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- AFCOOP Updates - May 22nd, 2025
AFCOOP Updates - May 22nd, 2025
CMSE, HIFF program highlights, and festival waiver codes 🎞️
Cody is heading to Toronto for the Canadian Media Skills Exchange, coordinated by the Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto (LIFT). CMSE is a gathering of national analogue-based artist-run centres and media technicians. The conference is a 4-day workshop intensive, covering analogue film equipment maintenance, handling and repair. We’re excited to hear about it when Cody returns next week. In the meantime, Sam will be in the gear room to assist with orders. HIFF starts Wednesday! Grab your tickets and passes today! |  |
We’re pleased to announce our 2025 Telefilm Talent to Watch nomination!
“12 Inch Hell” directed by Brandon Lorimer and produced by Rebecca Carole.
Brandon Lorimer is a filmmaker, actor, playwright, and art vagabond from Halifax/Kjipuktuk. A founding member of the inaugural Bus Stop Theatre Playwright’s Unit in Halifax, he spent several years in Montréal developing his practice. Upon returning home he had his short film Anomalist selected as part of the 2021-2022 cohort of the Atlantic Film Co-Op’s Film 5 training program where he trained as a screenwriter. Since completion of the program, he established his film company Wolf Hart Productions in honour of his late friend Michael “Wohlfy” Wohlfahrt and premiered its first short film DWELLING, a dystopian short film inspired by the East Coast housing crisis. Brandon’s work seeks to tackle pertinent existential and socio-political issues through the lens of fantastic realities, understanding our world through the worlds we dream of.
Hi! My name is Rebecca Carole, I am a multidisciplinary artist with four short films under my belt and five years working in television production, as well as three years of experience doing research and development for fact-based TV. My most recent short film titled Flea Party was featured on the AMI network as a part of their Disrupt series, which highlights the works of neurodivergent and disabled filmmakers. Before that, my film Facsimile saw a successful film festival run and won “Best Horror” at the Toronto Alternative Film Festival. I have been a Production Manager for AFCOOP’s Film 5 program and recently had my work published in Junk Press’ January print release.
HALIFAX INDEPENDENT FILMMAKERS FESTIVAL PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
STARTS WEDNESDAY!
TOXIC
A FILM BY SAULE BLIUVAITE
2024 / LITHUANIA / 99 mins
Toxic is the debut feature from Lithuanian filmmaker Saulė Bliuvaitė. The film follows 13-year-olds Marija and Kristina as they attempt to escape their hometown through careers as international models. The two teens develop a complex friendship as they both try to manipulate their bodies as best they can while enrolled in the local modeling school. This unlikely story of friendship features incredibly mature and nuanced performances by first-time actors Vesta Matulyte and Ieva Rupeikaite. | Toxic explores girlhood, body image, and men’s exploitation of women and girls with care and unflinching honesty. This film deals heavily with body dysmorphia and eating disorders. Viewers are encouraged to watch with care. —Tori Fleming, programmer SCREENING: MAY 30, 2025 • 7:00 PM |
BOYS GO TO JUPITER
A FILM BY JULIAN GLANDER
2024 / USA / 90 mins
Animation nerds and Janeane Garofalo stans unite! Boys Go To Jupiter is the debut feature film from 3D-artist and animator Julian Glander. With its dreamy colour scheme and lo-fi music, this delightful animated film will lull you into a surreal Floridian landscape in the lawless time between Christmas and New Year’s. The coming of age story follows Billy 5000, a teenager determined to make $5,000 by exploiting a glitch in a food delivery app. | Boys Go To Jupiter has an all star cast featuring comedians Janeane Garofalo, Jack Corbett, Chris Fleming, Cole Escola, Sarah Sherman and Julio Torres. Made completely on Blender, this film is a must see for all animation lovers. SCREENING: MAY 31, 2025 • 2:00 PM |
A WANT IN HER
A FILM BY MYRID CARTEN
2024 / IRELAND, UK, NETHERLANDS / 81 mins
A Want in Her, the debut feature documentary by Irish artist Myrid Carten, is a fierce, loving family portrait and a cathartic admittance of powerlessness. A Want in Her centres on Carten’s relationship with her mother, Nuala, and Nuala’s battles with addiction and mental illness, the combination of which often lead to disappearance and devastation. We meet Nuala as she seeks refuge with her family in a house contested by her feuding brothers, beginning another period of recovery. | Familial obligation, the resulting guilt and off-setting of it, and family patterns of mental illness, addiction and avoidance are evocative subjects that Carten expertly explores through thoughtful interviews and revealing home video footage. A Want in Her is a triumphant personal narrative and a refreshing, comforting acknowledgment of the pains and frustrations of loving family we can’t save.
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CASTRATION MOVIE
ANTHOLOGY I: TRAPS
A FILM BY LOUISE WEARD
A Q&A WITH LOUISE WEARD WILL FOLLOW THE SCREENING
2024 / CANADA / 275 mins
RUNTIME INCLUDES A TEN-MINUTE INTERMISSION
The first installment of Louise Weard’s Castration Movie Anthology (“a labyrinthine post-modern epic about gender”) is made up of Chapter i: Incel Superman and Chapter ii: Traps Swan Princess. The former follows Turner (Noah Baker), a socially inept production assistant trying to salvage his first love, while the latter tracks trans woman Michaela “Traps” Sinclair — a sex worker in Vancouver navigating relationships with friends, love interests and herself. It’s generally wise when promoting a screening to simply describe a film’s merits and avoid the temptation to set expectations too high or quote John Cassavetes. And yet it warrants saying that the care and empathy with which each character in Castration Movie is written and performed, and the assurance of its handheld, DIY cinematography, put many established directors to shame. | Weard rejects easy and palatable characterizations, ensuring every character on screen is flawed, vulnerable, and funny (i.e. realistic). Funded largely from Kickstarter and shot on a Hi-8 camcorder, the beauty and conviction of Castration Movie remind us that the only thing you need to make powerful cinema is a belief in, to quote Cassavetes, “the validity of a person’s inner desires.” — Rebecca Falvey, programmer  Visting filmmaker, Louise Weard |
ATLANTIC AUTEURS
92 mins / MAY 30, 2025 • 9:00 PM
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The Atlantic Auteurs program returns with an enthralling lineup of nine short films by filmmakers in our region. Though far-ranging in style and perspective, many of these shorts are united in their exploration of self-mythmaking as a means to orient oneself within the universe, and in turn, propose a new universal order.
LINEUP
Pan & Syrinx Glory’s Hole Antiverse Secret Handshakes Looking for Michael | An Impression of Everything Ink for Scars Marrow of My Bones egosurfing |
WHAT’S SCREENING THIS WEEK?
CARBON ARC CINEMA CNINAN AUSSAT: WE, THE CHILDREN - Québec Film Festival |  THE PLAYERS |
The Disability Screen Office wants to hear from everyone in the Canadian film and television industry! Take ten minutes to fill out this survey that can change the industry for years to come. |  |
UPCOMING OPPORTUNITIES & SUBMISSIONS
 Digital Arts Resource Centre (DARC) Indigenous ResidencyDARC is proud to once again partner with the Hnatyshyn Foundation to present the DARC Indigenous Residency. New this year, the DARC Indigenous Residency will be open to Indigenous artists from across Canada! This one-month intensive on-site artist residency is offered to mid-career Indigenous (First Nations, Inuit, and Métis) artists who are seeking to develop their current practice, experiment with a new medium, or continue an existing project. | Artists in residence are provided with access to DARC’s facilities, including the DARC Microcinema, Soundstage, Digital Edit Suite, and Recording Studio. Artists also have access to an array of audio-visual equipment and up to 16 hours of advisor time for the duration of their residency. Additionally, artists in residence are provided with an artist fee for their work as well as for an artist talk or presentation following the residency period and free access to cultural events and workshops with DARC and partnering organizations. Out-of-town artists will receive subsidies for both housing and travel expenditures. Learn more about the residency by going to DARC’s website. Deadline to apply is June 30th, 2025. |
Fee Waiver from the Dufferin Film Festial
| They understand that filmmaking is already a major financial investment, and submission fees can be a real barrier—especially for emerging or independent creators. To help reduce that pressure, they are offering free submission waivers to Atlantic Canadians. Waiver Code: DFFWAVE2025 Submit via: FilmFreeway |
The Parrsboro Film Festival [PFF] is inviting Atlantic Canadian filmmakers to submit films for the 15th Annual Parrsboro Film Festival short film competition.
There are two categories of films to choose from:
Films must have been completed within the past 24 months. All genres of film will be accepted.
| The short film competition will take place Saturday morning, October 4th, between 9am and 1pm. The audience will vote for their favourite film at the end of each category. Cash awards for The Audience Favourite in each of these two categories will be presented Saturday at the end of this portion of the Film Festival. Submission deadline is Monday, August, 4th, 2025. Applicants will be advised by Monday, September, 8th, 2025 if their submissions were selected or not. Short films will be jury selected. |
Mosaic International Film Festival: Call for Submissions
Submissions close May 31, 2025—don’t miss your opportunity to be part of this vibrant celebration of independent cinema! Why Submit? A forum for bold, unique storytelling A global stage connecting filmmakers and audiences Nova Scotia residents: Email [email protected] for submission vouchers! |  Founded in 2019 as a local showcase, Mosaic has grown into an international festival, uniting cultures through film while fostering education and creativity in the industry. Submit today and be part of the mosaic! |
SENDING FILM FOR PROCESSING?
AFCOOP mails a package to our partner lab on the first Tuesday of every month!
You can drop the film off anytime to our technical coordinator, Cody at anytime! The next mail day is June 3rd!
For more information on getting your film processed, email Cody: [email protected]
AFCOOP’s Filmmakers Job Board is a place to connect with filmmakers and film crews looking for work, or volunteers looking to gain experience in Nova Scotia and Atlantic Canada.
Submitting to the AFCOOP Job Board is totally free! All posts are subject to approval by AFCOOP staff and will be reviewed before they appear on the site.
Note: You don't have to create an account to post a job. If you wish, simply enter your email to sign up at the time of job submission.
See it all HERE!
ABOUT AFCOOP: Established in 1974 the Atlantic Filmmakers Cooperative (AFCOOP) is a non-profit, community organization dedicated to supporting the production and presentation of independent film and moving-image-based work in a collaborative, learning environment.
AFCOOP acknowledges that we are located and operate in Kjipuktuk, in Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq People. This territory is covered by the “Treaties of Peace and Friendship” which Mi’kmaq, Wəlastəkwiyik (Maliseet), and Passamaquoddy Peoples first signed with the British Crown in 1726. The treaties did not deal with surrender of lands and resources but in fact recognized Mi’kmaw and Wəlastəkwiyik (Maliseet) title and established the rules for what was to be an ongoing relationship between nations. We are all treaty people.