We are partway through the final day of the festival and there are still many great films to come. There are two films from the Mavericks series screening today. SNOW & ASHES (4:30 at Globe) is the lone Canadian film in the series. It is a disorienting journey through the fragmented memories of a war correspondent. Although set in Eastern Europe, the film was shot entirely in Canada. There is an encore screening of R today (9:15 at the Plaza). Friday's screening was one of the most talked about of the past few days. This Danish film deserves a place amongst the great prison films of all time such as Midnight Express.
I did not see MYTH OF AN AMERICAN SLEEPOVER (4:45 at Plaza) but read great reviews of it out of Cannes and SXSW.
WHEN WE LEAVE (7:00 at Eau Claire) is the winner of the Best International Feature award at CIFF this year. This is its only screening of the festival so expect a large crowd ready to be blown away by an incredibly moving film. Another award winner will be crowned after the ALBERTA SPIRIT shorts program (7:00 at Globe). The best Albertan shorts of the year will be screened and then a winner chosen. I will not be at the screening but some of the filmmakers will be at the Marquee Room afterward and will try to find out what people thought there.
A film that I had overlooked but got great ratings at the screening Saturday was GABI ON THE ROOF IN JULY (9:00 at Eau Claire). Geetika wrote a strong piece on it here: http://calgaryfilmfestival.blogspot.com/2010/09/gabi-on-roof-in-july.html
One of the best Canadian films of the festival, HEARTBEATS, has an encore tonight at 9:30 at Globe. One year after bursting onto the festival circuit with the multiple award-winning I KILLED MY MOTHER, Xavier Dolan returns with another highly personal story that has been garnering acclaim around the world.
