Calgary Underground Film Festival celebrates its 20th anniversary with its biggest lineup yet

What started with humble beginnings by showing films at local bars such as Broken City has now blossomed into the largest genre film festival in Western Canada, celebrating its 20th anniversary this year.

After three years of online and hybrid festivals, this year’s Calgary Underground Film Festival (CUFF) is returning to a fully in-cinema experience with more films than ever before spread over 11 days, says CUFF co-founder, festival director, and lead programmer Brenda Lieberman.

“The lineup of films this year is just as diverse as ever, with a speckle of retro selections—many of which are celebrating milestone anniversaries—comedies, documentaries, art-house world cinema, and the latest genre films to hit the festival circuit,” she says.

“The stories vary, as do the budgets and styles of films. We love a lineup that can speak to many different audiences here, and we hope that everyone finds something to come check out.”

Something for everyone

With 42 feature films and 38 shorts throughout the festival, there’s something for everyone, Leiberman says.

“There’s a lot of choice for people. It’s always good to try to find something for everyone and there’s some great diversity. There’s going to be some tough choices to make,” she says, adding with more than 45 filmmakers, actors, and creators on hand, there’s also a lot of opportunity for more.

“People can come to meet a filmmaker; they’re all down to earth, and they want to meet the audiences.”

Leiberman never anticipated the festival would grow this big, but she also admits it’s never been a goal to be bigger.

“Our intention wasn’t just to get bigger, we always want it to stay within our means,” she says, adding the pandemic spurred a longer festival out of necessity and they decided to keep it at 11 days.

Celebrating as a community

It’s a big shift for the team but they work as a collaborative and everyone is on board, Leiberman adds.

“There was a long period of time where our audiences were saying ‘more films, more films,’ so it’s always been in the back of our minds to find a way to include more content. And this is the year that allowed us the opportunity to do it.”

Leiberman says this year is about giving back to the festival’s audiences, and organizers want to celebrate with filmmakers, alumni, festival friends, and as many audience members as possible.

“The community, our fans, and the small businesses that have helped grow and support CUFF for 20 years are what makes the heart of the festival beat,” she says.

“This is what has allowed us to develop into what we are now: an internationally recognized festival dedicated to showcasing hidden gems, quirky stories, character portraits, and artists.”

A local connection

Calgary-born filmmaker Kurtis David Harder is returning to CUFF with his 13th film, Influencer, which was shot in both Canada and Thailand.

In his film, a popular social media influencer is having an uneventful trip in Thailand but meets a fearless traveller who offers to take her to some of the most Instagram-worthy locations— including a deserted island that is completely off the grid.

Harder’s first CUFF appearance was about four years ago and he is humbled to be a part of the 20th-anniversary edition.

“I remember attending over a decade ago and just seeing how much it's grown and how much support it gives, especially for genre filmmaking. You don't get a lot of that in the West,” Harder says.

“Brenda and the whole team have been amazing, so it’s cool to see how much it's grown.”

The horror-genre filmmaker says more than half of his movies have been filmed in Alberta and he’s always proud to be able to hone his craft in Calgary.

“The crews are incredible and so are the people. I enjoy working with everybody. The locations are great in terms of having access to the mountains and every landscape you could need.”

Harder started in the industry around 2010 and has enjoyed watching the film scene expand over the years.

“It’s cool to see it grow while still maintaining the indie community. But there’s a lot of cool independent projects coming out of Alberta.”

Tickets are available for the festival running April 20 to 30 at Globe Cinema.

Highlights of the festival include:

• Onyx the Fortuitous and the Talisman of Souls kicks off the festival on April 20 with the Canadian premiere of the Sundance 2023-selected horror comedy featuring terrifying monsters and dark and silly laughs. Tickets to the film include an after-party at The Derrick.

• Eight Alberta films, including the Harder’s horror-thriller Influencer, three episodes of the true-crime docuseries Thunder: The Life and Death of Arturo Gatti about the death of the Montreal boxer from Calgary director Guillaume Carlier, and six Alberta-made shorts.

• The first CUFF Indie Game Bash is on Friday, April 21 where participants compete in a tournament, playing the new indie arcade games Towerfall Ascension and Samurai Gunn 2 on the big screen.

• The return of CUFF favourites including the Saturday Morning All-You-Can-Eat-Ceral Cartoon Party featuring three hours of retro cartoons plus an unlimited cereal bar, a new edition of the live comedy event The Found Footage Festival, and the return of the 48-Hour Movie Making Challenge.