Visitors to the Calgary International Film Festival this fall will be doing so in a way they haven’t before, thanks to a new strategic plan implemented by CIFF following the closure of the Eau Claire Cinemas.

At the heart of the new plan, which marks the quarter-century anniversary of the festival, is a series of venues across the core of Calgary, along with the theatres at Chinook Centre, to meet the annual demand that thousands of fans have for the hundreds of films CIFF shows each year.

Katherine Penhale, CIFF’s current acting Executive Director and former Chief of Staff and Operations Director, announced the festival’s plans on May 28, which will see the number of venues and the capacity for showing films at venues increased dramatically.

“For us, this change is going to start by partnering more extensively with a series of downtown venues in what we call the western constellation, which will be launching the first weekend of the festival. Those venues include Contemporary Calgary, the University of Calgary Downtown Campus where industry week will be, The Globe, and a return to the Plaza—finally—which we’re really excited about,” she said.

“We knew that we couldn’t get enough screening slots downtown this year. So starting on Monday of the festival, we’ll also be opening up Chinook where we have six theatres this year.”

Penhale said that what Calgarians might not have realized for the past few years, was that the largely single venue experience at Eau Claire was an oddity amongst major North American film festivals.

“That’s not a thing that exists in most North American cities. Certainly not one where you could have the entire six screens for full 10 days,” Penhale said.

“Primarily, we’re just moving into a space of growth. It’s comparable other festivals, and I do think it opens up a whole new world of possibilities, new audiences, and new ways to engage with audiences more ways to engage in outdoor activities, because transiting between these venues now becomes a part of the festival experience.”

She said that an area that CIFF would be looking at over the next several years would be the later part of the experience, as festival goers are asked to visit different locations throughout the festival length.

The opportunity to expand venues to locations like UCalgary and to Contemporary Calgary, was an exciting one for CIFF because it opened up the opportunities to experience film in different ways, she said.

“We’re now going to be in far more varied types of venues, and also getting people to understand that film doesn’t just have to happen in a movie theater. There are technical requirements that CIFF is going to have to address to make these spaces cinematic screening ready, but by pursuing these new and exciting spaces we’re able to access… this nexus for the arts,” Penhale said.

What isn’t changing is the variety of films that will be on display at the festival.

“We were talking about sports the other day, and someone said, ‘oh you have films about sports?’ and I said, ‘yep, we’ll have films about sports.’ We always do films about music. We always have films about dance. We often have films about contemporary art. Last year’s opening gala film was Geoff McFetridge’s, which was excellent and well suited,” Penhale said.

“There are films about everything and films for everyone. Putting these films in different spaces may feel initially a little unexpected. Maybe the popcorn experience is going to be different but at the end of the day, I think they’re really well suited to showing film because there’s films that suit each of these spaces.”

Although Cineplex is closing the Eau Claire Cinemas due to Eau Claire Market being torn down to make way for the Green Line, the longstanding relationship with Cineplex and CIFF is set to continue.

“We’re really excited to be at Cineplex this year, and I think it offers a huge amount of new exposure to new audiences. There are people who want to go and watch two or three or four films in a day, and that’s going to be an easier experience at Chinook,” Penhale said.

“Scott Whetham, Executive Director of Alberta South Operations at Cineplex has become a great, great champion of the festival. So we’re really excited to continue working with them.”

CIFF to invest in top-tier projectors

Part of the plan to expand the constellation of venues, said Penhale, was to invest in six Digital Cinema Initiatives compliant projectors over three years—spreading out the capital costs of the project that will come in between $650,000 to $725,000 depending on the purchase price of the projectors themselves.

“But when you look at the grand scheme of capital purchases organizations make, it’s not that large. We have a few granting bodies that we’re working with, and some other organizations, and that’s how we’re hoping to fund these because we think that it’s very possible. It’s a big goal, but I don’t think it’s so big that it’s unattainable,” she said.

The purchases also give CIFF some flexibility against other risks the organization is facing in terms of possible loss of venues. Calgary’s Globe Cinemas, although much loved by moviegoers in the city, has had its site listed for sale by the owners of the property.

“Everyone has found out by now it’s been up for sale. That wasn’t news to CIFF, nor is it news to the Globe. It’s been up for sale for the last four years, so we want to use this venue for as long as we can, and we hope that we can continue to use it for many, many years to come,” Penhale said.

“Venues change. If their interests change, their focus changes, we can move these projectors. There’s a risk because of large purchases, but we’re pretty confident this is the right choice. There’s no reward without a little risk.”

The projectors will give CIFF the opportunity to activate new venues as needed and also provide an opportunity to grow other film festivals in Calgary.

“My worst nightmare here is that these projectors live in a warehouse for 11 and a half months a year and are only brought out during CIFF. Having the ability to pull them out and put them into community halls or wherever is needed, whatever suits these other organizations, that’s a huge part of the goal. We want these to be a community asset. They’re not just for CIFF,” Penhale said.

“Part of our goal with being in these venues harbouring these projectors there is it not only opens up the opportunity for CIFF to do more screenings here in the year-round, in offseason, for us for the festival. It also opens up opportunities for these venues to create cinematic experiences for people, either independently or with CIFF’s help.”

But what Calgary won’t likely see is a dedicated CIFF-owned building like TIFF’s Lightbox, she said.

“The concept of CIFF buying a venue has been tossed around for many years, never seriously. But I think that’s the position that organizations get into, is we’re going to deal with this in a monolithic way where we are going to build something that’s going to suit our needs, and then we will be there,” Penhale said.

“There are great reasons to do that. But the upside of this approach means that we’re super flexible, these projectors, we can move to any venue at any point in time.”

The Calgary International Film Festival runs from September 19 to 29. For more details on the new strategic plan by CIFF, or for information about the festival itself, see ciffcalgary.ca.