With summer winding down, the time to seek out some engaging indoor activities is drawing near. Luckily September is the month in which the Calgary International Film Festival (CIFF) takes place. Starting on Thursday September 20th, the CIFF will present a variety of films over the course of ten days. The mission of the organiztion is “to entertain and enlighten through the experience of film.” This definitely sounds like a great indoor activity.
There are endless reasons to attend this year’s CIFF. Firstly you would be supporting the independent movie industry, and according to CIFF Programming Manager, Angela Kempf, the festival provides the opportunity to see movies that you may not get to see otherwise; many of these films will not end up in the major theater chains. Kempf also points out that for some of the films, the directors will be present to discuss their work either before of after their showing - something that never happens in the bigger theaters. On top of it all, there will be some great parties taking place. The CIFF will host an opening party, a gala party and a closing party, but you can bet on there being more with Calgary’s saturation of movie industry members over the ten days.
There are three primary categories to the CIFF: Canadian Film works, American Independent works, and Contemporary world cinema. Within each section there are subsections separating films by country, series, genre and theatre venue. Some Canadian films playing are the Emmy nominated Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, and the featured Gala film Walk All Over Me, starring Leelee Sobieski and directed by Robert Cuffley. The American independent selections include some star-driven performances such as The Jane Austin Book Club featuring Emily Blunt, and The Hottest State directed by Ethan Hawke, who also stars. And from even further away the Contemporary World Selection will feature some Cannes award winning foreign films like that of the 2007 Palme d’Or winner 4 months, 3 weeks and 2 days from Romania, and Percepolis, the animated Jury Prize from Iran.
This year’s line up also contains a variety of films that may be of interest to fans the gay and lesbian genre. One Canadian film that you should see is Breakfast with Scot, a co- presentation by GayCalgary.com magazine and Fairytales Film Festival on Tuesday September 25th at 6:45pm at the Uptown theatre. Breakfast with Scot is adapted from the Michael Downing Book of the same name, in which a sporty gay couple suddenly find themselves as the guardians of an 11-year-old flamer. Or, if you are more inclined for some non-fiction check out the documentary Black White + Gray: A Portrait Of Sam Wagstaff And Robert Mapplethorpe. This documentary explores the 25 year romantic relationship between the famous curator and photographer, and features some rare footage worth seeing. For those who are looking for something more exotic there is, Auf der Anderen Seite (The Edge of Heaven), which recently won best screenplay at Cannes. It involves a number of intertwined stories, one being focused on the love between two women.
There are many way to access information about this year’s festival. The best resource is the CIFF website which gives a complete listing and bio of each film. Additionally the website has a unique feature that lets you select the films that you want to see and then generates a personal itinerary that you can print off. Tickets for the festival are available online and at the CIFF Box Office site at Eau Claire Market opening September 7th. Souvenir programs will also be available at the CIFF Box office and participating Starbucks at a cost of $5.

The Canadian International Film Festival
September 20th – September 30th, 2007
Box Office: Eau Claire Market
Tickets on sale starting September 7th
www.calgaryfilm.com