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Halifax Independent Film Festival celebrates its Sweet 16

A photo from a scene of the Islands movie, which is the festival opening film by Martin Adrenalin.
The festival's opening film Islands, a Filipino-Canadian feature by Martin Adrenalin, premiered at South by Southwest in Texas, and won a Special Jury Prize. Photo contributed.
Sara Gouda - CKDU - Halifax • NS | 06-06-2022
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This year, the Halifax Independent Film Festival (HIFF) is celebrating sixteen years of showcasing a variety of films from all around the world.

HIFF is also going into their first ever hybrid festival and will be relocating to a brand new venue at the Lighthouse Arts Centre as opposed to their usual location at the Scotiabank Theatre in Halifax.

HIFF Festival coordinator Tara Thorne said the festival is starting next weekend and shared what film enthusiasts can expect.

A black and white picture from of the films that will be featured, El Planeta, of the main character and her mother.

El Planeta, a comedy drama film, was written and directed by Amalia Ulman and her mom. Photo contributed.

"June 9 is when we open, Thursday evening and then we run until June 12. We have a couple of sweet afternoon screenings on Sunday to close out those Canadian shorts followed by The crossing, an animated film from France."

Thorne said thousands of audiences attend the festival annually, and full festival passes with access to all screenings are available.

"The full festival pass is $35, and you can see all the films that are at the festival. There are eight features and three short programs.  Individual screenings are $10 and they're all at the lighthouse."

Thorne said one of HIFF's objectives is to grow and foster the local film scene.

"We provide workshops and mentorship opportunities. We like to see how that manifests itself in the form of art that our members make. Local films are incredibly important to have."

The process for choosing which film premiere is simple, programmers scour all kinds of different sources whether online or from other film festivals.

"(Our programmers) are combing the world to find films, we have films from South Korea, France, Nigeria this year, they're from all over."

Some of the films playing in this year's festival are This is my desire, from Nigeria; The Crossing, an animated film from France; Short Vacation from South Korea; and Islands a Filipino-Canadian movie, and more.

The full list of movies is available on the HIFF website.

A graphic poster showing the dates and location of the Halifax Independent Film Festival.

The Halifax Independent Filmmakers Festival will take place in their new venue, the Light House Arts Centre from June 9 to June 12. Photo contributed.

Listen to the full interview below:

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