The Calgary International Film Festival (CIFF) will celebrate its 25th anniversary with a variety of films from Canada and around the world. The festival will also include many Alberta-made films and short films, including films like Lucky Star and Crow. CIFF’s Program Administrator and Programmer, Adam Keresztes, spoke with the Gauntlet about the process of selecting and sharing the locally made films.
“This is our 25th anniversary so we tried to do things a little bit bigger and a little bit more exciting. A bigger focus on local films might be a big difference this year,” said Keresztes.
Keresztes outlined how the Alberta Spotlight section will contain Alberta-made films and discussed the increasing number of films and shorts being presented at this year’s festival.
“So we have two fairly large sections in the festival, one is called the Alberta Spotlight and that’s our Alberta feature films,” he said. “The talent pool and the quality of films that have come out of Alberta is just growing and getting so much better.”
“Similarly in the shorts realm, we have a section or a package called Alberta Spirit which is our Alberta-made short films,” Keresztes continued.
The Alberta Spotlight and the Alberta Spirit package includes stories from up and coming filmmakers like gbohunmi and his short film All is Not Forgotten and Tasha Hubbard’s documentary Singing Back the Buffalo. The process of including Indigenous films was another major focus of this year’s festival, aiming to showcase as many as possible. Keresztes explains this choice as a result of the festival’s close association with the USAY Organization, and wanting to celebrate Indigenous voices near National Truth and Reconciliation Day. A featured short film, titled Last Summer, will be screened as part of the Alberta Spirit package and proceeds will go towards the USAY Organization.
“Last Summer is directed by Barry Bilinksi and produced by Brock Davis Mitchell, but it’s predominantly created by the Kikino children. Having filmmakers like Barry and Brock really help from a technical standpoint, but seeing what these youth are putting out into the world in terms of the art is really amazing,” said Keresztes.
Keresztes also discussed how audiences can connect with the films in the festival, reflecting on what was most exciting and engaging in order to start curating next year’s program. He emphasized how short films create a space for emerging artists to display their work and art.
“I know short films, in a lot of ways and in a lot of festivals, get forgotten by some audiences. They want to see the big movies with the stars, but I hope that people would want to come back and take a chance and come check out some short films because there’s still some pretty awesome ones in there,” Keresztes said.
More information on CIFF and tickets can be found on their website.
