Our theme this year is "Stories in Motion". Over the course of film festival weekend, participants will enjoy 7 award-winning feature films, from around the world as well as live dance "shorts" and a live performance by Brigitte Gall of her comic story "Pakistani Sugar" which is a workshop on the process of converting the play into a film.. HIFF VIP Passes are available now and give passholders a
dmission to all film festival events, including our closing party. To reserve your pass, call Carol McClennan at 705-286-2644 or email her at [email protected] - buy now as they're going fast! Please support us by buying a pass (substantial discount from door ticket prices). HIFF passes are transferable, so if you can't get to all of the films, you can share a pass with a friend. All films will be screened at the Northern Lights Performing Arts Pavilion in the Haliburton High School. Tickets for individual movies may be available on a rush basis for sale at the theatre door 15 min. before the start of each film and are $10.00 each. If we sell out of passes, there will be a very limited number of tickets to be sold on a rush basis. The best way to ensure you get to see all the movies you'd like is to purchase a HIFF11 VIP pass. Once again festival weekend the Haliburton Highlands Grannies will be offering refreshments throughout the weekend with all proceeds going towards the Stephen Lewis Foundation's African AIDs work.
2017 Schedule (confirmed)
Friday, Nov. 3rd - 6:15 pm - "Les Mauvaises Herbes" (Bad Seeds - comedy/drama - Canada - 105 min) - This sophisticated French-Canadian comedy about a farmer and a gang of misfits harvesting a large ma*****na crop has a surprisingly skillful mixture of humour, sentiment and suspense. Friday, Nov. 3rd - 8:30 pm - "The Salesman" (Drama - Iran - 124 min) - While participating in a production of “Death of a Salesman”, a teacher’s wife is assaulted in her new home, which leaves him determined to find the perpetrator over his wife’s traumatized objections. Winner of the 2017 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. Sat., Nov. 4th - 10 am - "Frantz" (Drama - France/Germany - 113 min) - A brilliant melodrama, set in post-World War I Europe, looks at truth and lies and the necessity for both in a grieving world that makes no sense. Sat., Nov. 4th - 2:00 pm - "Julieta" (Drama - Spain 99 min) - With a subtle and deft touch, Julieta illustrates how the senses can define character and memory. Written and directed by Pedro Almodovar, and based on three Alice Munro short stories: Chance, Soon and Silence from the book “Runaway”,
Sat., Nov. 4th - 4:00 pm - "I, Daniel Blake" (Drama - UK - 100 min) - A 59-year-old carpenter recovering from a heart attack befriends a single mother and her two kids as they navigate their way through the impersonal, Kafkaesque benefits system. With equal parts of humour, warmth and despair, the journey is heartfelt and emotional until the end. Sat., Nov. 4th - 7:30 pm - "A Swingers Weekend" (Comedy/Drama - Canada - 90 min). A power couple’s well planned swingers’ weekend with business associates goes haywire when an unexpected couple shows up. Possible unconfirmed Industry guests. Sun., Nov. 5th - 9:30 am - "Almacenados" (Warehoused - Comedy/Drama - Mexico - 97 min) Almacenados is a feel good movie about an employee about to retire and the young man who is to take over in the enormous empty warehouse where apparently nothing ever happens. Sun., Nov. 5th - 11:30 am - "Pakistani Sugar" (live theatre followed by Q&A) . As part of our “Stories in Motion” theme, we’re proud to be bringing our own local comedic talent to the stage. How do you turn a stage play into a screenplay? Actor/writer Brigitte Gall and screen director/writer Tim Hamilton will be presenting a true story about how a small town high school graduate, from a class of four in rural Saskatchewan, accidentally ends up in Pakistan, and how it all winds up on the screen. This is a workshopping event with Gall performing a sixty minute version of the play followed by a discussion. We hope to give our HIFF audience a yearly update, and of course, the premiere! DH3 (LIVE DANCE THEATRE) – Throughout the festival - Film festivals often show a “short” (ie short film) before each featured film. This year, as a special collaboration between HIFF and DH3 (Dance Happens Here Haliburton), the “shorts” at HIFF will be dance shorts – short, live dance performances inspired by movies. The opening “short” on Friday, Nov. 2nd will be the world premiere of the new version of nationally renowned choreographer Holly Small’s piece, “Cheap Sunglasses”. The dance “shorts” on Saturday and Sunday will be pieces choreographed by local choreographers Julie Barban and Chyna Schell, featuring dancers from the corps and alumni of Heritage Ballet and Haliburton Dance Academy and a solo work choreographed and performed by Sebastian Renel. These dance “shorts” are inspired by the movies Swing, Bring It On, A Winter’s Tale, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, and Pride and Prejudice. These performances are presented in part through funding from the Government of Canada. NOTE: Many of our film festival movies are subtitled - postings with that information will be found here with the movie trailers. Or you can visit for more information and updates. HIFF gratefully acknowledges the following sponsors: Barry Hart & Heather Alloway, Dentistry in the Highlands, The Dock Spot, The Highlander, Pinestone Resort, Sassy Digs, Up River Trading Co, Baked & Battered Cottage Bakery & Fish Fry, First Page SEO, Minden Pharmasave, Sassy Digs, Taoist Tai Chi, Todd Tiffin, Sales Representative, RE/MAX North Country Realty Inc, Brokerage, Wintergreen Maple Syrup & Pancake Barn, Algonquin Painting, Canoe FM, Cindy Campbell - Arbonne Independent Consultant, Emmerson Lumber, Floyd Hall Limited, Haliburton Yoga, Highlands Summer Festival, Kenwood Drafting & Design, Molly's Bistro Bakery, Parker Pad & Printing, Ltd., Steve Kerr Denturist and Todd's Independent Grocer. Please frequent these local businesses as they have been very generous with their support.
