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]
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
[edit] Canadian Narrative Competition
[edit] Canadian Documentary Competition
[edit] International Narrative Competition
[edit] International Documentary Competition
[edit] 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
[edit] 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 | 잠 | 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
[edit] 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 |
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 |
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 and 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
[edit] - ^ Stephen Hunt, "CIFF lineup includes 20 Canadian feature premieres, including lots of Alberta content". CTV Calgary, August 31, 2023.
- ^ Aryn Toombs, "CIFF opens and closes festival with pair of award winning, crowd pleasing Canadian films". LiveWire Calgary, August 30, 2023.
- ^ Aryn Toombs, "Calgary International Film Festival adds new competition to 2023". LiveWire Calgary, August 16, 2023.
- ^ Aryn Toombs, "Winners of 2023 CIFF competitions unveiled". LiveWire Calgary, September 25, 2023.
- ^ "Summer Qamp, Drawing a Life audience favourites at CIFF". LiveWire Calgary, October 3, 2023.