says the festival offers ‘a foot in the door’ and letter of introduction to some of the country’s key players. Among those attending last year’s festival were representatives from Telefilm Canada, Canada Council, the cbc, nfb and a number of production companies. McGee says that sort of exposure could stand her in good stead down the road in terms of seeking funding or coproduction opportunities.

Whether or not it opens doors, Rogers says the wonderful thing about being in the festival is that it allows everyone involved in the local productions to be recognized.

The anticipated indigenous lineup, representing about 20% of the total screenings, also includes: Rosemary House’s short drama Jack and Libby; director Pam Hall’s Under the Knife: Personal Hystories, ‘not a documentary,’ in which 10 women describe hysterectomy experiences; Changing Minds, director Francine Flemming’s doc on the CHANNAL Network; and Sisters of Influence: A West Coast Mission, a documentary from director Dana Warren and dop Sheilagh O’Leary examining the accomplishments of a Newfoundland mission set up by four young sisters on its 100th anniversary.

Women’s Reel Vision film and video collective, a group which formerly did some programming for the Atlantic Festival, went solo last year with Halifax’s first women’s film fest. About 40 films were screened and guest filmmakers from other parts of Canada and Norway were invited to join in the celebration.

‘The fact that we do this (presenting film and video of all genres made by women) means a lot more women’s films are being seen,’ says Reel Life co-ordinator Karen Vance-Wallace. The experience, she says, also helps women develop their film and video skills.

Reel Life’s educational component is a series of video workshops helmed by local filmmakers. ‘Down the road,’ says Vance-Wallace, ‘we would like to focus on doing more workshops during the year.’

Entries are now being previewed for selection, and armed with a budget in the $20,000 to $30,00 range and an extra day on the schedule, this year more films can be included.

Selection is not over yet for Moncton’s French-language festival of shorts, features and animated films, but the Cancon level of the 50-plus films from three continents will probably be around 30%, mostly from Quebec and Maritime filmmakers, along with some Manitoba entries. Training workshops and conferences are also part and parcel of the 8th Festival international du cinema francophone en Acadie organized by Film Zone.

The Atlantic Film Festival, a competitive event, is also in the midst of selecting entries. One of the scheduled elements is Screen Scene, a competitive program featuring film and tv projects for young people.

Even though it is located in a cultural hub of the Maritimes, organizers of this major Atlantic Canada festival say it’s a challenging undertaking as the revenue bases of major urban centers just aren’t realizable in Nova Scotia. However, as payback, in addition to helping individual filmmakers by providing a venue, the festival is credited with ‘having a lot to do’ with the film industry doing so well in Nova Scotia.