The Calgary International Film Festival will launch its 2026 edition with a drama shot largely in Calgary. The popular festival announced that its opening night film will be A Long Winter, from British filmmaker Andrew Haigh. The drama, based on a 2006 short story by Colm Toibin, will have its Alberta premiere at CIFF at The Grand Theatre, followed by an opening night reception. “This year we are proud to present one of our biggest collections of Canadian premieres and international premieres with a mix of documentary, international and music-related titles. Many of these films are coming fresh off their world premieres at prestigious festivals like Cannes, Sundance and Tribeca,” said Adam Keresztes, CIFF’s Canadian features and shorts programmer. “Having A Long Winter as our Day One Spotlight is special not just because it’s from a fantastic art-house darling director, Andrew Haigh, but it was also filmed around Calgary back in 2025. “These films are just a taste of what’s to come with our full lineup announcement on Aug. 26th - we can’t wait to share our entire slate with audiences and share all the films we are bringing to Calgary from our own backyard and from around the world,” added Keresztes. Another film with a local connection is The Stunt Driver from director Michael Dowse, the director of shot-in-Calgary Fubar, It’s All Gone Pete Tong and Goon. Other Day One films include The Incomer from Scottish filmmaker Louis Paxton, which will screen at Contemporary Calgary; Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty, directed by Josef Kubota Wladyka; 2026 Cannes Film Festival winner (for Best Director) Fatherland, from Oscar-nominated director Pawel Pawlikowski; musical doc Frampton, from director Rob Arthur; and School for Defectors, a South Korean film from director Jeremy Workman. CIFF opens Sept.24 and runs through Oct. 4. The full lineup for CIFF 2026 will be announced on Aug. 26. For more information, go here.
