The 22nd Calgary Underground Film Festival taking place from April 17-27, 2025 at Globe Cinema unveiled a lineup of 41 feature films, 45 shorts, and host 8 special events over 11 days.
This year’s festival will open with Tim Robinson and Paul Rudd starring in Friendship, the comedy film following a suburban dad who falls hard for his charismatic new neighbour.
The Closing Night Film is the Canadian premiere of the horror comedy Clown in a Cornfield. Earlier that day, CUFF will also present a 15th Anniversary screening of Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (2010), which was filmed in Alberta with local cast and crew who were part of the production. Both films were directed by Eli Craig, who will be in attendance.
“Every year, we get so excited with the anticipation of the festival, showcasing so many wild films and welcoming so many guests. This year is no different, and the programmers have selected a super eclectic mix of films: a variety of genres, from around the world, with all sorts of budget levels, and awards behind them. There is no shortage of unique and absurd this year,” said CUFF Festival Director & Lead Programmer Brenda Lieberman.
Other highlights of the CUFF 2025 program include:
The Found Footage Fest returns with the 20th Anniversary Show. The live show hosted by Joe Pickett (The Onion) and Nick Prueher (The Colbert Report) is an all-new guided tour celebrating two decades of their greatest VHS finds.
Focusing on Alberta content, CUFF will premiere two local feature films, including episodic content and 10 short films.
The North American premiere of Calgary director Mike Peterson’s Shadow of God, following an elite exorcist who suspects the entity he’s battling might be a holy being, perhaps even God.
Rob Grant’s This Too Shall Pass, which was produced by Mike Peterson and shot in Calgary, is the story of a sheltered 16-year-old who rebels against his strict Mormon upbringing by skipping town with friends for a weekend in Canada .
The Canadian premiere of Cheech & Chong’s Last Movie, a documentary about the duo’s five-decade career performing stand-up, making records, and starring in hit films.
The international premiere of Something Better Change, a documentary about D.O.A. frontman Joey “Shithead” Keithley, who transitioned from a punk activist musician to politician when he was elected for the Green Party in Burnaby, BC as a city councillor.
Notable North American, International and Canadian premieres include: The Ugly Stepsister, Good Boy, Don’t Leave the Kids Alone, Ebony and Ivory, The Black Hole, Tinsman Road, $Positions, and the World Premiere of Reveries: The Mind Prison, created by CUFF alumni filmmakers Matt Barats, Anthony Oberbeck, and Graham Mason.
Calgary Underground Film Festival 2025 Program Lineup
$POSITIONS (Director Brandon Daley in attendance)
1978 (Directors Luciano Onetti and Nicolás Onetti)
48-HOUR MOVIE MAKING CHALLENGE SHORTS FILM SHOWCASE (various, local
filmmakers in attendance)
THE A-FRAME (Director Calvin Lee Reeder)
ART SPIEGELMAN: DISASTER IS MY MUSE (Directors Molly Bernstein and Philip Dolin)
THE BLACK HOLE (Director Moonika Siimets)
BROKEN BIRD (Director Joanne Mitchell)
BUSHIDO (Director Kazuya Shiraishi)
CHEECH & CHONG’S LAST MOVIE (Director David Bushell)
CLOWN IN A CORNFIELD: Closing Night Film (Director Eli Craig in attendance)
CRIME WAVE – 40TH ANNIVERSARY NATIONAL CANADIAN FILM DAY FREE SCREENING (Director John Paizs in attendance)
DON’T LEAVE THE KIDS ALONE (Director Emilio Portes)
EBONY AND IVORY (Director Jim Hosking in attendance)
EEPHUS (Director Carson Lund)
ELSE (Director Thibault Emin)
ENDLESS COOKIE (Directors Seth Scriver and Peter Scriver)
EPISODIC PROGRAM (Cast & crew in attendance for both series)
FOUND FOOTAGE FEST: 20TH ANNIVERSARY SHOW (Joe Pickett and Nick Prueher in attendance)
FRIENDSHIP: OPENING FILM (Director Andrew DeYoung)
THE GESUIDOUZ (Director Kenichi Ugana)
GOOD BOY (Director Ben Leonberg in attendance)
I’M YOUR VENUS (Director Kimberly Reed)
INDIE GAME BASH
THE LAST PODCAST (Director Dean Alioto, producer Ali Widdoes and cast Kaikane & Gabriel Rush in attendance)
LIVE SCRIPT READING: MAN VS. TRUCK (Director & Scriptwriter Ted Stenson and cast in attendance)
LUNATIC: THE LUNA VACHON STORY (Director Kate Kroll in attendance)
A MOTHER’S EMBRACE (Director Cristian Ponce)
MOVE YA BODY: THE BIRTH OF HOUSE (Director Elegance Bratton
MR. K (Director Tallulah H. Schwab)
NO ONE DIED: THE WING BOWL STORY (Director Pat Taggart)
PANEL: THE SHAPE OF GENRE FILMS TO COME
PATER NOSTER AND THE MISSION OF LIGHT (Director Christopher Bickel)
PORTAL TO HELL (Director Woody Bess)
PREDATORS (Director David Osit)
REVERIES: THE MIND PRISON (Director Graham Mason and producers Matt Barats & Anthony Oberbeck in attendance)
SATURDAY MORNING ALL-YOU YOU-CAN-EAT-CEREAL CARTOON PARTY (Curator David Bertrand)
SHADOW OF GOD (Director Michael Peterson in attendance, plus local cast & crew)
SHADOWLAND (Director Otso Tiainen)
SHORTS PACKAGE: LAUGHING THROUGH LIFE (AND DEATH) (Guests in attendance for several films)
SHORTS PACKAGE: A SERIES OF STARTLING EVENTS (Guests in attendance for several films)
SHORTS PACKAGE: THAT SPECIAL SOMEONE (Guests in attendance for several films)
SOMETHING BETTER CHANGE (Director Scott Crawford)
THE STAMP THIEF (Director Dan Sturman)
SUGAR ROT (Director Becca Kozak in attendance)
THIS TOO SHALL PASS (Director Rob Grant in attendance, plus local cast & crew)
TINSMAN ROAD (Director Robbie Banfitch in attendance)
TUCKER & DALE VS. EVIL: 15TH ANNIVERSARY (Director Eli Craig in attendance)
TWO WOMEN (Director Chloé Robichaud)
U ARE THE UNIVERSE (Director Pavlo Ostrikov)
THE UGLY STEPSISTER (Director Emilie Blichfeldt)
VAMPIRE ZOMBIES…FROM SPACE! (Director Michael Stasko in attendance)
VULCANIZADORA (Director Joel Potrykus)