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.Stephen Hunt, "CIFF lineup includes 20 Canadian feature premieres, including lots of Alberta content". CTV Calgary, August 31, 2023.
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!.Aryn Toombs, "CIFF opens and closes festival with pair of award winning, crowd pleasing Canadian films". LiveWire Calgary, August 30, 2023.
Awards In 2023, the festival introduced a new 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.Aryn Toombs, "Calgary International Film Festival adds new competition to 2023". LiveWire Calgary, August 16, 2023.
Juried award winners were announced on September 25,Aryn Toombs, "Winners of 2023 CIFF competitions unveiled". LiveWire Calgary, September 25, 2023. with audience-voted award winners announced at the conclusion of the festival."Summer Qamp, Drawing a Life audience favourites at CIFF". LiveWire Calgary, October 3, 2023.
Award Film Filmmaker Audience Choice Alberta Feature Tales from the Rez Colin Ahnahktsipiitaa Van Loon, Sinakson 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
Canadian Narrative Competition English title Original title Director(s) Production country Asog Seán Devlin Canada Fitting In Molly McGlynn Float Sherren Lee Hey, Viktor! Cody Lightning Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person Vampire humaniste cherche suicidaire consentant Ariane Louis-Seize I Don't Know Who You Are M. H. Murray I Used to Be Funny Ally Pankiw In Flames Zarrar Kahn My Animal Jacqueline Castel The Queen of My Dreams Fawzia Mirza Red Rooms Les Chambres rouges Pascal Plante Richelieu Pier-Philippe Chevigny Solo Sophie Dupuis Suze Dane Clark, Linsey Stewart Wild Goat Surf Caitlyn Sponheimer
Canadian Documentary Competition English title Original title Director(s) Production country Aitamaako'tamisskapi Natosi: Before the Sun Banchi Hanuse Canada Close the Divide Tom Acton Cover Your Ears Sean Patrick Shaul Cynara Sherien Barsoum I Lost My Mom J'ai placé ma mère Denys Desjardins I'm Just Here for the Riot Kathleen Jayme, Asia Youngman Mr. Dressup: The Magic of Make-Believe Robert McCallum Subterranean Francois-Xavier De Ruydts Summer Qamp Jen Markowitz Swan Song Chelsea McMullan Unsyncable Megan Wennberg We Will Be Brave Chrisann Hessing
International Narrative Competition English title Original title Director(s) Production country 20,000 Species of Bees 20.000 especies de abejas Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren Spain Animalia Parmi nous Sofia Alaoui Morocco, France, Qatar Benji's Hour Gabriel Kahane United States Blaga's Lessons Urotcite na Blaga Stefan Komanderev Bulgaria, Germany Close to You Dominic Savage Canada, United Kingdom Elaha Milena Aboyan Germany Martínez Lorena Padilla Mexico The Mattachine Family Andy Vallentine United States The Other Widow הפילגש Maayan Rypp France, Israel The Persian Version Maryam Keshavarz Turkey, United States Riley Benjamin Howard United States Tótem Lila Avilés Mexico, Denmark, France
International Documentary Competition 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 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 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
Episodic English title Original title Director(s) Production country Tales from the Rez Sinakson Trevor Solway, Colin Ahnahktsipiitaa Van Loon Canada Telling Our Story Kim O'Bomsawin Canada
Shorts