Canadians will get a look at “Blindness” when the drama kicks off next month’s Atlantic Film Festival in Halifax.

Organizers announced on Friday they have selected the Canadian-Brazilian-Japanese co-production to open the 28th edition of the annual event, which will take place Sept. 11 to 20.

Last year’s opener was “Shake Hands with the Devil,” starring Roy Dupuis as Romeo Dallaire.

“Blindness,” based on Jose Saramago’s critically acclaimed novel, centres on a mysterious epidemic that robs the citizens of an unnamed city of their sight, and the events that follow.

Fernando Meirelles, who previously helmed “City of God” and “The Constant Gardener,” directed an international cast that includes Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo and Danny Glover (U.S.), Gael Garcia Bernal (Mexico), Alice Braga (Brazil), Yusuke Iseya (Japan), and Sandra Oh, Maury Chaykin and Don McKellar (Canada).

McKellar also adapted the screenplay from the novel.

Most of the film was shot in Sao Paulo, Brazil, though some scenes were shot in Toronto and Guelph, Ontario, as well as Montevideo, Uruguay.

The movie, which served as the opener at the Cannes International Film Festival in May, was recently announced as a Special Presentation at the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival.

It is scheduled for limited theatrical release in North America in September.


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