48-HOUR MOVIE MAKING CHALLENGE This event is a showcase of the completed shorts from this years 48-Hour Movie Making Challenge! 16 Teams will be showcasing their films for the first time since filmed.
AFTER BLUE (DIRTY PARADISE) A hairdresser and her teenage daughter hunt a notorious killer in this erotic sci-fi acid western from cult iconoclast Bertrand Mandico.
BEYOND THE WASTELAND A documentary featuring fans from around the world who go to extraordinary lengths in the name of George Miller's MAD MAX.
THE CIVIL DEAD A misanthropic struggling photographer just wants to watch TV and eat candy while his wife is out of town, but when a desperate old pal resurfaces, his plans are thwarted, with spooky consequences in this heartfelt indie-horror-buddy-comedy.
DAWN BREAKS BEHIND THE EYES A couple spend eternity in a castle until their reality starts to shift. A love letter to the Gothic horror films of the ‘60s and ‘70s, that’s one wild trip.
DOWN WITH THE KING A famous rapper disillusioned with the music industry and the pressures of being a celebrity, leaves the city and his career behind to find himself in a small-town farming community.
DUAL Opening Night Film! The satirical, science-fiction thriller from CUFF alumnus Riley Stearns (2019 Secret Screening Selection THE ART OF SELF-DEFENSE) centres on a woman who opts for a cloning procedure after she receives a terminal diagnosis and is court-martialled to a dual to the death when she starts to recover.
EMILY THE CRIMINAL Desperate for income, Emily takes a shady gig buying goods with stolen credit cards supplied by a charismatic middleman named Youcef. Seduced by the quick cash and illicit thrills, they hatch a plan to take their business to the next level.
FILM DISTRIBUTION IN THE DIGITAL AGE: THE ABCS WITH XYZ!
FLUX GOURMET Set at an institute devoted to culinary and alimentary performance, a collective finds themselves embroiled in power struggles, artistic vendettas and gastrointestinal disorders in the latest release from arthouse auteur Peter Strickland.
FREAKSCENE: THE STORY OF DINOSAUR JR An homage of one of the most influential bands on the American East Coast, which inspired and influenced the alternative rock scene of the '90s.
FRIENDLY LOCAL GAME STORE The unlikely story of the world’s largest game store – The Sentry Box – located in Calgary.
GATLOPP After one too many, four friends decide to play a drinking game ... … but they soon realize that this is no ordinary game, when it’s revealed that if they don’t group together and face their inner demons, they will be forced to play for eternity.
GETTING IT BACK: THE STORY OF CYMANDE Cymande are the unsung heroes of hip hop, disco and a host of other genres, whose message of peace, love and funk sailed beyond Britain's shores and helped shape music for five decades.
GIRL PICTURE A Finnish coming of age story about three teens on the cusp of womanhood, set over three consecutive Fridays.
HOMEBOUND Nothing is as it seems when a woman visits her fiancé’s family with chilling results. A trip to the countryside becomes far from idyllic in this twisted psychological thriller.
HONEYCOMB A group of young girls move to the woods, leaving everything they know behind, in this Canadian breakout indie horror.
JANE BY CHARLOTTE Actress Charlotte Gainsbourg turns the lens on her mother, the iconic singer and actress Jane Birkin, in Gainsbourg's directorial debut.
A LIFE ON THE FARM An eccentric story from rural England about an art-inclined farmer and the inspiring, death-positive legacy of his long-lost home movies. Executive Produced by Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher from The Found Footage Festival.
LIVE SCRIPT READING: HUSKS Join a cast of actors for a free live script reading of the local horror-comedy HUSKS from CUFF alumnus (2019 Audience Award Winner HARPOON) Rob Grant.
LUZIFER Inspired by the true story of an exorcism, LUZIFER looks at the psyché of a child raised by his mother on the fringes of society.
MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON Starring Jenny Slate and Isabella Rossellini, the latest from A24 and Elevation Pictures, MARCEL THE SHELL WITH SHOES ON, is a live-action comedy based on the short YouTube films of the same name.
A NIGHT OF KNOWING NOTHING A dreamlike black and white love story about two students in India, and the political system that they are caught up in. Winner of the Golden Eye Prize for Best Documentary at the Director's Fortnight Cannes 2021.
PIGGY Adolescence can be brutal. An expanded version of a short by the same name, the Spanish thriller PIGGY was a standout at Sundance Film Festival's 2022 Midnight Section.
RETROGRADE A minor traffic citation spirals into an all-consuming obsession for a neurotic young woman. Grand Jury Mention, Slamdance 2022.
RHYMES FOR YOUNG GHOULS - NATIONAL CANADIAN FILM DAY FREE SCREENING This year's free National Canadian Film Day screening is the 2013 indie breakout RHYMES FOR YOUNG GHOULS (2013), the Indigenous focused debut of writer-director Jeff Barnaby.
THE RIGHTEOUS A burdened man feels the wrath of a vengeful God after he and his wife are visited by a mysterious stranger in this Newfoundland-set psychological horror.
SALOUM In Jean Luc Herbulot’s cool and kinetic genre-shifting supernatural thriller, a legendary trio of on-the-run mercenaries carrying a stolen gold bounty and a kidnapped drug lord take refuge in a remote and mystical area of Senegal, where dark ancestral forces unleash hell on them all.
SATURDAY MORNING ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT-CEREAL CARTOON PARTY! In this all-new program, you’ll see both faves and obscurities spanning the '50s through the '90s, all punctuated with vintage commercials, PSAs and station IDs! Jammies Encouraged! ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT CEREAL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
SHORTS PACKAGE - A PACK OF JOKERS A collection of shorts showcasing offbeat humour.
SHORTS PACKAGE - HIDEOUS HAUNTS These dark and creepy shorts will send a shiver down your spine.
SHORTS PACKAGE - PUSHING THROUGH Unique problems call for unconventional solutions in this mixture of dramatic stories.
SLASH/BACK In a remote Arctic community, a group of Inuit girls fight off an alien invasion, all while trying to make it to the coolest party in town. This screening is FREE for youth 14 and under!
STRAIGHTEN UP AND FLY RIGHT In a funk, Kristen, a physically disabled New York woman, walks dogs for a living but dreams of being a writer. When her life starts to unravel, she must make a choice to fall apart or straighten up.
SUNDOWN When a distant emergency disrupts a vacation in Acapulco, simmering tensions rise to the fore between scions of a wealthy British family. Starring Tim Roth and Charlotte Gainsbourg.
TRAVESTI ODYSSEY A raw look at the last performance of the queer radical Cabaret Travesía Travesti, which coincides with the social outburst in Chile in 2019.
UNDERDOG A quixotic Vermont dairy farmer risks losing the only home he's ever known to chase his dreams of dog mushing in Alaska.
WATCHER As a serial killer stalks the city, a young actress notices a mysterious stranger watching her in this terrifying thriller starring Maika Monroe (IT FOLLOWS).
WE MET IN VIRTUAL REALITY Filmed entirely inside the world of VR, this vérité documentary captures the excitement and surprising intimacy of a burgeoning cultural movement, demonstrating the power of online connection in an isolated world.
WHAT JOSIAH SAW A family with buried secrets reunite at a farmhouse after two decades to pay for their past sins.
A WICKED EDEN A peek into the real and virtual dungeons of women in the niche community of online fetish porn creators.
WILD MEN A razor-sharp and original Scandinavian black comedy which tackles the timely issue of modern masculinity.
WYRMWOOD: APOCALYPSE Set in an infested Australian wasteland, the post-apocalyptic zombie film follows a soldier, as he turns against his evil bosses and joins forces with a group of rebel survivors to help rescue a girl who might hold the cure to the virus.
BABYTHUMP A couple, Donny and Marie, awake one morning to find a baby has appeared in their apartment. Unsure what to do, and bewildered by the intrusion, they seek guidance from the eccentric Dr. Hoofenhoffer.
BETTE Bette gets a new job.
BREAK ANY SPELL When April sets off to battle in the the world of live-action-role-playing, her mother's early-onset Alzheimer's reaches a breaking point.
CHAMP After basketball practice one night, Genevieve reveals a dark secret to her teammates about their coach. Wielding her strategy and grit off the court, Genevieve works together with her teammates to find a way to retaliate.
CORNERS The government has implemented mandatory corner inspections for buildings where civilians go; grocery stores, malls, furniture stores. When a dedicated, passionate, corner inspector is replaced, it becomes apparent that this is one business where you can't cut corners.
CRUISE We’ve all received scam phone calls, but what about the person making the calls? CRUISE is a dark workplace satire about a hapless telemarketer trying mightily to give away a free cruise.
CULTURE BEAT A show that investigates high-culture institutions through the lowbrow lens of various characters. The 2021 love child of DA ALI G SHOW and ANTHONY BOURDAIN: NO RESERVATIONS.
DANZAMATTA The morning after a wild party, David and Oscar discover that their roommate Robin is still dancing. What the heck is going on?
THE DEAD COLLECTORS During a pandemic in an alternate reality, two men have the job of collecting the deceased.
DEAR FRIEND A visual letter penned by Indigenous youth and made out to a “cruel friend.” The young authors of this letter pour their heart into expressing the torment, confusion and empathy they feel towards their mental health.
DEATH RATTLE In the grand song that is the universe, Death is the great sound mixer. Death goes about their days gathering bits and pieces of people’s experiences, that form this cosmic beat and melody that flows through everything. And at the end of one Woman’s life, Death will be the one to play it back for her.
DEERWOODS DEATHTRAP 50 years ago, Jack and Betty were hit by a train and survived. 50 years later, they return to the scene of the accident to recount their conflicting memories.
DRIP-BY-DRIP The constant dripping of a faucet, the never-ending quotidian of a long day, the forced coexistence with the different. Two siblings stuck in their universes. He’s an artist. She’s an autistic.
F^¢K '€M R!GHT B@¢K A queer, Black Baltimore rapper must outwit his "out to get him" day job boss in order to avoid being fired after he accidentally takes drugs.
FERMATA In a secluded cabin surrounded by untrodden snow, a man delves into his childhood memories with his father. Nothing can disrupt this moment of introspection, not even the most dangerous threat.
FRANKIE Frankie, a non-binary trans person, crashes their ex-partner’s men-only 12 step meeting, determined to be heard... no matter the cost.
GUTS A guy with his guts on the outside of his body really wants a promotion.
HOW TO DISAPPEAR Social hermit Nina Moyse decides to take things one step further, removing herself from society completely by trying to totally disappear. However her goals change after she discovers she still desires a form of human interaction.
IN THE MOUNTAINS A couple on a hike run into some trouble.
IN THE SHADOWS A newly separated mother, is spending a weekend at her mom’s house with her 8-year-old son who is still unaware of the breakup. In the shadows, a creature in search of fresh flesh lies waiting for the right moment to lure them into its lair.
IN THE SOIL Karoline’s life is turned upside down when her father, Kjeld, manically starts digging a pit in their backyard. The following days turn into a living nightmare as the pit becomes a grave and the land, which has been in the family for generations, pulls Kjeld further and further down into the deep.
INAPPROPRIATE JOKES WELL TOLD “A priest walking through the woods” at night is the pilot episode of INAPPROPRIATE JOKES WELL TOLD. A short, cinematic interpretation series of the jokes we shouldn’t tell.
LANDLINE A mother and daughter embark on a road trip to locate a prized family possession with sentimental value.
THE LAST CHRISTMAS A mischievous 8-year-old girl unleashes a twisted Christmas nightmare, when her plans to capture Santa Claus go horribly wrong.
NIGHT BUS Aboard a late-night commuter bus, a stolen necklace sets off a macabre chain of events involving a jealous husband and a vengeful monkey.
NQR On a late night subway ride, a struggling comedian faces her doubts.
NYC TIPS AND TRICKS A small time travel vlogger’s tour of Coney Island is interrupted by an unexpected call.
PIITA AAPASSKAAN Kyle Young Pine grew up skateboarding in Calgary, Alberta. The community and the freedom he found there removed him from the substance abuse that was happening at home, a result of pervasive generational trauma. When skateboarding wasn’t enough, Kyle turned to other means of coping, until he was introduced to Fancy Feather Dancing.
RENTAL MOM The ones who get to experience the joyful state of freedom and tranquillity, will recall the divine integrity of the mother’s womb. This recollection will lead them to snap out of the collective structures, turn their back against it, and find their own path.
SMILE When a young woman struggles to smile, her depression becomes something truly monstrous.
STRANGER THAN ROTTERDAM WITH SARA DRIVER In 1982, the completion of Jim Jarmusch's sophomore film, STRANGER THAN PARADISE, hinged on producer Sara Driver's duty to hand carry the only existing print of the world's most controversial rock documentary, COCKSUCKER BLUES, across the Atlantic Ocean.
SYLVAIN'S HUNT A surreal depiction of something familiar. Miniatures, prosthetics, sightless driving mountain shots, puppets and gore effects, all serve to make a traditional Son and Father rite-of-passage hunting trip into an uncanny vision of maturation and masculinity.
TERATOMA Two young people, a girl and a boy, will have to face a venereal disease after having sexual relations.
WHILE MORTALS SLEEP When a cold case novelist’s career implodes, she seeks refuge in her friend’s remote vacation home. Upon arrival, she encounters a strange couple who claim to be the caretakers. As tensions build, a dark secret begins to emerge.
The Calgary Underground Film Festival
