This year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Calgary
International Film Festival has employed a hybrid model, with restricted seating
for the in-cinema screenings and the introduction of both drive-in screenings
and streaming video for at-home audiences. Because of this, the streaming
movies don’t correspond to any specific date of the festival, and in many cases
I watched them before the in-cinema or drive-in screening. Personally, I watched
these films entirely at home; the cinemas may be opening, but that doesn’t mean
it’s a good idea to go. Besides, the in-cinema screenings were largely sold out
by the time I bought my tickets. Alas, my internet and the light levels in my
apartment are both less than ideal, so the viewing experience was not up to the
same standard – then again, there’s also a shortage of major festival hits this
year, given that Cannes was cancelled and the fall festivals were scaled down,
and the most visually striking films I saw still impressed.
Despite these conditions – or, perhaps, because of them; I
have plenty of free time right now – I still managed to catch seven films at
this year’s festival. Here are short reviews of each:
