For the fifth consecutive year, Calgary has been recognized by MovieMaker Magazine as one of the “Best Places to Live and Work as a Filmmaker in North America”. A contributing factor to Calgary’s rise from eighth to fifth? Great Festivals! Among them, The Calgary Underground Film Festival or CUFF, (celebrating its 22 anniversary), which was itself named among the 50 best ‘genre’ festivals by MovieMaker Magazine in 2021 & 2023. CUFF programming can include everything from horror & sci-fi to indie comedies and documentaries. It has been internationally recognized as a top horror film festival and was named one of The Best Horror Festivals in the World by the influential horror entertainment website Dread Central in 2022.
The 2025 edition of CUFF begins on Thursday, April 17 and runs until Sunday, April 27th at Globe Cinema. It will include 50+ feature films, and special events such as post-screening Q&As, and industry discussion panels. The festival kicks off with the A24 release Friendship, a TIFF and SXSW-selected comedy starring Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd. Following the film, CJSW Station Manager Adam Kamis will kick off the after party with a live DJ set at The Derrick, located across from the Globe Cinema.
CUFF may be an internationally acclaimed festival, but it still maintains a focus on Alberta content, and this year will be presenting episodic content created in Calgary, 10 Alberta short films which will play across three short film packages before features, and Alberta premieres from Alberta directors.
For instance, CUFF will present the Alberta premiere of Lunatic – The Luna Vachon Story, from Alberta director Kate Kroll. Lunatic profiles the complex life of famed WWF wrestler Luna Vachon. Born into a wrestling dynasty, Vachon was a formidable force in the WWF during the “Attitude Era” of the late 1990s/ early 2000s. Kroll’s film credentials certainly speak for themselves ( TIFF, VIFF, DOXA, CBC, etc) but her most interesting credential is probably her own history as a professional wrestler, under the name Calamity Kate.
This year’s CUFF will also see the return of several fan favourite events, such as CUFFcade, which is celebrating its 10th Anniversary. CUFFcade is the only curated arcade of its type in Canada, and since 2015, has launched five new indie video games each April. These games remain accessible and free to play at Globe Cinema throughout the festival.
Game lovers will also be pleased to see the return of Indie Game Bash, a live big screen video game tournament, on Friday April 18, featuring the legendary GoldenEye 007, widely considered to be the most important game in the history of first-person shooters.
There’s also fun for the whole family on April 19 with the return of Saturday Morning All-You-Can-Eat-Cereal Cartoon Party! This 3-hour trip into the weird and wonderful world of cartoon faves and obscurities, spans fro the ’30s – ’90s, and is accompanied by an all you can eat cereal bar. (This event also has a suggested pajama dress code!)
Gen X and elder millennials will be the most pleased by the 20th Anniversary edition of the Found Footage Fest on Friday April 25. Hosted by Joe Pickett (The Onion) and Nick Prueher (The Colbert Report), this live event will celebrate two decades of absurd and entertaining VHS finds.
CUFF is also offering some great free events for filmmakers and film fans on a budget.
On Sat April 26, cinephiles are invited to experience a film in the early stages of development with a Live Script Reading of the upcoming Alberta feature-length film Man vs. Truck, by Calgary-based filmmaker Ted Stenson. A cast of actors will bring this satirical dark comedy to life, followed by a Q&A with the production team (who are open to script feedback!)
Local filmmakers with questions like “How to stay edgy and relevant in a growingly mainstream industry?” or, “How to gain attention from distributors on micro-budget films?” or even, “How to be subversive in growingly strange times?”, will want to attend the free Industry Panel The Shape of Genre Film To Come. Featuring a lineup of programmers, acquisitions managers, festival directors, and distributors … did we mention that CUFF was also ranked one of “50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee” by MovieMaker Magazine?
CUFF wraps up on Sunday, April 27th with a 15th Anniversary screening of Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil (2010), followed by the Canadian premiere of the horror comedy Clown in a Cornfield.
Full program and schedule available online, tickets on sale now 5-film packs, and festival passes available.
