The Surrealist artistic movement was born in the aftermath of World War I, as shell-shocked nations strove to rebuild and artists began to explore the unconscious mind, seeking to synthesize an expression of the illogical world of dreams with the cold reality they found themselves in.

Martha (an unforgettable Shirley Stoler) finds a pen pal through a lonely hearts correspondence in the form of Ray (Tony Lo Bianco). The fact that Ray is a serial killer conman who robs wealthy widows of their money is no problem for Martha; she joins in on the game. But Martha’s fierce jealousy of Ray’s entanglements with his marks soon leads to desperate and dangerous consequences.

This explosive potboiler ran as a B-picture when it first debuted, but became an undeniable influence on the development of the subgenre. Even more so than films like Detour and They Live by Night, Gun Crazy lays bare the American obsession with cars, guns, and sex. Peggy Cummins and John Dall portray a couple of fugitive criminals whose intense sexual chemistry is ignited and fueled almost entirely by their fetish for guns. Director Lewis told Cummins to play her part like a dog "in heat" and Dall like he'd "never been so hard," resulting in a pair of charged performances that sell what the script, written by the blacklisted Dalton Trumbo under a pseudonym, could not explicitly talk about.

Tarantino and Scorsese meet Thelma & Louise and Bonnie & Clyde in this crime thriller based on true events, set in 1965 Buenos Aires. Nene (Leonardo Sbaraglia) and Angel (Eduardo Noriega) are known as "The Twins," ruthless bank robbers and inseparable lovers. When a heist goes awry, the two go into hiding with their getaway driver and his girlfriend. Angel’s sudden coldness toward Nene threatens their relationship, and the bisexual Nene takes up with a local prostitute (Leticia Bredice), who tests his loyalty to Angel as the police close in.

The ne plus ultra of the "lovers on the run" genre, Bonnie & Clyde barely needs an introduction. Clyde (Warren Beatty) is a small-time crook until he meets Bonnie (Faye Dunaway). Together with Clyde’s brother (Gene Hackman) and his wife (an Oscar-winning performance by Estelle Parsons), they become the most infamous bank robbers of the Depression era. They also become immediate folk heroes for an increasingly disenfranchised American society eager to rob a system that no longer serves them.

In 2024, art historian Thomas Negovan undertook an ambitious project to “rescue” Caligula’s reputation. Using hours of previously unreleased footage, Negovan re-edited the film to restore Gore Vidal’s original vision of perverse power. Featuring the talents of Helen Mirren as Empress Caesonia, Peter O’Toole and John Gielgud as Emperor Tiberius and his advisor Nerva, and Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange) as Caligula, Calgary Cinematheque proudly presents the latest incarnation of Rome’s most infamous tyrant: Caligula: The Ultimate Cut.nauguration of the most infamous tyrant of Rome, Caligula: The Ultimate Cut.

Diva is the starting point of “Cinema Du Look.” It’s the film that invented a cinematic movement. Famed opera diva Wilhelmina Higgins refuses to have her voice recorded in any shape or form. When a devoted fan secretly records her lucrative voice, multiple parties in the underground Parisian crime world begin to vie to get their hands on the coveted recording. 

Betty (Beatrice Dalle) lives in romantic seclusion in a stilt house on the beach with barely employed writer Zorg (Jean Hugues Anglade). Betty has dropped into Zorg’s life on a whim and decided not only is he her soulmate but he’s also an artistic genius. Their intense mutual passion is very soon tested by Betty’s inability to ground her own autonomy: Her passionate attraction to Zorg becomes dangerously all consuming, threatening both her sanity and Zorg’s genuine love for her. 

Loosely based on the life story of famed diver Jacques Mayol, Luc Besson’s fairy tale romance The Big Blue (Le Grande Bleu) is one of the legendary cult films of 80’s European cinema. The relationships revered diver Jacques (Jean Marc Barr) has with his arch rival, Enzo (Jean Reno at his most charismatic) and his insurance adjuster girlfriend, Johana ( Rosanna Arquette) are tested by his nearly mystical obsession with the sea itself.  When his arch rival challenges him to a deep sea diving contest where the winner must essentially break a world depth record, Jacques limits begin to know no bounds…

Strung out junkie Nikita (Anne Parillaud) gets involved in a shoot out with police and is believed dead. Secretly however, she has been detained by the government to serve a new purpose: An assassin for the French government. Her devotion to her mission is not only tested by her own past but by the trust of her boyfriend (Jean Hugues Anglade), a checkout clerk at the supermarket who has no idea of Nikita’s true identity. 

Infamous as one of the most expensive French films ever produced, and iconic because of its extravagant, ecstatic visual romanticism, Leos Carax’s Les Amants Du Pont-Neuf (Lovers On The Bridge) remains its directors most epic vision of love on the margins of society. 

The Right Stuff came out to near universal praise. The film is an exhilarating look at the Mercury Seven, a group of almost mythical astronauts. These men would go on to be some of the first men to travel to space. Kaufman delivers a stunning ode to American exceptionalism that is not afraid to keep reminding audiences that the country has a long way to go still.

After escaping the jungle with his masterpiece Apocalypse Now, Francis Ford Coppola turned his attention to utilizing technological advances at his Zoetrope Studios. Initially conceiving One From the Heart as a simple romantic comedy, Coppola’s ambitions grew larger. The story became a musical, with the soundtrack composed by Tom Waits and Crystal Gale. Gene Kelly was brought in to oversee the dance number.

Heaven’s Gate is a movie of contrasts. East vs West. Rich vs Poor. Confined dark interiors vs expansive outdoor vistas. It makes sense then, that the reaction to its initial release contrasts wildly to its true quality. On a budget of $44 million dollars, Heaven’s Gate was not able to muster even $3.5 million dollars at the box office.

Charlie Chaplin believed that tragedy and comedy were not far removed, and so sought inspiration in tales of deprivation and horror from the Klondike Gold Rush of the 1890s for this silent comedy classic. The Calgary Cinematheque is excited to present this masterpiece of physical comedy with a live score by Icarus 3.

South Korean director Park Chan-wook (Oldboy, The Handmaiden) explores themes of faith, morality, and the nature of desire in this acclaimed erotic horror inspired by the works of Émile Zola.

Amidst the "Blaxploitation" trend of early 70s American cinema, African-American filmmaker Bill Gunn found the opportunity to take a commercial project, a "Black vampire" movie, and use it to talk about the African diaspora, drug addiction, and other issues affecting the Black community of the time.

Exploring issues of feminism, religion, and horror, Iranian-American filmmaker Ana Lily Amirpour exploded onto the international cinema scene with this critically acclaimed indie horror classic

A slapstick epic about a frostbitten battle between JEAN KAYAK and DIABOLICAL BEAVERS—hundreds of them—who stand between him and survival. In this 19th century, supernatural winter epic, a drunken applejack salesman must go from zero to hero and become the greatest fur trapper by defeating hundreds of beavers.

After his own attempt to adapt Lord of the Rings fell through, filmmaker John Boorman (Zardoz, Exorcist II: The Heretic) decided to bring his own unique sensibilities to the legend of King Arthur. Together with screenwriting partner Rospo Pallenberg he crafted a cinematic adaptation that covers the whole of the Arthurian legend, from his conception to his downfall, largely adapting Sir Thomas Mallory's Le morte d'Arthur.

Intended as a "family picture", Wizards evolved into an idiosyncratic work mixing a variety of tones and animation styles into one piece of counterculture art. Set in a post-apocalyptic world where nuclear holocaust has resulted in a return of magic, elves, and fairies, Wizards tells the tale of sibling spellcasters Avatar and Blackwolf and the war of their nations of Montagar and Scortch. When Blackwolf discovers the lost art of Nazi propaganda to motivate his armies of goblins and monsters, Avatar must journey with a small band of heroes to destroy his brother's film projector.

Debuting in the pages of pulp magazine Weird Tales in the 1930s, Conan the Barbarian was devised by his creator Robert E. Howard to express a philosophy of rugged individualism, unhindered freedom, and a critical view of modern ideals of civilization and progress. The character's popularity had surged thanks to the Frank Frazetta illustrated paperback editions of the 1960s, and the Marvel comics adaptation of the 1970s, and so the film rights were snapped up by legendary producer Dino de Laurentiis.

In Polyester, suburban housewife Francine Fishpaw (Divine) navigates a crumbling world as her husband confesses infidelity, her daughter announces a pregnancy, and her son is suspected of bizarre crimes. Amidst chaos, she finds an unexpected romance with heartthrob Todd Tomorrow (Tab Hunter). Polyester is a cheeky comedy with outlandish characters and irreverent humor, starring Divine, the (drag) queen of flamboyance.

How the West Was Won won three Oscars and tells the story of a family saga covering several decades of Westward expansion in the 19th century, including the Gold Rush, the Civil War, and the building of the railroads. It boasts an all-star cast including James Stewart, John Wayn, Debbie Reynolds, Gregory Peck, Henry Fonda and dozens of other stars. While legendary western director John Ford (Stagecoach, The Searchers, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance) helms the Civil War Segment. 

Chronicling the world of fierce performance and competition at Harlem drag balls during the 1980s, Jennie Livingston’s Paris is Burning is a groundbreaking exploration of race, class, gender, and sexuality. The documentary follows the lives of Dorian Corey, Will Ninja, Sol, Freddie and Kim Pedavis, Octavia St. Laurent, Angie and Venus Xtravaganza, and Pepper LaBeija as they perform and tell their respective stories.

Saving Face is Alice Wu’s debut directorial film. A Chinese-American lesbian filmmaker, Saving Face is a film loosely based on Wu’s personal life. Despite protests from Hollywood production companies to white-wash the film, Wu insisted on keeping the cast strictly Chinese-American with Mandarin included in the film. Wu’s insistence to keep her film truly authentic to her culture and upbringing makes this film an influential step forward for the future of East Asian-American filmmakers.

Gohatto (Taboo) is the dreamlike final film of director Nagisa Oshima (In The Realm Of The Senses, Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence). When a new Samurai recruit joins the ranks of the all-male warrior class, his beauty and skill capture the attention of nearly all his comrades. Aloof and ambiguous in his sexuality, the anarchy his presence unleashes not only attracts his brethren, but also threatens to violently upend the stability of their entire society. 

The Handmaiden is one of Park Chan-wook’s most iconic films. In classic Chan-wook style, it has mystery and action elements, with mind-bending plot twists. Set in Japan-occupied Korea of the early 1900s, Chan-wook unconventionally tells the story of two women who become attracted to each other, and fall into a surprising romantic relationship.

Starring Mimi Rogers in a performance hailed by Marxist film critic Robin Wood as “one of the greatest in the history of Hollywood cinema,” The Rapture is a terrifying and impassioned theistic provocation in an age of post-religiosity. This film will challenge viewers, leaving nonbelievers grappling with dark theological questions and believers questioning the foundations of their faith

A deeply political film, the deceptively simple Devi explores the most sacrosanct ideas of patriarchy, faith and objectification with radiant emotional resonance. With lustrous cinematography by Subrata Mitra that seems to be lit by burning phosphorus, Devi explores the impact and intoxication of one person being heralded as a goddess.