The Calgary International Film Festival (CIFF) is set to host nine world premieres for Canadian directed films, at this year’s September festival.
The festival will also be holding an international premiere and a North American premiere, setting a new record for the number of films being seen for the first time at CIFF.
Brenda Lieberman, lead programmer for CIFF, said that this year the festival was spoiled by an abundance of great Canadian content.
“There’s just an abundance of riches in terms of content that’s swirling around the festivals to have us all consider. I think every film festival nationally is really trying to fit in what they can, to support all the different filmmakers and figure out what works for their audience and their style of curation,” Lieberman said.
“There’s a handful of those world premieres that resonated with us and our team and that we feel for our audience, that is fortunately for us, working out in our favour that we get to showcase it first. The other Canadian festivals have went with other titles that perhaps we didn’t, which I think is great.”
What that means for audiences this year is that Calgarians will get to see an entirely different set of films than they would at other festivals.
Lieberman said the content choice for audiences was so rich that CIFF could have programmed a whole other selection of Canadian titles had they the space to fit them into the festival.
“There’s a lot of really great films out there. It’s helping with the funding and continues to be very supportive, with Telefilm and other funders, and more filmmakers gaining more experience that they’re putting into their films and their projects,” she said.
Among the world premiers being held this year at the festival, include Calorie from first time feature length director Eisha Marjana, who previously had her short Am I the Skinniest Person You’ve Ever Seen? shown at CIFF in 2024.
Lieberman said having alumni come back to premier their films was exciting for the festival.
“Or the producers behind Bif Naked, have shown other documentaries of theirs. But it’s always great to be able to celebrate their new project, and that film connects to a lot of us,” she said.
That documentary about the legendary Canadian punk rock icon, is set to kick off CIFF with a Spotlight+ screening and performance, along with an after party.
From punk rock to Christmas talk
Another alumni from the festival having her film’s world premier is Gillian McKercher, with A Dickens of a Chistmas.
Although that film is both a departure from both tone and story from McKercher’s 2024 CIFF showing of gritty Calgary based film Lucky Star, Lieberman said there was a real push for 2025 to expand the variety of films at the festival.
“We were looking at where we could find, maybe a fun Hallmark-style Christmas film. Then, when I approached some local producers and said, ‘hey, are you familiar with any Christmas/holiday Hallmark-style films that may be coming through Alberta? Lo and behold, we came across this one,” she said.
“I think part of what fun I have with the Alberta spotlight section is just being able to capture the complete sheer diversity of all of it. From the type of stories we’re telling, or the casting we’re doing, or the locations we’re shooting in, and the budget ranges, and these the genres.”
McKercher said that as a director, she wanted to try everything at least once, and that she was excited to take on a project that was different but also in her interests as a fan of Charles Dickens.
“I’ve never done a story like this before, and I got to try things that I’ve never done before. I didn’t write the script. So, that was something that I was excited to do, to try to interpret somebody else’s work, but I was also excited to tell a Christmas story,” she said.
“When I started telling people I had taken on this project, that everyone was more excited about this project than like anything else I’ve ever done in my entire career, because people have such strong connections to Christmas stories. They have an emotional connection, and they look forward to it. It gives them comfort, makes them cozy.”
But just because it’s lighter fare than her previous works, McKercher said that there was always a desire to bring as much of herself into the filmaking process as possible.
“I can and try to have fun and make things interesting with my cinematic background. But also it’s at the same time I also want to respect the tropes. I want people to feel like they’re getting what they expected,” she said.
“I think when we watch a Christmas story like we want to, we have an expectation. We want to be challenged and stimulated, but we also want to end feeling really positive and good, and feeling like your hero got what they deserved, and that there’s some love and good cheer. Those are things I care a lot about.”
That includes having a holiday movie at CIFF, which was something that McKercher said Calgarians appreciate—along with the wide diversity of other films this year.
“For every art house audience member, you also have somebody whose favourite film is Bridget Jones’s Diary. It’s a privilege to meet everybody where they’re at. It’s privilege to meet people who want to watch something dark and scary like a crime drama, and it’s exciting to meet people when they want to have something that’s a bit frothier and lighter,” she said.
“There’s no wrong audience member. So I’m stoked that so many Calgarians want to see this film. I’m excited to watch it with them.”
Tickets for the Spotlight+ showing of Bif Naked open to the public on Aug. 14, alongside sales for CIFF’s annual Trailer Party showing of film trailers.
Lieberman said that for any Calgarians unsure of what to see this year, purchasing a ticket for the Trailer Party was a great way to get an overview of the festival.
“It’s super fun. We just show a ton of trailers over the course of a few hours, and as many as we can fit in or that exist. Not all the films have trailers, unfortunately, but it’s a really great way to see a huge selection of the lineup and get some initial reaction from those,” she said.
“If you’re budget conscious and you’re not sure how many you could do, I always recommend people join our newsletter, because we do email contests and newsletter related posts about the different films throughout the lead up to and throughout the entire festival. So maybe you could win a few.”
The entire lineup of CIFF films for 2025 will be released on Aug. 27.
For more details, see www.ciffcalgary.ca.
CIFF 2025 world premier films
- BIF NAKED, directed by Pollyanna Hardwicke-Brown & Jennifer Abbott (Canada): BIF NAKED is a raw and unfiltered look at the life of one of Canada’s most iconic and fearless musicians.
- A DICKENS OF A CHRISTMAS, directed by Gillian McKercher (Canada): At a Victorian Christmas dinner, a skeptical lawyer meets a charming renovator and receives a ghostly gift that might just restore her faith in love.
- CALORIE, directed by Eisha Marjara (Canada): A bittersweet drama follows three generations of women whose present and past lives collide during an emotionally packed summer in India.
- DO US PART, directed by Clare Preuss (Canada): After years of propping up her husband’s fledgling eco-architecture business, a matriarch upends their carefully constructed world igniting a family firestorm.
- FRUIT IS RIPE, directed by Yuqi Kang (Canada): Through seasons of change, a Chinese farmer named Caicai and a group of immigrant fathers navigate work, longing, and the search for home in Canada.
- LOVE, HAROLD, directed by Alan Zweig (Canada): Shocked by a friend’s suicide, renowned documentary filmmaker Alan Zweig seeks understanding from 23 individuals grieving a similar loss.
- MIDDLE LIFE, directed by Pavan Moondi (Canada): Andie saves Ryan from a car wreck, sparking a tumultuous year that might just prove life could be great. Starring July Talk’s Leah Fay Goldstein and Peter Dreimanis.
- PULSE OF THE CONTINENT, directed by Eric Gonzalez (Canada): Amid the largest railway merger in North American history, a century-old steam locomotive is brought back to life for a journey unlike any before.
- SINGHS IN THE RING, directed by Akash Sherman (Canada): A ride through the legacy of Gama Singh– a Punjabi immigrant turned Canadian wrestling icon–and his son Raj, who fights to carry the family name into a new era.
