Directed by Martika Ramirez Escobar | Philippines | 99 mins

Set in Manila between fantasy and reality, Leonor Will Never Die is a self-referential homage to Filipino action flicks of the 1970s and 80s with an unassuming auntie as its hero. Leonor Reyes, a grieving mother and retired filmmaker, is knocked unconscious by a television set and enters the melodramatic world of her unfinished script. While witnessing her story unfold, Leonor attempts to fix the regrets of her past and write her happy ending. Meanwhile, her son Rudy desperately tries to bring her back to reality. 

Over-the-top, offbeat, and genre-bending, the film is a perfect escape into the limitless chaos of the Filipino imagination.

Leonor Will Never Die is Martika Ramirez Escobar’s debut feature. The film earned her Sundance Film Festival's World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Innovative Spirit in 2022.

In Tagalog (Filipino) with English subtitles.

Part of our ongoing Contemporary World Cinema Series. Presented in collaboration with FascinAsian Film Festival and Fiesta Filipino.

Partners:

In the spirit of respect, reciprocity and truth, we honour and acknowledge that this screening takes place on Moh’kinsstis and the traditional Treaty 7 territory, as well as the oral practices of the Blackfoot confederacy: Siksika, Kainai, Piikani as well as the Îyâxe Nakoda and Tsuut’ina nations. We acknowledge that this territory is home to the Métis Nation of Alberta, Region 3 within the historical Northwest Métis homeland. Finally, we acknowledge all Nations, Indigenous and non, who live, work and play, as well as help steward this land, honour and celebrate this territory.

Presented in collaboration with the Calgary Society of Independent Filmmakers. 

For forty-five years the Calgary Society of Independent Filmmakers (CSIF) has supported the growth of the cinema arts through equipment rentals, workshops, member screenings, and more. Each film created in partnership with CSIF is stored in their archive, and we are proud to present a curated retrospective of that archive for a special screening event!

Five short films that span the history of CSIF will be screened:

• Sequence (1980) is a horror film on 16mm directed by David Winning, who would go on to direct Storm (1987), Killer Image (1992), and Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie (1997);

• Bicyclitis (1997) is a comedy on VHS shot in the live-action stop-motion method of pixilation, written and directed by Chad Gottfried;

• Missing Person (2006) is a mystery written and directed by Trevor Smith, who went on to become the production designer for shows such as Heartland, Wynonna Earp, and Fargo;

• Sharkasaurus (2014) spoofs creature features, created by Spencer Estabrooks, the filmmaker behind the TTRPG themed web series One Hit Die;

• Bedroom Hymns (2020), by Ingrid Vargas, is the newest film in the programme, a beautiful and funny short juxtaposing a sleep scientist with subjective scenes of a dream world.

Please join us in celebrating the history of local film in Calgary for this special night

Partners:

In the spirit of respect, reciprocity and truth, we honour and acknowledge that this screening takes place on Moh’kinsstis and the traditional Treaty 7 territory, as well as the oral practices of the Blackfoot confederacy: Siksika, Kainai, Piikani as well as the Îyâxe Nakoda and Tsuut’ina nations. We acknowledge that this territory is home to the Métis Nation of Alberta, Region 3 within the historical Northwest Métis homeland. Finally, we acknowledge all Nations, Indigenous and non, who live, work and play, as well as help steward this land, honour and celebrate this territory.

Directed by Tracey Deer | Canada | 92 mins

Part of our Canadian Cinema in the New Millennium series, presented in collaboration with the University of Calgary's Department of Communication, Media and Film. 

In 1990, violence broke out between the Kanien’kehà:ka people and the town of Oka over a land dispute. Filmmaker Tracey Deer, who hails from Kahnawà:ke and lived through the crisis in her youth, tells the story through the eyes of "Beans", a preteen girl living in Kahnawà:ke who is swept up in the events around her.

While depicting harrowing and at times frightening true life events, it was important to Deer not to produce a film that would be retraumatizing to Indigenous audiences. The issues raised in the film are ones that Canadians still deal with today, as confrontations between Indigenous people and settler governments continue to break out, highlighting the scars of our nation.

 Rating: PG, contains coarse language.

Partners:

In the spirit of respect, reciprocity and truth, we honour and acknowledge that this screening takes place on Moh’kinsstis and the traditional Treaty 7 territory, as well as the oral practices of the Blackfoot confederacy: Siksika, Kainai, Piikani as well as the Îyâxe Nakoda and Tsuut’ina nations. We acknowledge that this territory is home to the Métis Nation of Alberta, Region 3 within the historical Northwest Métis homeland. Finally, we acknowledge all Nations, Indigenous and non, who live, work and play, as well as help steward this land, honour and celebrate this territory.

Directed by Denis Villeneuve | Canada | 88 mins

Part of our Canadian Cinema in the New Millennium series, presented in collaboration with the University of Calgary's Department of Communication, Media and Film. 

An unconventional early work in the filmography of the increasingly mainstream filmmaker, Denis Villeneuve.

Maelström explores a fascination with car crashes, the search for connection, and confounding imagery through the lens of black comedy. Narrated by a talking fish in the process of being butchered, a woman looks to discover more about the life of a man whose death she feels responsible for after a car crash. Unlikely romances, emotional crescendos, and surreal moments flavour a film as rewarding as it is bizarre.

 Rating: 18A, contains nudity and sexual content.

Partners:

In the spirit of respect, reciprocity and truth, we honour and acknowledge that this screening takes place on Moh’kinsstis and the traditional Treaty 7 territory, as well as the oral practices of the Blackfoot confederacy: Siksika, Kainai, Piikani as well as the Îyâxe Nakoda and Tsuut’ina nations. We acknowledge that this territory is home to the Métis Nation of Alberta, Region 3 within the historical Northwest Métis homeland. Finally, we acknowledge all Nations, Indigenous and non, who live, work and play, as well as help steward this land, honour and celebrate this territory.

Directed by Denis Côté | Canada | 96 mins

Part of our Canadian Cinema in the New Millennium series, presented in collaboration with the University of Calgary's Department of Communication, Media and Film. 

An iconoclastic voice in Canadian cinema, Denis Côté is renowned for his confrontational, eccentric and offbeat films.

Set in rural Québec, Curling tells the story of an aloof father who insists that he and his daughter should never leave their home. But as his daughter's adolescence takes hold, this precarious state of affairs finds itself threatened by her desire for the outside world and the troubling secrets of their shared past. 

The film produces a threatening, mysterious atmosphere that asks its audience to consider the universal need for human connection, an issue we all have thought much about in recent years.

 Rating: Not Yet Rated.

Partners:

In the spirit of respect, reciprocity and truth, we honour and acknowledge that this screening takes place on Moh’kinsstis and the traditional Treaty 7 territory, as well as the oral practices of the Blackfoot confederacy: Siksika, Kainai, Piikani as well as the Îyâxe Nakoda and Tsuut’ina nations. We acknowledge that this territory is home to the Métis Nation of Alberta, Region 3 within the historical Northwest Métis homeland. Finally, we acknowledge all Nations, Indigenous and non, who live, work and play, as well as help steward this land, honour and celebrate this territory.

Directed by Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis | Canada 

Part of our Canadian Cinema in the New Millennium series, presented in collaboration with the University of Calgary's Department of Communication, Media and Film. 

Join the Oscar-nominated and Palme-d’Or-winning filmmakers as they chart the creative process behind their unique collaboration. Illustrated with clips, images and anecdotes, they’ll discuss the inspiration and techniques behind their latest film, The Flying Sailor.

Both born in Alberta, Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis met at Emily Carr University of the Arts in Vancouver while studying film and animation. Each went on to create their own works with the NFB before co-directing When the Day Breaks, Wild Life, and The Flying Sailor which have received numerous accolades including three Oscar nominations, two Canadian Screen Awards, a few festival Grand Prix and a Palme D’Or at Cannes. In addition to their personal work, the duo have collaborated on TV commercials, illustrations, and theatrical projections. In 2007, Forbis and Tilby founded The Inglewood Bleak Midwinter Film Festival and, in 2018, they were recipients of ASIFA’s Winsor McCay Award for their ‘exceptional contribution to the art of animation’.

Free Screening.

Rating: Not yet rated, contains some nudity.

Partners:

In the spirit of respect, reciprocity and truth, we honour and acknowledge that this screening takes place on Moh’kinsstis and the traditional Treaty 7 territory, as well as the oral practices of the Blackfoot confederacy: Siksika, Kainai, Piikani as well as the Îyâxe Nakoda and Tsuut’ina nations. We acknowledge that this territory is home to the Métis Nation of Alberta, Region 3 within the historical Northwest Métis homeland. Finally, we acknowledge all Nations, Indigenous and non, who live, work and play, as well as help steward this land, honour and celebrate this territory.

Directed by Reid Davenport | USA | 76 mins

Part of Unaided: A Film Series on Disability

Shot entirely from the perspective of creator Reid Davenport as he navigates his hometown in his electric wheelchair, this contemplative film explores the legacy of circus freak shows among the culture of ableism, while foregrounding Davenport's experience through the use of point-of-view filmmaking.

Closed Captions Included. 

Audio Descriptions Included. 

This is a Free Screening.

Partners:

In the spirit of respect, reciprocity and truth, we honour and acknowledge that this screening takes place on Moh’kinsstis and the traditional Treaty 7 territory, as well as the oral practices of the Blackfoot confederacy: Siksika, Kainai, Piikani as well as the Îyâxe Nakoda and Tsuut’ina nations. We acknowledge that this territory is home to the Métis Nation of Alberta, Region 3 within the historical Northwest Métis homeland. Finally, we acknowledge all Nations, Indigenous and non, who live, work and play, as well as help steward this land, honour and celebrate this territory.

Directed by Jason DaSilva | USA , Canada | 84 mins

Part of Unaided: A Film Series on Disability

The personal story of filmmaker Jason DaSilva, this autobiographical documentary explores how DaSilva's relationships with those close to him changed and evolved after being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. As DaSilva progresses from cane, to walker, to wheelchair, When I Walk shows how his life changes over the course of seven years.

Closed Captions Included.

This is a Free Screening.

Partners:

In the spirit of respect, reciprocity and truth, we honour and acknowledge that this screening takes place on Moh’kinsstis and the traditional Treaty 7 territory, as well as the oral practices of the Blackfoot confederacy: Siksika, Kainai, Piikani as well as the Îyâxe Nakoda and Tsuut’ina nations. We acknowledge that this territory is home to the Métis Nation of Alberta, Region 3 within the historical Northwest Métis homeland. Finally, we acknowledge all Nations, Indigenous and non, who live, work and play, as well as help steward this land, honour and celebrate this territory.