CIFF Continues

HOT DOCS, BLACK ICE, A CANADIAN PICK, AND CLOSING GALA COME ALIVE ON THE SCREEN IN FOR SECOND HALF OF CIFF

HOT DOCUMENTARIES LIGHT UP THE NIGHT

The Calgary International Film Festival Documentary Showcase is dedicated to finding

the best and most inspiring films of the festival season, giving audiences a chance to rub shoulders with complex truths and realities. With a mix of both local and international perspectives, this program includes a diverse and challenging range of cinematic experiences for everyone to enjoy.

Tiger Spirit: Award-winning filmmaker Min Sook Lee sets out on a revelatory, emotionally-charged journey into Korea's broken heart, exploring the rhetoric and realism of reunification through the extraordinary stories of ordinary people.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008 9:15 p.m. @ Westhills

Bird's Nest ’Äì Herzog and De Meuron in China: Bird's Nest follows two Swiss star architects on two very different projects: the national stadium for the Olympic summer games in Beijing 2008, and a city area in the provincial town of Jinhua, China. Architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron are literally building bridges between two cultures, two architectural traditions, and two political systems.

Thursday, September 25, 2008 9:15 p.m. @ Westhills

Hi My Name is Ryan: A documentary about Ryan Avery ’Äì a milk and cookies connoisseur, a photo-booth artist, a fake moustache aficionado, and a punk rock performance artist determined to make his life super-awesome.

Friday, September 26, 2008 7:15 p.m. @ Uptown Downstairs

Saturday, September 27, 2008 12:00 p.m. @ Uptown Downstairs

Junior: The highly competitive world of hockey is put under the microscope in the National Film Board's fascinating film Junior. Following the Baie-Comeau Drakkar of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, directors Isabelle Lavigne and Stˆ©phane Thibault focus on the sport's offices, hallways, and locker rooms and illuminate how the boys' financial futures hang in the balance every pressured day.

Friday, September 26 9:15 p.m. @ Uptown Upstairs

Saturday, September 27 2:15 p.m. @ Uptown Upstairs

OTHER FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS

Black Ice

Elegant, outgoing, gracious and entering middle age, Saara has discovered her husband is having an affair with one of his students. Intrigued, Saara looks deeper and ends up alternating between lies, the truth, manipulating others and giving in to her emotions. It's a gripping portrayal of jealousy and its ravages, a thriller stitched together with raw emotions, fateful coincidences and surprising psychological finesse.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008 9:30 p.m. @ The Globe Downstairs

Confessions of a Porn Addict

*Director Duncan Christie in attendance. Q&A following screening.

Interviews and photo opportunities available.

Mark Tobias (Spencer Rice, Kenny vs Spenny) had it all: a good job, a beautiful wife, and a particularly unhealthy addiction to pornography. His wife, Felice (Lindsay Connell, Lars and the Real Girl), finally gets fed up with the competition and leaves him, causing Mark's addiction to spiral out of control, until one day he is caught literally with his pants down.

Wednesday, September 24 9:15 p.m. @ The Plaza

Tokyo Gore Police

Set in Tokyo in the near future where bitter self-mutilation is so casual that advertising is often specially geared to the "cutter" demographic, the Tokyo Police Corporation is locked in a bloody war with the Engineers. These unstoppable, genetically modified super-criminals can bio-fuse their open wounds with weapons, turning self-mutilation into a deadly combat form.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008 11:00 p.m. @ The Plaza

Sunday, September 28, 2008 12:15 p.m. @ The Plaza

Volkswagen Closing Gala ’Äì Bart got a Room

High school senior and student council vice president Danny Stein wants what every young man wants on prom night ’Äì a hot date. Do you have yours for the Volkswagen Closing Gala?

Saturday, September 27, 2008 7:00 PM @ Uptown Downstairs
Saturday, September 27, 2008 7:30 PM @ Uptown Upstairs

The complete 2008 CIFF line-up, as well as festival tickets and passes, are available online at www.calgaryfilm.com from August 25, 2008. The Fido Box Office opens at Eau Claire Market and the CIFF Souvenir Program Guide goes on sale at all Calgary Starbucks locations on September 5, 2008.

About CIFF

Founded in 1998, the Calgary International Film Festival (CIFF) is a charitable, not-for-profit, cultural organization based in Alberta, Canada. Inspired by the pioneering spirit and maverick ideals of the community, CIFF showcases films that break traditional boundaries and forge new cinematic ground. CIFF celebrates an unparalleled breadth and depth of cultural diversity through the meaningful, accessible, and artistic medium of film and engages thousands of artists to showcase the best films from filmmakers in over 100 countries around the world. CIFF is held annually at the end of September, screening over 200 films and hosting several gala events, awards, and special presentations. For more information visit www.calgaryfilm.com.