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Music to Move Your Hips to: Night #8

Thursday September 29th, 2016

Wow. That's the only word we can use to describe the one-week mark of the festival. Since the opening gala, we have been continually impressed, moved and humbled by your support, and yesterday was no exception.

The day started with a jam-packed second screening of LIMIT IS THE SKY, where director Julia Ivanova once again fielded audience questions (and explained how she used fake Tinder profiles to find subjects for the film!). This was followed in rapid fire by LET HER OUT, WE CAN'T MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE TWICE, and I, DANIEL BLAKE, which all garnered excellent reactions across the board:

Another big event going on was the premiere screening of WINDOW HORSES, the animated feature by director Ann Marie Fleming that was 20 years in the making. We were honoured to host the film at Globe Cinema and have Ann join us for a Q&A after the show!

And of course, who could overlook the fabulous pictures and comments provided by all the people enjoying our Hump Night films and Festivalscape? We had a wild pair from YYC Sexual Health running through the streets between venues, bringing their own particular brand of mid-week fun to go along with some steamy and sexy movies.

Vulva hug with @yycsexualhealth @calgaryfilm #iamdowntown #calgaryfilm #windowhorses

A photo posted by allisonlmoore (@allisonlmoore) on

More buzz erupted from the National Music Centre at Studio Bell, where director Bernard MacMahon and producer Allison McGourty helmed a sold-out showing of their music documentary THE AMERICAN EPIC SESSIONS. It was our first time using the venue, and the filmmakers received a (well-deserved) standing ovation before their Q&A. If you missed this one, you'll want to pick up tickets for its encore screening on Saturday, Oct 1 @ 11:00 AM, Eau Claire.

At the end of the night, audiences could either go philosophical with showings of THE HANDMAIDEN or THE STUDENT, or they could go gross-out with THE GREASY STRANGLER. Hey, we don't judge!

Today's lineup is just as stacked (really, it's getting hard for us to keep running back and forth between all these great films....). You can catch Alanis Obomsawin's hard-hitting doc WE CAN'T MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE TWICE at 4:00 at Globe Cinema, or the Estonian Oscar® submission MOTHER at Eau Claire (4:45). If you're more of a Behind the Screens kind of person, swing past Cafe Blanca for an In Conversation about Women in Film, with Sandi Somers of Herland and Christy Garland, director of CHEER UP (playing at 7:00, Eau Claire). Foreign heavyweights OLD STONE (with director Johnny Ma attending), JULIETA, ETERNAL SUMMER and THE MIRACLE OF TEKIR are some of the highlights for the day at Eau Claire.

At Globe Cinema, our Black Carpet Gala showing of the first two episodes of VAN HELSING, a new vampire sci-fi TV show, kicks off with the carpet rolling out at 6:00 pm, and the screening at 7:00. Comedian Henry Phillips is in town for the premiere of his film AND PUNCHING THE CLOWN, also at Globe Cinema, and the horror flick RUPTURE is looking to be a popular choice to cap off the evening. Be sure to check out the always-amazing Black Carpet after-party at State & Main, just down the street - your gala ticket includes your entry!

Wherever you end up, let us know what you think and what you're seeing by tagging us @calgaryfilm or with #calgaryfilm on Instagram or Twitter. We'll catch you all tonight!

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