Calgary Underground Film Festival announced the first wave of films and live events playing the upcoming festival taking place online (April 23 – May 2) and drive-ins (June 3-5, 2021).
Today’s announcement includes two local features – Bloodthirsty and Range Roads along with music documentaries – Heartworn Highways (1976) – Re-Release and Vinyl Nation which will be available to stream during the online portion of the festival.
“We always love showcasing local films and our talented crews. I’m excited for the Alberta films we’re screening this year,” said Festival Director & Lead Programmer Brenda Lieberman.
The festival also launched a new podcast called CUFFcast, which takes listeners on a wild ride through the world of weird, underground & fantastic films with the Calgary Underground Film Festival (World’s 50 Best Genre Film Festivals 2021 – MovieMaker).
This year’s lineup will include 30+ films and online events, which will be available to stream for 10 days as part of the 18th edition of the festival. There will be a mix of films available to watch on-demand, live streams, panels, and Q&As with filmmakers.
Calgary Underground Film Festival 2020 First Wave
Alberta Features
BLOODTHIRSTY Directed by Amelia Moses (Local Producers Michael Peterson and Wendy Hill-Tout): An indie singer struggling to write her sophomore album heads to the secluded cabin of a mysterious producer and begins a deep transformation of both body and mind in this Alberta werewolf thriller.
RANGE ROADS Directed, Written & Produced by Kyle Thomas (Local Producers Alexander Carson and Sara Corry): Television actor Frankie King struggles to confront the past when she returns to her hometown in rural Alberta after her parents are killed in a tragic car accident.
Music Documentaries
HEARTWORN HIGHWAYS (1976) – RE-RELEASE Directed by James Szalapski: A newly-restored documentary of the cult classic about the radical country artists that changed the course of country music history. Presented by Sled Island.
VINYL NATION Directed by Christopher Boone And Kevin Smokler: A deep dig into the crates of the vinyl record resurgence to discover what an old technology says about our relationship to music and each other in a divided time in America.
Annual Live Events
FOUND FOOTAGE FESTIVAL: TAPE TRADING CLASSICS – Live on Thursday, April 29 at 7pm: Hosts Joe Pickett (The Onion) and Nick Prueher (Late Show) take you back in time to the pre-internet 90s to resurrect the best “tape traded” videos passed from weirdo to weirdo on VHS.
SATURDAY MORNING ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT-CEREAL (AT HOME) CARTOON PARTY! – Live on Saturday, May 1 at 9am: The cartoon lineup is always a mystery, but in this all new program, you’ll see both faves and obscurities spanning the ’60s through the ’90s, all punctuated with vintage commercials, PSAs and station IDs! To complement this 3-hour trip into the weird and wonderful world of yesteryear’s animated antics, we encourage you to stay in your jammies and pick-up your favourite sugary cereals.
LIVE SCRIPT READING: HURT THEM – Live on Saturday, May 1 at 2pm: The interactive live event includes a script reading of the upcoming production HURT THEM directed by Calgary filmmaker Michael Peterson. The violent revenge thriller tells the story of an elderly man in a nursing home that’s drawn into bloody games, which he thought that he left behind 50 years ago.