Halifax: The 27th edition of the Atlantic Film Festival will feature a trio of highly anticipated homegrown productions, including opening gala Shake Hands with the Devil and a pair of titles involving rising local writer/director Chaz Thorne.

Shake Hands, which shot on location in Kigali and in Halifax under director Roger Spottiswoode, is the dramatization of retired Lt.-General Roméo Dallaire’s memoir of the Rwandan genocide. Thorne, meanwhile, promises to make a splash with his script for Clement Virgo’s boxing drama Poor Boy’s Game, as well as the dark comedy Just Buried, his feature directorial debut, which he also scripted. He will be in town throughout the fest to participate in panels and events.

The AFF, the largest festival in Eastern Canada, will screen 246 films Sept. 13-22. It overlaps three days with TIFF, but offers both a complement and an antidote to the Toronto mega-event.

Other notable attendees at the AFF will include British auteur Peter Greenaway, who will speak at the Academy Luncheon and present his Rembrant biopic Nightwatching (a copro involving B.C.’s No Equal Entertainment), as well as legendary filmmaker Albert Maysles, who will screen Gimme Shelter, his 1970 film about the Rolling Stones’ ill-fated concert at Altamont, in the Inspired Docs series.

Newfoundland acting icon Gordon Pinsent will be part of the new ACTRA Studio program, featuring an in-depth interview before an audience at the Neptune Theatre.

Returning international coproduction market Strategic Partners anticipates 185 attendees, including producers, broadcasters, distributors, financiers and agents. Strategic Partners, the fest’s key industry event, is led by Jan Miller, who launched the program in 1998.

‘Let’s bring the best here to our own backyard, have a barbeque and show them the opportunities they have,’ she says, recalling the impetus for the event. She adds that Halifax is the ideal location, situated as it is for convenient access from Toronto, New York and Europe.

‘It’s small and intimate, and the level of participant is senior enough that if you and I sat across from each other, I’m not teaching you the ropes,’ she adds. ‘We’re talking about actual projects.’

For Miller, the scale of the program suits the AFF and matches its mandate, offering something that may have been lost at the bigger festivals.

‘There are lots of those large events that are serving the world well,’ says Miller. ‘[Here], it’s well-organized informality. You have a really good conversation, but when your time’s up, you move to another table. The machinery is underneath so people can really make connections.’

According to Miller, Strategic Partners has become so popular – with nine provinces sponsoring the event – that she has had to limit the numbers in order to keep it functioning in a direct and personal way.

‘We’ve reached our max,’ she says. ‘For a long time there were more Canadians than international, and last year that shifted. So it’s almost 50-50.’

Strategic Partners’ spotlight country this year is France, and the festival will screen a number of films from that country. The French consulate in Moncton, NB supported the program as well as the French Gala, Angel, the new film from director François Ozon.

‘We really can’t get any bigger than this,’ says festival director Lia Rinaldo. ‘I don’t think we’re going to lose any of the charm or hospitality that we make sure we bring to the event. We want people to come out of the screenings in Toronto and come into this super-intimate environment, get to see each other’s films and get to talk to each other. That’s what we’re trying to achieve.’

www.atlanticfilm.com/aff/