Film crews, actors, directors and movie lovers are all arriving in Calgary as the province’s largest film festival unofficially kicks off.
The 25th version of the Calgary International Film Festival (CIFF) officially gets underway Thursday, but a special screening of the new Tragically Hip docuseries at the Globe Cinema Wednesday night marks the unofficial start.
There are two screenings of ‘No Dress Rehearsal,’ the Tragically Hip docuseries, at 6 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. at the Globe Cinema.
The project’s director, Mike Downie, brother of the band’s late frontman Gord Downie, will be in attendance on the red carpet and will take part in a special Q&A post-screening. Downie sat down to speak with 660 NewsRadio last month.
Around 30,000 people are expected to fill Calgary cinemas over the next 11 days.
Katherine Penhale is CIFF’s acting executive director and says more than 15 per cent of CIFF ticket purchasers in 2023 came from outside of the city — that number doesn’t include the panelists, industry members, or filmmakers.
The festival will add millions to Calgary’s economy, according Jeff Hessel, the senior VP of marketing with Tourism Calgary. He says the city is seeing a 10 per cent growth in tourism in September compared to last year.
“Lots of people on Stephen Avenue, lots of people in hotels, it has a really incredible effect on tourism,” he says. “They are eating in our restaurants and going shopping while they’re here.”
CIFF organizers have made adjustments to deal with the loss of the Eau Claire Market cinemas. Eau Claire has served as the festival hub for over a decade.
This year CIFF will screen films out of Contemporary Calgary, Globe Cinema, and The Plaza Theatre. Cineplex Scotiabank Chinook Theatre will be the fourth venue in 2024 to facilitate the screening capacity CIFF needs to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the festival.
The CIFF opening gala officially kicks off the festival Thursday at 8 p.m. at the Jack Singer Concert Hall.
CIFF runs until Sep. 29, 2024. More information can be found here.