A singer turned werewolf, and Alien on Stage. Two directors dig into their movie inspiration – CBC.ca

The Calgary Underground Film Festival is taking the show online again this year as it kicks off Friday.

Airing films between April 23 and May 2, this is the second year the festival has gone online due to COVID-19 restrictions.

This year's films include ahumorous documentary,Alien on Stage,and an Alberta-made horror film,Bloodthirsty.

The Homestretch's Doug Dirks chatted with the directors of both films this week about the making of these movies.

The subject for the filmAlien on Stagecame to be because of a particularly fascinating movie poster shown to the film's co-director.

Lucy Harveysaw a picture of the poster her friend had taken and was"completely awestruck and mesmerized," she said Wednesday on The Homestretch.

The poster was advertisinga local theatre troupecomposed mainly of transit drivers, who were attempting to bring a theatrical version of the 1979 science fiction movie Alien to the stage of a countyin southwest England.

Harvey was instantly intrigued, and eventually she and the friend made the four-hour trip to Dorset from London to see the show.

"[It] turned out to be the best thing we've ever seen," she saidof the production. "The deliverywas so deadpan but the props were somehow genius."

The Homestretch9:05Calgary Underground Film Festival - Alien on Stage

She says that when she started filming, she wasn't sure what the whole thing would turn into, but the documentary "went from a fun thing to an incredible thing."

The filmfollows this troupe of amateur actors as theyjourney from performing ata stage in Dorset, where the audience turnout was she guesses about 20 people, to eventually performing atLeicester Square Theatre in London's West End.

"[The] aim of the documentary is just to share with as many people as possible the joyful nature of the whole thing," said Harvey.

Bloodthirstyis a new horror film co-written by Calgary's Wendy Hill-Tout and her daughter Lowell, who is a singer-songwriter.

It was filmed just outside of Edmonton and directed by Amelia Moses, based in Montreal, who joined The Homestretch onThursday.

"What I was like initially drawn to was just kind of the core premise of this contrast between this horror creature imagery and someone writing this really beautiful album," Moses said.

Bloodthirstyis abouta vegan indie singer, played by Lauren Beatty, who is working on new music at a studio in the woods and begins to have wolfish cravings for meat.

Moses describes the werewolf changes the lead undergoes as"an emotional extension of character, as well as her artisticjourney."

"It's kind of looking at different things than werewolf films normally look at."

There is music throughout the movie, which "parallels" the main character's story arc, explains Moses.

Both filmsareavailable to stream on demand in Alberta only during CUFF, running fromApril 23 to May 2.

With files from The Homestretch.

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A singer turned werewolf, and Alien on Stage. Two directors dig into their movie inspiration - CBC.ca

Reviewed and Recommended by Erik Baquero