CIFF 2007: So far, so good!

Among the changes I’ve seen in Calgary since moving here in 2000 (it was August), one of the happiest has been to witness the evolution of the Calgary International Film Festival. It started a few weeks after my arrival in this city, coinciding with the re-opening of The Uptown Stage and Screen as a permanent venue. It was on three screens- two at the Uptown and one across the street at the Globe. Yes, it was such a tiny festival that the Globe kept one of its screens for its regular schedule. I had to buy tickets at Ticketmaster- no dedicated box office. Joe Boxer was a major sponsor. The gala opening party was at Eatons, which is also pretty inscrutable. The whole thing took place over two weekends, six days, and the princely sum of 40 titles were screened. It was like a college film series, but the founders managed some pretty cool branding (it’s still in use, the logo I mean), the buzz was palpable, and I had the feeling that this was going to be a continuing thing.

CIFF’s growth was fast, and it’s leapfrogged other festivals to become the third biggest in Canada, by number of screenings. Sponsorship has grown; they snagged AMEX as presenting sponsor this year, and while the national press has done a piss-poor job of catching up (still no mention in The Globe, though this year’s fest is only 4 days in so far, so there’s still hope there), we have a major event here. And it’s an exhausting but exhilarating thing.

Since I’m on sabbatical, I can see a lot of titles, although given the fact that there aren’t that many daytime screenings during the week, I don’t think I’m going to beat my average (between, say, 13 and 18 films or shorts programs) this year. But we’ll see. Since Friday, I’ve seen six films, and five have been docs. I like docs- if I have to leave early, I can still be happy to have been exposed to something interesting, because there’s usually no investment in a narrative. If I want to know the “ending” I can google it or whatever. And when they’re good, it’s the most satisfying and enraging and moving sort of film, for me at least. Anyway, I am thrilled to write that I’ve enjoyed everything so far this year. Film fests are always crap shoots, and the gamble fizzles as often as it pays off. I’ve had to sit through some garbage, including critically-acclaimed garbage (the best example of which I can think of was a stinkfest a couple years ago called Scared Sacred, which was a load of self-evident nonsense that I walked out on) to get to the gems, but this year has been different. The titles are Poor Boy’s Game, Girls Rock, Orange Revolution, Let’s All Hate Toronto, Bomb It!, and The Bodybuilder and I. You can peruse the synopses at the CIFF site, but I have to say that for pure entertainment and a fun and engaging Q and A, Let’s All Hate Toronto was a scream. It’s by Albert Nerenberg, who is one of the brains behind the hilarious website called trailervision, and Rob Spence (who plays “Mr. Toronto” and travels across Canada promoting “Toronto Appreciation Day”). Check out the website for trailers and info about the film’s release schedule and DVD updates. I cannot wait to get my hands on the DVD for outtakes. This is a fantastic achievement.

So there’s more of that to look forward to. In the meantime, I’m preparing to depart on Oct 1 for 22 days in Europe (almost all Germany with a few days in Luxembourg), and I am trying to get another manuscript done before that, so I’m off.