26 films representing 26 European countries will be featured at the 10th annual Calgary European Film Festival (CEFF), taking place at Globe Cinema and Online from November 6-14, 2021.
“It’s been an incredible journey. We started back in 2012 with a small group of just five European Communities, with a lot of enthusiasm and no experience whatsoever,” said CEFF President Adrian Glavan.
“Here we are 10 years later with one of the most awaited and accomplished lineups that has grown more than five times, a timeline expanded from two to nine days, and a reach well outside the Calgary city limits due to our online component. All this is due to a dedicated group of partners, collaborators and volunteers that made this event a success year after year. I’m very proud to have been part of this story, and looking forward to another decade of CEFF,” Glavan added.
Highlighting the best contemporary European cinema, CEFF invites European societies or communities from Calgary to each select a film from their home country. This year’s lineup is a showcase of the diverse films coming from Europe, including a number of Official Submissions in the Best International Feature Film category at the 2021 and 2022 Academy Awards; the groundbreaking documentary COLLECTIVE about the 2015 deadly nightclub fire in Romania (also nominated for the Best Documentary Feature), the Estonian comedy/drama ON THE WATER, and the biopic TOVE from Finland.
“I am super excited about this year’s movie lineup at CEFF. It has lots of fascinating stories and experiences to share with the audience,” said CEFF board member Mahfam Ghods, who oversees the festival’s programming.
“It’s got something to offer to satisfy almost every taste in movies. From International Feature Film submissions to the Oscars (COLLECTIVE, TOVE, ON THE WATER); recent fun family-night movies (DELICIEUX, GRANNY NANNY, MY EXTRAORDINARY SUMMER WITH TESS) to deep thought-influencing features (A DOSE OF HAPPINESS, THE SIGN PAINTER, BACKYARD VILLAGE), and documentaries that must be seen on the big screen (EVEREST: THE HARD WAY). Watching the full lineup would be as thrilling as a journey across Europe, so we look forward to having everyone join us for the full ride,” said Ghods.
This year’s hybrid event is a celebratory return to the collective movie-watching experience, after cinemas around the globe went dark due to COVID-19, and CEFF 2020 shifted to an online model. Last year’s festival introduced new audiences to CEFF’s programming, with films being available to view across Canada or Alberta. With strong engagement from community associations across the country, the 2020 festival saw similar attendance as CEFF 2019’s in-person festival, with audiences streaming films from across Canada.
Most films in this year’s program will have one theatrical presentation and will also be available to stream for the duration of the festival. All films at CEFF are presented in their original language with English subtitles.
Calgary European Film Festival 2021 film selection
Love: Dashuri from Albania
What Have We Done to Deserve This? from Austria
The Island Within from Azerbaijan
A Dose of Happiness from Bulgaria
Aleksi from Croatia
Prvok, Sampon, Tecka & Karel from the Czech Republic
On the Water (Vee peal) from Estonia
The Potato Venture (Peruna) from Finland
Délicieux from France
Granny Nanny from Germany
Man of God from Greece
Final Report from Hungary
Backyard Village from Iceland
Violet Gibson: The Irish Woman Who Shot Mussolini fromIreland
The Sign Painter from Latvia
Motherland (Gimtine) from Lithuania
Memory (Memoria) from Moldova
My Extraordinary Summer with Tess from Netherlands
Amundsen: The Greatest Expedition from Norway
HeadShot (Między Oczy) from Poland
Collective from Romania
Tesla Nation from Serbia
Everest: The Hard Way from Slovakia
While at War from Spain
Tove fromSweden
Tambour Battant from Switzerland