Film festivals in Montreal and Halifax are expected to resolve their differences ‘very soon,’ following meetings between organizers of the Atlantic Film Festival, the new Montreal International Film Festival and funding boss Wayne Clarkson.

Clarkson, the exec director of Telefilm Canada, met with AFF officials on April 15 in Toronto, looking to stop a war of words that broke out earlier this month between the Halifax-based fest and MIFF when the latter changed its dates to overlap with those of AFF. Both festivals are currently set for the third week of September, MIFF from Sept. 18-25 and AFF Sept. 15-24.

‘We had a really good discussion about issues at hand,’ says AFF head Gregor Ash. ‘Everyone is… trying to figure out how to resolve this, and everyone agrees we want to have a resolution as quickly as possible.’

Clarkson met with Ash and two AFF board members. Officials from MIFF were not present although a second meeting of all three sides, in Montreal, was set for April 20, as Playback went to press.

The rescheduling solved a previous conflict between MIFF and its cross-town rival the Festival du Nouveau Cinéma but infuriated organizers at AFF. Ash complained at the time that his fest – which is about to celebrate its 25th anniversary with an expanded 10-day run – would lose publicity, prints and attendance to MIFF’s much-anticipated debut. Telefilm provides funding to both festivals.

Clarkson is under increasing pressure to unlock the horns of MIFF and its rivals.

He originally said he would stay out of the matter, claiming that his roots with the Toronto International Film Festival would cause a conflict of interest. TIFF is set for Sept. 8-17.

The Montreal festival has been at the center of a series of fights since its creation last year – prompting complaints from FNC organizers and two lawsuits from the World Film Festival and its frontman Serge Losique.

-www.atlanticfilm.com