Calgary Underground Film Fest Poster Artwork by Matt Luckhurst

This April 14th – 19th we are so very lucky to once again have CUFF (Calgary Underground Film Fest) grace the city of Calgary. CUFF clocks in at 7 years young and like some sort of interstellar-rocket-train continues to gain momentum. So what can we expect from this years multi-format, genre-bending showcase? As per usual we have a selection of feature length and short films covering the beautiful, weird and wonderful. I thought I would offer a few of my picks for this years festival but after looking at the full line-up you really can’t go wrong with any of these cinematic gems.

Died Young, Stayed Pretty – 112 Mins – Awesome – Saturday, April 19th @ The Uptown

Take a trip into the primarily underground world of indie gig poster creation and collection. Iranian born and Canadian raised documentarian Eileen Yaghoobian introduces us to the diverse cavalcade of individuals involved in this unique scene. This film was recently featured at this years SXSW and received the official selection from the 2008 Montreal World Film Fest. Having caught a sneak preview of this flick I can say this you will be surprised at how engaging and entertaining the world of Gig Posters can really be.  All this and you have interviews with heavy hitters like oh Frank Kozik and Calgary’s own Clay Hayes from GigPosters.com.

TOKYO! – 95 Mins – Narrative – Saturday, April 18th @ The Plaza

Do we shape our cities or do our cities shape us?  TOKYO! tackles this enduring question through 3 distinct stories about Japan’s metropolitan mecca.  We have Bong Joon-Ho, Leos Carax and Michel Gondry each presenting their unique directorial vision.  We here at the Splash have been waiting on this one for a while and I’m told this is the Canadian premier.  This film also just happened to receive the official selection at Cannes 2008.  Peep the trailer and tell me you aren’t a little excited.  Oh and what’s that… is that Canada’s own Tokyo Police Club providing music for the trailer?  I think it is!

BAG – 9 Mins – Short Film – Tuesday April 14th @ The Plaza

BAGImage from memelodia.blogspot.com

If gig posters aren’t for you perhaps may I suggest you checkout the Plaza on Tuesday instead for something a little more local. BAG is a short film about a man’s obsession with a garbage bag. Okay the details are a might trim but this film comes from Calgary’s own Jay Woolley. You may remember Mr. Woolley from such amazing bands as The Agnostic Mountain Gospel Choir and Hot Awesome. If that gives you any indication then you know it’ll be top drawer. Also, this one plays along side Momma’s Man. That’s two-for-one yo!