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2023 Calgary International Film Festival

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2023 Calgary International Film Festival
Opening filmGeoff McFetridge: Drawing a Life by Dan Covert
Closing filmHey, Viktor! by Cody Lightning
LocationCalgary, Alberta, Canada
Founded2000
Festival dateSeptember 21–October 1, 2023
Websiteciffcalgary.ca
Calgary International Film Festival
2024
2022

The 2023 edition of the Calgary International Film Festival, the 24th edition in the event's history, took place from September 21 to October 1, 2023 in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.[1]

The festival opened with Geoff McFetridge: Drawing a Life, a documentary film by Dan Covert about Calgary-born artist Geoff McFetridge, and closed with Cody Lightning's comedy film Hey, Viktor!.[2]

Awards

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In 2023, the festival introduced a new CA$5,000 juried prize for Best Canadian Narrative Feature sponsored by Air Canada, as a complement to its existing RBC Emerging Artist Award for first-time Canadian filmmakers. New filmmakers remained eligible for the RBC Award, while Canadian films by more established directors were eligible for the Air Canada award.[3]

Juried award winners were announced on September 25,[4] with audience-voted award winners announced at the conclusion of the festival.[5]

Award Film Filmmaker
Audience Choice Alberta Feature Tales from the Rez Colin Ahnahktsipiitaa Van Loon, Trevor Solway
Audience Choice Canadian Narrative Feature Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (Vampire humaniste cherche suicidaire consentant) Ariane Louis-Seize
Audience Choice Canadian Documentary Feature Summer Qamp Jen Markowitz
Audience Choice International Narrative Feature The Persian Version Maryam Keshavarz
Audience Choice International Documentary Feature Geoff McFetridge: Drawing a Life Dan Covert
Audience Choice Late Shift The Puppetman Brandon Christensen
Audience Choice Generation Next Aitamaako'tamisskapi Natosi: Before the Sun Banchi Hanuse
Audience Choice Music on Screen Immediate Family Denny Tedesco
Audience Choice Special Presentations The Old Oak Ken Loach
Audience Choice Alberta Short MONSTR Tank Standing Buffalo
Audience Choice Narrative Short Dead Cat (Chat mort) Annie-Claude Caron, Danick Audet
Audience Choice Animated Short Ninety-Five Senses Jerusha Hess, Jared Hess
Audience Choice Documentary Short Jack and Sam Jordan Matthew Horowitz
Air Canada Canadian Narrative Feature Suze Dane Clark, Linsey Stewart
Air Canada Canadian Narrative Feature, Special Jury Citation Charlie Gillespie (performance)
RBC Emerging Canadian Artist Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (Vampire humaniste cherche suicidaire consentant) Ariane Louis-Seize
RBC Emerging Canadian Artist, Special Jury Citation Asog Seán Devlin
Hey, Viktor! Cody Lightning
DGC Canadian Documentary Feature Swan Song Chelsea McMullan
DGC Canadian Documentary Feature, Special Jury Citation Summer Qamp Jen Markowitz
International Narrative Feature Animalia (Parmi nous) Sofia Alaoui
International Narrative Feature, Special Jury Citation Close to You Elliot Page (performance)
20,000 Species of Bees (20.000 especies de abejas) Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren (direction)
International Documentary Feature Between the Rains Moses Thuranira, Andrew H. Brown
Short Film Grand Jury Prize Palm Sunday Wes Andre Goodrich
Devon Bolton Memorial Award MONSTR Tank Standing Buffalo
Youth by Youth Canada Short Film Award Operation Carl Sandra Hurd
Live Action Short Film Death to the Bikini! (À mort le bikini!) Justine Gauthier
Animated Short Film Boat People Thao Lam, Kjell Boersma
Documentary Short Film The Last Repair Shop Ben Proudfoot, Kris Bowers
Student Short Film Simone Aisha Amin

Official selections

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Canadian Narrative Competition

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English title Original title Director(s) Production country
Asog Seán Devlin Canada
Fitting In Molly McGlynn
Float Sherren Lee
Hey, Viktor! Cody Lightning
Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person Vampire humaniste cherche suicidaire consentant Ariane Louis-Seize
I Don't Know Who You Are M. H. Murray
I Used to Be Funny Ally Pankiw
In Flames Zarrar Kahn
My Animal Jacqueline Castel
The Queen of My Dreams Fawzia Mirza
Red Rooms Les Chambres rouges Pascal Plante
Richelieu Pier-Philippe Chevigny
Solo Sophie Dupuis
Suze Dane Clark, Linsey Stewart
Wild Goat Surf Caitlyn Sponheimer

Canadian Documentary Competition

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English title Original title Director(s) Production country
Aitamaako'tamisskapi Natosi: Before the Sun Banchi Hanuse Canada
Close the Divide Tom Acton
Cover Your Ears Sean Patrick Shaul
Cynara Sherien Barsoum
I Lost My Mom J'ai placé ma mère Denys Desjardins
I'm Just Here for the Riot Kathleen Jayme, Asia Youngman
Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe Robert McCallum
Subterranean Francois-Xavier De Ruydts
Summer Qamp Jen Markowitz
Swan Song Chelsea McMullan
Unsyncable Megan Wennberg
We Will Be Brave Chrisann Hessing

International Narrative Competition

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English title Original title Director(s) Production country
20,000 Species of Bees 20.000 especies de abejas Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren Spain
Animalia Parmi nous Sofia Alaoui Morocco, France, Qatar
Benji's Hour Gabriel Kahane United States
Blaga's Lessons Urotcite na Blaga Stefan Komanderev Bulgaria, Germany
Close to You Dominic Savage Canada, United Kingdom
Elaha Milena Aboyan Germany
Martínez Lorena Padilla Mexico
The Mattachine Family Andy Vallentine United States
The Other Widow הפילגש Maayan Rypp France, Israel
The Persian Version Maryam Keshavarz Turkey, United States
Riley Benjamin Howard United States
Tótem Lila Avilés Mexico, Denmark, France

International Documentary Competition

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English title Original title Director(s) Production country
Between the Rains Moses Thuranira, Andrew H. Brown Kenya, United Kingdom
Break the Game Jane M. Wagner United States
Fantastic Machine Axel Danielson, Maximilien Van Aertryck Denmark, Sweden
Four Daughters بنات ألفة Kaouther Ben Hania France, Tunisia, Germany, Saudi Arabia
Going Varsity in Mariachi Alejandra Vasquez, Sam Osborn United States
Great Photo, Lovely Life Amanda Mustard, Rachel Beth Anderson United States
Jesszilla Emily Sheskin United States
On the Adamant Sur l'Adamant Nicolas Philibert France, Japan
Silver Dollar Road Raoul Peck United States
Smoke Sauna Sisterhood Savvusanna sõsarad Anna Hints Estonia, France, Iceland
Werner Herzog: Radical Dreamer Thomas von Steinaecker Germany, United Kingdom
You Can Call Me Bill Alexandre O. Philippe United States

Features not in competition

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English title Original title Director(s) Production country
About Dry Grasses Kuru Otlar Üstüne Nuri Bilge Ceylan Turkey, France, Germany, Sweden
Anatomy of a Fall Anatomie d'une chute Justine Triet France
The Animal Kingdom Le Règne animal Thomas Cailley France
Big Boys Corey Sherman United States
La Chimera Alice Rohrwacher Italy, France, Switzerland
The Delinquents Los delincuentes Rodrigo Moreno Argentina, Brazil, Luxembourg, Chile
A Difficult Year Une année difficile Éric Toledano and Olivier Nakache France
Drop Ramin Eshraghi-Yazdi Canada
Dumb Money Craig Gillespie United States
Evil Does Not Exist 悪は存在しない Ryûsuke Hamaguchi Japan
Fallen Leaves Kuolleet lehdet Aki Kaurismäki Finland, Germany
Faultline Anna Cooley Canada
Hailey Rose Sandi Somers Canada
How to Have Sex Molly Manning Walker United Kingdom
How We Ended Us Grant Harvey Canada
If Only I Could Hibernate Баавгай болохсон, Baavgai Bolohson Zoljargal Purevdash Mongolia
Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell Bên trong vỏ kén vàng Phạm Thiên Ân Vietnam, Singapore, France, Spain
Isle of Hope Damian Romay United States
Jericho Ridge Will Gilbey United Kingdom
Kidnapped Rapito Marco Bellocchio Italy, France, Germany
Little Brother Sheridan O'Donnell United States
A Little Prayer Angus MacLachlan United States
Mayhem Farang Xavier Gens France, Thailand
Monster 怪物 Hirokazu Kore-eda Japan
The Old Oak Ken Loach United Kingdom, France, Belgium
Peak Season Steven Kanter, Henry Loevner United States
Perfect Days Wim Wenders Japan, Germany
The Pot-au-Feu La Passion de Dodin Bouffant Tran Anh Hung France
The Promised Land Bastarden Nikolaj Arcel Denmark, Germany, Sweden
The Puppetman Brandon Christensen United States
Robot Dreams Pablo Berger Spain, France
Romi Robert Cuffley Canada
The Royal Hotel Kitty Green Australia, United Kingdom
The Sacrifice Game Jenn Wexler United States
Seven Veils Atom Egoyan Canada
Sleep Jason Yu South Korea
The Teachers' Lounge Das Lehrerzimmer Ilker Çatak Germany
The Ties That Bind James Reckseidler Canada
Tótem Lila Avilés Mexico, Denmark, France
Vincent Must Die Vincent doit mourir Stéphan Castang France, Belgium
When Evil Lurks Cuando acecha la maldad Demián Rugna Argentina

Documentaries not in competition

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English title Original title Director(s) Production country
Anselm Anselm – Das Rauschen der Zeit Wim Wenders Germany
Geoff McFetridge: Drawing a Life Dan Covert United States
Immediate Family Denny Tedesco United States
Joan Baez: I Am a Noise Miri Navasky, Maeve O'Boyle, Karen O'Connor United States
Kiss the Future Nenad Cicin-Sain Bosnia and Herzegovina, United States, Ireland
The Lebanese Burger Mafia Omar Mouallem Canada
Patria y Vida: The Power of Music Beatriz Luengo Spain
They Shot the Piano Player Dispararon al pianista Fernando Trueba, Javier Mariscal Spain, France, Netherlands
The Stones & Brian Jones Nick Broomfield United Kingdom
Without Leaving Anyone Behind Sylvester Ndumbi Canada

Episodic

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English title Original title Director(s) Production country
Tales from the Rez Trevor Solway, Colin Ahnahktsipiitaa Van Loon Canada
Telling Our Story Kim O'Bomsawin Canada

Shorts

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English title Original title Director(s) Production country
27 Flóra Anna Buda France, Hungary
6 Minutes per Kilometre 6 minutes/km Catherine Boivin Canada
At Last Resmiye Emir Turkey
Basri & Salma in a Never-Ending Comedy Basri & Salma Dalam Komedi Yang Terus Berputar Khozy Rizal Indonesia
Beauty Visa Kate He, Simeon Hu United States
Between Earth & Sky Andrew Nadkarni United States
Blond Night Nuit blonde Gabrielle Demers Canada
Boat People Thao Lam, Kjell Boersma Canada
The Breakthrough Daniel Sinclair United States
Calf Jamie O'Rourke Ireland
Catherine & Michael Kathy Fusco United States
Chemical Somnia Scott Portingale Canada
Christopher at Sea Tom CJ Brown France
Closing Dynasty Lloyd Lee Choi United States
Coaching While Black Alex Eskandarkhah Canada
Coddle No More Nicholas Bentgen United States
Conviction Bruce Thomas Miller Canada
Counter Clockwise Roman Shipley Canada
Dead Cat Chat mort Annie-Claude Caron, Danick Audet Canada
Death & Ramen Tiger Ji United States
Death to the Bikini! À mort le bikini! Justine Gauthier Canada
Detour Kargo Chen Hong Kong
Dicks That I Like Johanna Gustin Germany
Don't Come In...Yet Isaac Elliott Australia
Eeva Lucija Mrzljak, Morten Tšinakov Croatia, Estonia
The Family Portrait Lea Vidakovic Croatia, France, Serbia
The Firefighter's Ball Le Bal des pompoers Baptiste Drapeau France
Fishmonger Neil Ferron United States
The Gateway Kamala Parel-Nuttall Canada
The Girl with the Red Beret Janet Perlman Canada
Go for Gold John Torres Canada
Grill Jade Hærem Aksnes Norway
Hide Your Crazy Austin Kase United States
High End Dying Helen Liu Canada
Hiraeth Emma McDonald Canada
Hit Man: Secrets of Lies Elias Plagianos United States
Hooks Les crochets Charles Parisé Canada
Human Resources Ressources humaines Trinidad Plass, Titouan Tillier, Isaac Wenzek France
I Have No Tears and I Must Cry Luis Fernando Puente United States
In the Heat Sam Chou Canada
It's a Date Nadia Parfan Ukraine
Jack and Sam Jordan Matthew Horowitz United States
Jinn Julian Jae Sterling Canada
The Key to the Heart of Time MJ Hansen Canada
A Kind of Testament Stephen Vuillemin France
Kolaj Gülce Besen Dilek Germany
Konpa Al'Ikens Plancher United States
Lo-Tech Reality Guillermo Garcia Lopez Spain
Losing Blue Leanne Allison Canada
Making Money in Manitou, Manitoba Austin Ladouceur Canada
Mine Esabella Strickland Canada
Monstr Tank Standing Buffalo Canada
My Eyes Are Up Here Nathan Morris United Kingdom
Mystic Tiger Marc Martínez Jordán Spain
Nai Nai & Wai Po: Grandma & Grandma Sean Wang United States
Nian Michelle Krusiec United States
Ninety-Five Senses Jerusha Hess, Jared Hess United States
No More Kîyâm Lese Skidmore Canada
Noodles Forever McKinley Carlin United States
Okem Joshua Okwuosa Nigeria, United States
Old Dragon Man Douglas Cook Canada
Only You James David Duric Canada
Operation Carl Sandra Rachel Hurd Canada
The Orchestra Chuck Built Christopher Stoudt United States
Overtime Jenny Lee-Gilmore Canada
Pacific Bell Sandrine Béchade Canada
Palm Sumday Wes Andre Goodrich United States
Piece by Piece Reza Rasouli Austria
Poof Margaret Miller United States
Power Signal Oscar Boyson United States
Pussy Love Linda Krauss Germany
Rise of Afrobeats in the Prairies Fahad Suleiman Canada
Salopica Serenella Sol, Callum McCormack Canada
Shadow Brother Sunday Alden Ehrenreich United States
Simone Aisha Amin United States
Soleil de nuit Fernando Lopez Escriva, Maria Camila Arias Canada
The Soup John Torres Canada
The Sperm Bank Margaux Susi United States
Suzy Makes Cupcakes Jayson Therrien Canada
The Syrian Cosmonaut Charles Emir Richards Turkey
Third Wheel Kevin Haefelin Japan, Switzerland
Tiny Ritchie Hemphill, Ryan Haché Canada
Two One Two Shira Avni Quebec
Unveiled Traditions Lili Yas Tayefi Canada
Wave Rider Dustin Chok Canada
Well Wishes My Love, Your Love Gabriel Gabriel Garble Malaysia, Sweden
White Ant Shalini Adnani India, United Kingdom
Yellowbird Tsvetelina Zdraveva, Jerred North United States
Zip Ava Maria Safai Canada

Special Experiences

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English title Original title Director(s) Production country
Heartland
Special gala screening of episode #250
Dean Bennett Canada
How to Fail as a Popstar
with Q&A and musical performance by Vivek Shraya
Vanessa Matsui Canada
The Hunchback of Notre Dame
with new live score by Chad VanGaalen
Wallace Worsley United States
Smoke Signals
retrospective screening linked to competition title Hey, Viktor!
Chris Eyre United States

References

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