Sandwiched between the Toronto and Vancouver International Film Festivals, the 19th Atlantic Film Festival in Halifax kicked off its nine-day run on Sept. 17 with the world premiere of The Divine Ryans, an ImX communications production, written by Wayne Johnson and directed by Stephen Reynolds, who makes his feature film debut.

Closing the festival on Sept. 25 is the Canadian Gala of Atom Egoyan’s Felicia’s Journey.

In the middle, New Waterford Girl headlines the Atlantic Gala, One Heart Broken Into Song signatures the CBC Gala, and The Five Senses is the Anniversary Gala.

Having received a record 446 submissions, up 115 from 1998, this year’s festival hosts a total of 160 films and videos, including 42 from the Atlantic region, which are showcased in six main streams. The Atlantic Focus, celebrates the works of regional filmmakers; Canadian Perspectives highlights films from across the country; International Perspectives explores the common cultures, histories and storytelling of Atlantic Rim countries (Celtic and Scandinavian countries and the u.s.); The Late Shift presents a variety of international shorts and features; ScreenScene highlights international children’s film; and Frame by Frame showcases animation from around the world.

In addition to screenings, the festival hosts the NSFDC Industry Series, which offers a bevy of industry professionals from around the world. This year the series features Canadian producer Roger Frappier, producer Nik Powell (The Crying Game) and director Bruce McDonald (Hard Core Logo). The three producers of The Blair Witch Project are also scheduled to take part, marking their first appearance at a Canadian festival.

The newest addition to the industry program is Masterclass, a two-day acting workshop with Judith Weston, an instructor in the art of acting and directing who has worked with talent from tv series Felicity, er and The Practice.

Returning to aff is the Strategic Partners program, Sept. 18-20, which this year focuses on Canadian/Nordic (Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland) coproduction opportunities. The international conference, which was launched last year, facilitates private meetings, workshop case studies and information seminars between Canadian producers and their counterparts from other designated parts of the world. Festival executive director Gordon Whittaker is expecting around 30 members of ‘Team Nordic’ to participate.

Peter Aalbaek Jensen, cofounder of Zentropa Productions (Breaking the Waves, The Idiots), one of the largest prodcos in Scandinavia, opened the conference as the keynote guest.

For the fourth year in a row, the Telefilm Canada Award worth $5,000 will be presented to the best short film or video from the Atlantic region during the closing-night ceremonies. Previous winners include Mary Lewis for When Ponds Freeze Over (St. John’s), Scott Simpson for Terminal Lunch (Halifax) and Mike Clattenburg and Jonathan Torrens for Liquor Store (Halifax).

Some famous faces around the festival include actor Pete Postlethwaite (In The Name of the Father, The Divine Ryans) and directors Clement Virgo (One Heart Broken Into Song), Jerry Ciccoritti (The Life Before This) and Atom Egoyan (Felicia’s Journey). Tim Roth (The War Zone) and John Lynch (Night Train), known for their short films, will be at the fest with their first features.