COMMUNITY SCREENINGS
The Atlantic International Film Festival (AIFF) is a celebration of the art of film and storytelling, offering year-round opportunities for connection and collaboration through partnered Community Screenings program. AIFF is proud to partner with a range of local organizations and initiatives to present impactful screenings tailored to communities across the region. Past partners include the NSCAD Film Festival, the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission, and Movies Under the Stars with Africville Museum Grounds.
AIFF is committed to collaborating with members of our community to present screenings across the HRM throughout the year as well as offering free screenings of our Classics/Restored and In Focus films during the main festival.
Upcoming
MAYWORKS: UNION
May 16, 6:00 PM | Park Lane Cineplex
A film by Stephen Maing and Brett Story
Up against one of the most powerful companies on the planet, a group of Amazon workers embark on an unprecedented campaign to unionize their warehouse in Staten Island, New York.
“Astounding, rebellious,… brilliant.” – The New York Times
WINNER: U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for the Art of Change – Sundance Film Festival
Through intimate cinema vérité, UNION chronicles the extraordinary efforts of an unlikely group of warehouse workers as they launch a grassroots union campaign at an Amazon fulfillment center in Staten Island, New York. Led by the charismatic by underestimated Chris Smalls, the diverse band of workers start the Amazon Labor Union (ALU) and embark on a journey against one of the largest and most powerful companies in the world. The odds are stacked against them, as the groups finds itself up against a tech industry giant with unlimited resources, without major support from national unions or politicians, and while navigating internal divisions within their own ranks. Filmmakers Brett Story and Stephen Maing document the struggle from day one, offering a gripping human drama about the fight for power and dignity in today’s globalized economic landscape.
Presented by the Mayworks Festival of Working People & the Arts in collaboration with AIFF and Carbon Arc Cinema.
Past Screenings
SHEPHERDS (BERGERS)
FREE SCREENING | National Canadian Film Day
Wednesday April 16, 7PM | Cineplex Cinemas Park Lane
Tired of city life, a Québécois man leaves everything behind to pursue his dream of becoming a shepherd in rural France, where he must work illegally at a craft he knows almost nothing about. While the work proves more difficult than he’d imagined, everything changes when he wins over the like-minded Élise with his dreams of a pastoral life together. The two commit to a summer-long journey together in the mountains – with 800 sheep, and all the challenges that come with them. Featuring breathtaking cinematography and a deeply human story, this beautiful romantic drama won the award for Best Canadian Feature at TIFF 2024.
Director: Sophie Deraspe
Runtime: 113 min
Screening in partnership with Reel Canada
SUGARCANE
Free Online | December 3-10, 2024
Presented in partnership with the NS Human Rights Commission
SUGARCANE premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival where it won the Directing Award: U.S. Documentary. The film focuses on an investigation into abuse and missing children at an Indian residential school, which ignites a reckoning on the nearby Sugarcane Reserve.
A stunning tribute to the resilience of Native people and their way of life, SUGARCANE, the debut feature documentary from Julian Brave NoiseCat and Emily Kassie, is an epic cinematic portrait of a community during a moment of international reckoning.
In 2021, evidence of unmarked graves was discovered on the grounds of an Indian residential school run by the Catholic Church in Canada. After years of silence, the forced separation, assimilation and abuse many children experienced at these segregated boarding schools was brought to light, sparking a national outcry against a system designed to destroy Indigenous communities. Set amidst a groundbreaking investigation, SUGARCANE illuminates the beauty of a community breaking cycles of intergenerational trauma and finding the strength to persevere.