Films that capture the richness and diversity of Albertan stories will be taking the spotlight at this year’s Calgary International Film Festival (CIFF).
The festival, which runs from Sept. 21 to Oct. 1, will be showing nine Alberta features and documentaries this year that feature Indigenous voices, climate change, science fiction, murder mystery, and rogue fast food joints.
“This year’s spotlight of Alberta content showcases one of the most diverse programs we have yet to display for what our locals are creating,” said Brenda Lieberman, CIFF’s Lead Programmer.
This year’s lineup will also be the Alberta premiere for three of the films, and world premieres for five.
“We have a variety of World premieres from several first-time feature directors, whose previous experiences lie in shorts or acting, and who are now making a shift into directing,” said Lieberman.
Ticket bundles for CIFF can be purchased online at ciff2023.eventive.org/passes/buy, with single ticket sales beginning on September 7.
| Film | Director | About the film |
|---|---|---|
| AITAMAAKO’TAMISSKAPI NATOSI: BEFORE THE SUN | Banchi Hanuse | A portrait of a young Siksika woman as she prepares for one of the most dangerous horse races in the world. |
| DROP | Ramin Eshraghi-Yazdi | Aging out of his art form, a contemporary dancer with a shady past is forced to deal with an unknown future. |
| FAULTLINE | Anna Cooley | Two sisters’ lives are shattered when their mother’s troubled life leads her to perpetrate a murder before killing herself. Twenty years later, they forge a dangerous path to expose the truth. |
| HAILEY ROSE | Sandi Somers | A newly-unemployed twenty-something is at a personal crossroads when her sister calls with news compelling her to return to their east coast hometown—only to discover a stunning surprise. |
| THE LEBANESE BURGER MAFIA | Omar Mouallem | The meaty saga of a rogue fast-food chain with mysterious origins, a cult following, and a secret pathway to the immigrant dream. |
| ROMI | Robert Cuffley | Forced to hide out at a state-of-the-art smart home, a young woman on the run is terrorized by ROMI, its sinister digital assistant. |
| TALES FROM THE REZ | Trevor Solway and Colin Ahnahktsipiitaa Van Loon | This local, six-part, horror-comedy anthology web series, creatively adapts popular Blackfoot traditional tales and twisted indigenous urban legends for the screen. |
| THE TIES THAT BIND | James Reckseidler | Blackmailed and trying to avoid a political scandal, a rising star of the 1930s Aberhart government unexpectedly returns home to small-town Alberta to get the money he needs. |
| WITHOUT LEAVING ANYONE BEHIND | Sylvester Ndumbi | Can we address the climate crisis without leaving anyone behind? |
