Mavericks

What is a ‘maverick’?
…a person who thinks independently, a lone dissenter, a non-conformist or rebel

In the film industry and in reference to filmmakers, the term “maverick” is applied to those who forge new ground in filmmaking and create signature, personal films outside of the normal parameters of narrative storytelling. These dissenters are often recognized for challenging traditional boundaries of technology, business models, structures of style, as well as normative or narrow societal views. What they redefine today in cinema becomes the standard of tomorrow.

Early pioneering filmmakers such as Orson Welles and Jean Luc Godard paved the way for celebrated “mavericks” of our time to personally express themselves in movies and develop a filmmaking ouvre all their own. Directors such Jia Zhang Kia, Wes Anderson, and Michael Haneke create films that have a recognizable approach to making movies that reflect a visionary aesthetic universe. Their originality is remarkable and trail blazing. They are the Mavericks of contemporary cinema and we, as audience, cannot wait to see what they release next.

What is Mavericks?

Mavericks celebrates independence of spirit, thought, and execution in filmmaking. At CIFF we want to champion those who forge new ground in cinema and create signature, personal films outside of the normal parameters of narrative storytelling. These dissenters are often recognized for challenging traditional boundaries of technology, business models, structures of style, as well as normative or narrow societal views. What they redefine today in cinema often becomes the standard of tomorrow. We endorse and identify with those that have done things the hard way. “Original isn’t easy” is not only the message for the Maverick series, but our own internal mantra as a Canadian destination film festival fighting to institutionalize our own position and voice. CIFF will showcase the difficult art of auteur filmmaking, maintaining creative integrity, defending independent vision, and honour the maverick approach necessary to forge new cinematic ground. We have raised the bar on this ideology by supporting it in official competition, with a substantial $25,000 prize, to emerging visionaries early in their filmmaking careers. The criteria will focus on voice and style and seeks to reward directors who exemplify confident, distinct expression and have a streak of the rebellious in their work. Taking its inspiration from Alberta’s rich frontier heritage, past prairie challenges, present glory as the Heart of the New West, and future promise of Calgary as an international hub for economic and cultural relevancy, CIFF will celebrate and pay tribute to the seminal role of the ‘maverick’ attitude in the advancement of the motion picture industry. Mavericks is a competitive body of 10 international films featuring emerging directors to be juried by a visiting cinematic celebrity and rewarded with a sizeable cash prize. The films will play over the 10 days of the festival, delivering the ten Maverick filmmakers throughout at their individual screenings, culminating in an awards banquet on Saturday, October 3rd. There the marquee Maverick Jury President will receive his/her Honourary Maverick award and one of the ten finalists for the inaugural Maverick Award will be given their $25,000 prize. The Mavericks campaign aims to be the defining identifier for the festival to distinguish us from other film festivals so we can be both internationally distinct and still connected to our cultural history and roots as a region.
The Mavericks campaign is designed to further specify the mandate and personality of CIFF and to find a central belief that all of Calgary can get behind culturally to grow and develop the festival to the next stage. Our festival is entering its tenth anniversary in 2009 and we are striving to develop more international relationships, industry partnerships, and to carve out a niche in Canada’s film festival circuit that can be decidedly Calgarian, identifiable, and successful. CIFF is committed to making the festival world class and touching upon the requests and feedback of our viewership to make the festival as meaningful and conceptually realized as possible. It is a step we feel is necessary in our growth. Mavericks is the tool to rally around and take existing partners (ie. American Express, The Film Foundation) with us and build momentum with a singular flagship idea.