Calgary Underground Film Festival 2014 - Preview: CUFF Programming Committee TOP PICKS and MUST SEES

Posted on Thursday, March 27, 2014 at 12:00 AM

2014 Calgary Underground Film Festival (CUFF) Programming Committee TOP PICKS and MUST SEES

By Christopher Lee - CalgaryMovies.com

Always being the strange kid on the film festival block, this year’s Calgary Underground Film Festival has a lineup that encompasses everything from oddball weird to the shockingly unconventional. This ‘indie’ film festival is a favorite of ours at CalgaryMovies.com, where we get to see some wacked out flicks on the big screen that would never ever get a chance on any regular theatre rotation, particularly in conservative Calgary. After blowing our minds for their 10th anniversary festival last year, we got to sneak a peek at this year’s 2014 lineup and our jaws just dropped... And of course we mean that in an agreeable way.

Before you decide that CUFF is only full of weirdo and far-out films, some may be surprised to hear that the festival presents a well balanced selection of worldwide films. Evolving into their 11th year, CUFF presents an edgy selection of 30+ films and shorts pulled from around the globe spanning across 22 genres. There is something for everybody, which is represented by the wide breadth of tastes and personality of the programming committee. Brenda Lieberman, Festival Director, and the CUFF team scoured film festivals everywhere, looking for obscure and cutting edge, yet exceptional films, with the objective of expanding the minds of Calgarians.

In preparation for this year’s CUFF, we thought it would be a bizarre fantastic idea to get into the minds of our good friends at CUFF and find out what their top picks and must see films are for the 2014 festival. Get yourself ready for another 7 days of underground film awesomeness!

The 2014 Calgary Underground Film Festival has multiple screenings daily between April 7 to 13, 2014 exclusively at The Globe Cinema (617 - 8 Avenue SW). Check out the CUFF website for full lineup, schedule and advance tickets. Festival guide can be downloaded HERE >

Artwork by Jarett Sitter

CUFF STAFF TOP PICKS

Cole Binder, Technical Coordinator - owner of Binder Productions Inc. in Calgary.
PREFERRED GENRE: Comedy and Sci-fi
2014 TOP PICK: Wetlands - It looks hilarious and it's German.
MUST SEES: The Machine; Doomsdays

Cody Cook, Film Programmer. I'm a huge cinephile and love watching genre films plus I'm a big Troma nerd!
PREFFERED GENRE: I love independent / horror films and Japanese cinema.
2014 TOP PICK: Science Team! This is the best film I've seen all year! If you like Troma or just funny movies you're gonna love this flick.
MUST SEES: The Sacrament; Why Don't You Play In Hell (Jigoku De Naze Warui)

Amy Darling, CUFF Audience Development - Film producer at Media Darling.
PREFERRED GENRE: Nothing scarier than Gremlins, thankyouverymuch!
2014 TOP PICK: Jodorowsky’s Dune - Hailed in TIME magazine as the year’s most powerful and impassioned movie performance, and it truly is one of the most refreshing, most energizing documentaries I have seen this year.
MUST SEES: Frank - Our opening gala, stars Michael Fassbender and Maggie Gyllenhaal. What more do you need? Mood Indigo - The new unbelievably inventive, whimsical comedy from French genius Michel Gondry, starring Audrey Tautou from Amelie. Can't wait to see these films with an audience!

Bryn Evans, Programming Committee - Film critic with Fast Forward Weekly.
PREFFERED GENRE: '80s horror flicks and Technicolor epics.
2014 TOP PICK: Blue Ruin - Saw this in Austin at Fantastic Fest, and knew we had to show it; gritty crime drama at its finest.
MUST SEES: As the Palaces Burn; The Raid 2

Andrew Eyck, CUFF Co-Founder & Programmer - A film programmer for a number of festivals in Calgary for 25 years.
PREFERRED GENRE: Documentary Films - Both the traditional documentary style as well as ones that challenge the format and the viewer
2014 TOP PICK: Alive Inside: A Story of Music and Memory - 3 minute standing ovation and Audience Award winner at 2014 Sundance Film Festival
MUST SEES: Wetlands - The most WTF, NSFW film of CUFF 2014; The Sacrament - A shocking film about the unseemly goings-on of an offshore religious cult told in a documentary style.

Brenda Lieberman, Festival Director/ Programmer - A screener junkie constantly looking for unique gems to expose Calgary audiences to, and in genres too that sometimes people wouldn't even think they'd be interested in... then BAM!
PREFERRED GENRE: Probably my favourites are horror and dark-comedy, but love anything absurdist and find joy in discovering quirky indie rom/coms.
2014 TOP PICK: Love Eternal - A dark, morbid, off-beat love story that hooked me in from the very beginning and loved it. Based on the Japanese novel "In Love With the Dead", the film easily borders on both dark-comedy and romantic thriller. If you’re looking for something different, I highly recommend it.
MUST SEES: We Are The Best (Vi är bäst!) - Coming of age, punk rock girls film. Anyone would walk away with a smile after seeing this one! Frank - quirky fun music comedy - that just so happens to also fall on my birthday!

Cameron Macgowan, Programmer - Filmmaker, Film Programmer, Honky Tonk Hero.
PREFFERED GENRE: There is no genre of film that I do not enjoy. Stylistic preference; Bold, original, and must have heart.
2014 TOP PICK: Blue Ruin - Not since the early days of the Coen brothers have we seen such an original, darkly comedic and stylish modern crime film.
MUST SEES: People Are Strange (Shorts Package) - A fresh batch of wild, charming and hilarious short films from around the world; R100 - You have seriously never seen a film like R100 before. If this film doesn't provoke any reaction within you, I will personally buy you a soft drink of your choice.

Karilynn Thompson, Box Office & Volunteer Coordinator - Shorts Programmer for the Calgary International Film Festival, animation aficionado, and long time CUFF’er
PREFERRED GENRE: Animation, SciFi, and anything surreal, weird and magical, preferably with a dark twist
2014 TOP PICK: Mood Indigo – Gondry and Audrey Tautou: you cannot go wrong. Touted as his return to form of films like Science of Sleep, this love story sounds like pure magic, in surreal Gondry-style.
MUST SEES: Asphalt Watches – Bizarre, trippy stoner comedy – Canadiana gold, and road trip animation amazingness – with characters named Bucktooth Cloud and Skeleton Hat this is a psychedelic must-see; The Strange Color of your Bodies Tears - Hallucinations, eroticism and an ultra-saturated color scheme – add this to a twisting plotline filled with jarring violence – I’m in!

Brennan Tilley, Programmer & Administrative Manager
PREFERRED GENRE: I look for films that put the "fun" in "profundity". I love a wide range of comedies. I am also a sucker for films about the elderly.
2014 TOP PICK: Saturday Morning All-You-Can-Eat-Cereal Cartoon Party - Due to the overwhelming popularity of this event in previous years, we have expanded to two theatres. Guest curator Kier-La Janisse has programmed a fresh set of 3 hours of cartoons from the 60s through 80s. I, along with other cereal enthusiasts, have spent the past 6 months searching for more than 50 varieties of the best cereals available in North America. Highlights this year include all 5 of the General Mills Monster Cereals (one of which has been unavailable for 30 years) and the newly introduced Poppin' Fruity Pebbles. We do not know the cartoons that are included this year but they are sure to entertain children and adults alike.
MUST SEES: Doomsdays - I was sold on this film as soon as it was described as "A pre-apocalyptic buddy comedy about squatters in the Catskills." It is a finely-crafted, intelligent, funny film that will appeal to anyone intrigued by that initial pitch. As a bonus, it is preceded by Funnel, the best short I have seen in a long time; We Gotta Get Out Of This Place - With nods to pulp crime master Jim Thompson and an early scene set in a Whataburger, this is classic Southern noir redefined for a new generation.

Jeff Wright, Programmer - CUFF's programmer from a far away land (Toronto).
PREFERRED GENRE: My film taste is all over the place. From no budget relationship dramas, to wild and stylish genre films, to personal documentaries, and beyond.
2014 TOP PICK: R100 - If you love twisted absurdist comedy, you absolutely must see R100 by Japanese superstar, Hitoshi Matsumoto. An uptight business man hires a mysterious S&M company to have dominatrices attack him daily when he least expects it. Needless to say, things get out of hand very quickly.
MUST SEES: And if you can only see two other films at the festival, I would recommend The Raid 2 because the enthusiasm CUFF's audience is going to make it one of our most epic and electric screenings ever; And then in our People Are Strange (Shorts Package) short film program, My Father Is A Bird from Israel tells the story of a father and son like no other you've ever seen before.

A HUGE THANK YOU goes out to the entire CUFF staff for taking the time out to pass along their picks to CalgaryMovies.com for this year’s upcoming festival.

CalgaryMovies.com Local Scene Event >
Calgary Underground Film Festival >
CUFF Facebook >
CUFF Schedule >