2009 Calgary Underground Film Festival: Official Lineup

The sixth annual Calgary Underground Film Festival will come roaring to life on April 14-19 with a diverse mix of underground culture documentaries, oddball relationship comedies and off-kilter horror films.
The only film that I’m personally familiar with in the lineup below is Jason Eisener’s hilarious Christmas horror short Treevenge. However, it looks like a terrifically fun lineup that includes several of the weirder films that have played at bigger fests, like Died Young, Stayed Pretty, which was at SXSW, and Momma’s Man and Good Dick that screened at Sundance; plus several other interesting sounding films like Hansel and Gretel and Jörg Buttgereit’s documentary Monsterland.
Also, once again, CUFF is serving up it’s annual 48 Hour Movie Making Challenge that will screen on the last night of the fest. Here’s the full lineup of films:
April 14
7:00 p.m.: Died Young, Stayed Pretty, dir. Eileen Yaghoobian. A documentary about the work and lives of underground indie-rock poster artists, which transforms simple ads into cultural weapons.
Screening with The Archive, dir. Sean Dunne.
9:30 p.m.: Momma’s Man, dir. Azazel Jacobs. Rather than returning home to his wife after a business trip, a married man goes back to live with his parents so he can be babied by them.
Screening with Bag, dir. Jay Woolley.
April 15
7:00 p.m.: Good Dick, dir. Marianna Palka. A young woman goes into a video store to check out the adult film section where she gets hit on by the romantic clerk behind the counter.
Screening with City of Noise, dir. Mitch Barany.
9:15 p.m.: Hansel and Gretel, dir. Yim Phil-sung. A man driving home to his pregnant girlfriend crashes his car in the woods where he’s “rescued” by a young girl who brings him to a strange house he can’t escape from.
April 16
7:00 p.m.: Nerdcore Rising, dir. Negin Farsad. A documentary profile of MC Frontalot, aka Damian Hess, one of the leaders of the burgeoning “nerdcore” hip-hop movement.
Screening with Muto, dir. Blu.
9:00 p.m.: I Sell the Dead, dir. Glenn McQuaid. A grave robber who is facing execution by guillotine confesses his sins to a clergyman.
Screening with Sirens, dir. Alejo Levis.
April 17
7:00 p.m.: Monsterland, dir. Jörg Buttgereit. A documentary tracing the history of monsters in movies. Features interviews with horror legends, John Carpenter, Joe Dante, H.R. Giger, Gregory Nicotero, Rick Baker and more.
Screening with Trick Shark, dir. Dave Teatro
9:00 p.m.: Big Man Japan, dir. Hitosi Matumoto. A slacker is hit with giant bursts of electricity that mutate him into a giant who must defend Japan from a slew of monsters.
11:30 p.m.: Graphic Sexual Horror, dirs. Barbara Bell & Anna Lorentzen. A documentary profile of the extreme bondage website Insex.com and its mysterious creator.
April 18
2:00 p.m.: “In The Wilderness”
The Wigly, dir. Victor Bonacore
God of Tears, dir. Max Margulies, Naoko Masuda
Dead Dog, dir. Edward Jefferys
Milk Teeth, dir. Tibor Banoczki
Ripple, dir. Paul Gowers
Sapsucker, dir. Christopher Holmes
Gauge, dir. Alistair Banks Griffin
The Blindness of the Woods, dir. Martin Jalfen & Javier Lourenco
4:00 p.m.: “Dark, Daring and a Little Disturbing”
Demonology of Desire, dir. Rodrigo Gudino
Violeta, dir. Marc Riba, Anna Solanas 200
The Grind, dir. Martin Pedersen
The Facts in the Case of Mister Hollow, dir. Rodrigo Gudino
The Horribly Slow Murderer with the Extremely Inefficient Weapon, dir. Richard Gale
Colony, dir. Michael Olson
Kirksdale, dir. Ryan Spindell
Treevenge, dir. Jason Eisener (Watch online)
7:00 p.m.: Tokyo!, dir. Bong Joon-Ho, Leos Carax, Michel Gondry. Three leading directors create a triptych of views of Tokyo.
9:30 p.m.: Billy Was a Deaf Kid, dirs. Rhett Lewis, Burke Lewis. A carefree couple must take on some serious responsibility when they agree to care for the man’s deaf older brother.
11:30 p.m.: Grace, dir. Paul Solet. A pregnant woman obsessed with having natural childbirth is devastated when her unborn baby dies within her. But while carrying the corpse to term, the baby is eventually mysteriously born alive.
Screening with Blood Shed, dir. Jason Shipley.
April 19
1:00 p.m.: “48 Hour Movie Making Challenge”
4:00 p.m.: “One Relationship to Another; and an Installation”
Love Is Dead, dir. Eric Capitaine
Anatomy of Numbers, dir. Erin E. Cantelo
Short Life, dir. Daniel Suljic, Johanna Freise
Pea vs. Carrot, dir. Ben Hicks
Mite, dir. Karl Tebbe
Alex and Her Arse Truck, dir. Sean Conway
G & G vs the Frenchman, dir. Jeff L. Burke
Horsefingers 3: Starfucker, dir. Kirsten Kearse
Sick, dir. Martin Creed
7:00 p.m.: Veer, dir. Greg Fredette. This documentary profiles five bicycling enthusiasts and the biking culture that they belong to.
9:30 p.m.: Cadavres, dir. Érik Canuel. A brother calls up his estranged sister after their mother dies, which brings out the woman’s amateur detective skills to find out why her mom is dead.
Screening with The Lemon Tree, dirs. Anh Vu & William Campbell.
For more info, please visit the official CUFF website.
Underground Film Feedback (4 comments)
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I want to go to this, but there’s absolutely no buzz online about it…hmmm. I think I’ll check out Monsterland and the Short Film bit (only to see Treevenge). God, I’m gonna have to go alone. Never mind.
– Zac
I highly, highly recommend Treevenge. And if I were in Calgary, I’d definitely check out Monsterland, too. That looks great.
Monsterland was okay. The short film exhibition was AWESOME! Surprisingly, none of them were boring and some of them genuinely scared me. Treevenge was brilliant too.
– Zac
Too bad about Monsterland, but glad you enjoyed the shorts!