‘Experience’ key to film festival’s continued success

Organizers say the 30th Atlantic Film Festival is on the books as a solid success.

There were a few changes made to the 10-day movie showcase that may be key to the festival’s future survival – and executive director Gregor Ash says overall, they got rave reviews.

“Audiences were happy, the industry was happy, and we’re happy,” he said.  

Ash says organizers made it a priority this year to emphasize that the Atlantic Film Festival is really about celebrating movie making – not about stargazing and red carpets.

“We’ll never compete with Toronto,” he said. “Calgary has a million people, Winnipeg has 800,000 people. They all have larger populations, so we have to do something that’s a little different.”

Ash says elements that set Halifax apart include two business conferences that connect movie and music industry players, as well as moviegoers; more free screenings; and then fun stuff like the first ever drive-in screening – and the opening gala.

“We took over Citadel Hill, we had this huge tent, the hill was all lit up,” he said. “There was 2000 people there who experienced something they’ve never experienced before.”

Ash says times are tough for cultural events like film festivals and changes in the industry mean they’re no longer the only place to find indie, foreign or special interest movies.  That means that if the Atlantic Film Festival is going to survive another 30 years, it has to offer more than just screenings.

“The challenge is to create an experience that takes it beyond that small screen, and reconnects people with the creators of the content in a festival environment,” said Ash. “That need for a collective experience is really strong…so making sure we create the right types of exciting environments to bring people back so they can take advantage of that collective experience.”

Ash says another key to the film fest survival is ongoing public support.