2026 Season
In our 19th year we’re trying something new with our programming. We’ll transition from bi-weekly to weekly screenings for our series, running them one month on and one month off. During the off months, we’ll feature special screenings or Contemporary World Cinema screenings.
Stay tuned to our social media and subscribe to our newsletter to get the first scoop on upcoming announcements!
Art by Kat Simmers .
40S Divas
This series examines Bette & Joan not just from the point of view of their long-rumored rivalry, but their careers themselves: mirrored on soundstages and managed by Hollywood, where truth and artifice about both women blended into iconic legend that still reverberates in the annals of classic Hollywood cinema.
Previously programmed
a mAN AND A WOMAN (1966)
As a film, The Phantom of the Opera went through numerous versions, revisions, and re-edits under the hands of four different directors and innumerable editors, including a re-edit and re-release in 1929 that is the most commonly seen version today. For ths 100th anniversary screening, Calgary Cinematheque is pleased to present a new reconstruction of the original 1925 General Release version, using the best available elements. We are delighted to invite you to enjoy this enduring picture with a new musical score from Chris Maric performing on the National Music Centre's Allen theatre organ! This live performance on a digital representation of a historic theatre organ, the most advanced ever built, will help to transport you back one hundred years to the glory days of silent cinema!
Art by Lauren Sanchez.
Eyes on Artists
For many, the creative process is one of mystery and magic. But the power of documentary cinema has long allowed us a behind-the-scenes peek at the inner workings of both individual creative genius and the creation of large-scale mass-media art. When the documentaries themselves become works of art—created by filmmakers with their own singular visions and agendas—when the creation of art becomes the subject of art, we must consider where the line is drawn between truth and illusion, and what each work can tell us about how art is made and the artists who make it.
Art by Leetia Lyons.
Afternoons of Solitude (2024)
The new film from the visionary director of PACIFICTION, Albert Serra’s AFTERNOONS OF SOLITUDE is a spellbinding documentary that turns its gaze on the ceremonial splendor and devastating brutality of bullfighting in Spain. With quiet intensity, Serra follows famed matador Andrés Roca Rey, from the solitude of his hotel room and the meticulousness of his preparations to the charged spectacle of the arena. Through his immersive and unhurried lens, Serra reveals Rey’s profound physical, spiritual, and aesthetic commitment to a centuries-old ritual—one that demands he take part in a timeless duel between man and beast.