August 12, 2026 – Montreal – National Film Board of Canada (NFB)
The 2026 Atlantic International Film Festival (AIFF) will showcase eight compelling new works from the National Film Board of Canada (NFB).
Running September 16 to 23 at Halifax’s Cineplex Cinemas Park Lane, AIFF will host the world premieres of two documentaries by Newfoundland and Labrador filmmakers profiling celebrated artists from the province:
The festival will present new NFB animation, including the Atlantic debut of New Brunswick filmmaker Daniel Léger’s animated short The Flames of Me, a courageous personal portrait created with Montreal visual artist Steven Spazuk. The NFB animation lineup at AIFF also includes the world premiere of To Our Future Ancestors by Bogdan Anifrani-Fedach and Ian Keteku, and Piluk by Elisapie Isaac and Marc Séguin, following its world premiere at the Locarno Film Festival.
From beyond Atlantic Canada, AIFF will offer three more NFB feature documentaries:
Smash & Grab: The Rebel Lens of Mike Jones and Billy Gauthier: Carving the Future will be available online during the festival exclusively to residents of Atlantic Canada, from September 23 to 27, at AIFF Online.
The NFB and Telefilm Canada will host an open house during the festival on September 18 from 3 to 5 p.m. at their shared space at 5475 Spring Garden Road, Suite 201. Come by, say hello and connect with NFB and Telefilm Canada representatives, along with members of the local film community. This event is free and open to all.
Reel East Coast Shorts Gala
Billy Gauthier: Carving the Future by Jennie Williams (16 min 33 s) | WORLD PREMIERE
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/billy-gauthier-carving-the-future
Sunday, September 20, 7 PM, Theatre 8
- With each stroke of his blade, acclaimed Inuk carver Billy Gauthier instills his art with his passion for his home, Labrador. Billy Gauthier: Carving the Future is an intimate look at the master sculptor’s meticulous process and the inspiration behind one of the most ambitious creations of his career:the carving of a monumental whale skull.
- Award-winning Inuk writer and director Jennie Williams was born and raised in Happy Valley-Goose Bay, NL. Williams creates films from a Labrador perspective that reflect a deep love of the North and Inuit culture. This is her second film with the NFB, following her multi-award-winning Nalujuk Night, which was named Best Atlantic Short Documentary at AIFF 2021.
The Flames of Me by Daniel Léger (10 min 2 s)
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/the-flames-of-me
Sunday, September 20, 7 PM, Theatre 8
- How do you rebuild your sense of self after being diagnosed with bipolar disorder? Through striking images created with fire and soot by visual artist Steven Spazuk, and music by Daniel Lanois, director Daniel Léger recounts his journey through shadow and light since his diagnosis, in a courageous self-portrait that reminds us that no one is defined solely by their dark side.
- New Brunswick native Daniel Léger is a multidisciplinary artist who describes himself as a poet of the everyday. A filmmaker and singer-songwriter, he has made four films with the NFB and recorded six albums with Productions Koonacky, which earned him a place on the “New Brunswick Francophone Music Wall of Fame” in 2022.
Documentary Program
Smash & Grab: The Rebel Lens of Mike Jones by Justin Simms (82 min) | WORLD PREMIERE
A Never Forget Films/National Film Board of Canada co-production in association with Pearl Productions and Odd Sock Films, produced in association with Telefilm Canada and PictureNL.
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/smash-grab-the-rebel-lens-of-mike-jones
Monday, September 21, 7:00 PM, Theatre 4
- With little more than a 16-mm camera and a bedrock love of place, renegade filmmaker Mike Jones broke the trail for Newfoundland’s cultural renaissance. Through never-before-seen footage of the comedic chaos that was CODCO, Smash & Grab: The Rebel Lens of Mike Jones summons this chapter of Canada’s hilarious history in a joyful journey of rediscovery featuring Andy Jones, Mary Walsh, Cathy Jones, Rick Mercer and more.
- Justin Simms is a Canadian Screen Award-nominated filmmaker based in St. John’s, Newfoundland. His work has screened at festivals worldwide, including TIFF, the Berlin International Film Festival and Hot Docs. A longtime collaborator with the NFB, his credits include Hard Light (2012), Danny (2014), Line.Cod (2016), Becoming Labrador (2018) and Sons (2024).
Ladies and Gentlemen, Brian Mulroney by Matthew Rankin (105 min)
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/ladies-and-gentlemen-brian-mulroney
Saturday, September 19, 8:30 PM, Theatre 5
Wednesday, September 23, 7:45 PM, Theatre 5
- In 1976, Brian Mulroney launched a charm offensive the likes of which Canada had never seen, dismantling the political establishment one dad joke at a time. In this psychedelic doomscroll through the mind of a master politician, filmmaker Matthew Rankin charts the flamboyant rise of Canada’s 18th prime minister.
- Matthew Rankin is an acclaimed Montreal-based, Winnipeg-born director whose work has been presented at TIFF, Sundance, SXSW, Annecy, the Berlinale, Cannes Critics’ Week and the Directors’ Fortnight. His 2024 feature, Universal Language, received the Chantal Akerman audience award at Cannes. His previous NFB work includes the multi-award-winning 2017 experimental animated short The Tesla World Light.
Nirilaurta: Let Us Eat by Malaya Qaunirq Chapman (52 min 10 s)
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/nirilaurta
Friday, September 18, 5:30 PM, Theatre 5
- With soaring food prices, the community of Taloyoak, Nunavut, is working to feed its families. Nirilaurta tells the story of a community that draws on Inuit culture, land-based knowledge and kinship to nourish their bodies, spirits and one another.
- Malaya Qaunirq Chapman is an Inuit actor, producer and emerging director from Iqaluit whose work bridges storytelling and cultural identity. Most recently seen as “Auntie Eva” in the hit TV show North of North, Chapman brings Northern voices to the screen with authenticity and passion.
Still Night, Burning House by Carol Nguyen (Metafilms/NFB/Portage Films; 76 min)
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/still-night-burning-house
Sunday, September 20, 2:45 PM, Theatre 3
Tuesday, September 22, 2:45 PM, Theatre 3
- In her deeply personal debut feature, award-winning filmmaker Carol Nguyen charts her family’s first reunion on a journey to Vietnam, where together they face long-unspoken questions about an uncle’s mysterious death.
- Carol Nguyen is a Montreal-based, Vietnamese-Canadian filmmaker whose films explore themes of cultural identity, family and silence. Still Night, Burning House is the follow-up and companion to her 2019 short No Crying at the Dinner Table, which was named to Canada’s Top Ten, TIFF’s annual list of the country’s finest films.
Short Film Program
To Our Future Ancestors by Bogdan Anifrani-Fedach and Ian Keteku (6 min 4 s) | WORLD PREMIERE
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/to-our-future-ancestors
Monday, September 21, 6:00 PM, Theatre 5
- A woman journeys through time and terrain, guided by ancestral memory, to find a mysterious egg that holds the key to her future. This animated short is a moving allegory about lineage and enduring resilience across millennia.
- Bogdan Anifrani-Fedach is a Montreal-based animation filmmaker and illustrator of Togolese and Ukrainian descent. His films explore identity, the unconscious, disorientation and abstract concepts through the intricate play of light, shadow and pattern.
- Ian Keteku is a Ghanaian-Canadian filmmaker, poet and educator whose work blends African storytelling traditions with speculative, diasporic futures. A former World Poetry Slam Champion, Ian has written and directed projects for CBC, PBS, TVO and Sesame Street.
Piluk by Elisapie Isaac and Marc Séguin (10 min 30 s)
Press kit: mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/piluk
Thursday, September 17, 5:45 PM, Theatre 5
- Born from a single feather, young Piluk walks on, just as her mother did before her. From the raw landscapes of the tundra to a city of concrete, will she still be able to hear the breath of the wind that witnessed her birth?
- World-renowned artists Elisapie Isaac and Marc Séguin have spent more than a decade cultivating a friendship rooted in freedom, creativity and a profound bond with the land. Isaac is an Inuk author, singer, songwriter, documentary filmmaker and activist born in Salluit, Nunavik. Séguin is a Quebec multidisciplinary artist whose work explores beauty, fragility and violence in the world.
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Press Release – PDF here.
Version française ici.