April 11th - 13th, 2025
Galt Museum and Archives | Akaisamitohkanao’pa presents:
3rd Annual Lethbridge Independent Film Festival
Admission By Donation
LIFF Legacy Awards, 2025
LIFF is honored to introduce the LIFF Legacy Awards, sponsored this year by the Lethbridge International Film Festival Society.
The Lethbridge International Film Festival Society began in 1985 with the World Citizen Centre and, since 2005, has partnered with the Lethbridge Public Library to present thought-provoking international films. Incorporated as a registered society in 2015, its mandate is to host an annual festival for public viewing and discussion. The Society thanks its longtime partners, including the Lethbridge Public Library, local institutions, and volunteers.
Continuing its dedication to supporting both the art of filmmaking and the filmmakers themselves, the Society will offer cash prizes for Audience Choice Awards.
Voting will take place online from April 11th through April 25th, with the winners announced on April 29th.
The categories and awards are as follows:
Best Feature Prize $200
Best Documentary Short Prize $125
Best Narrative Short Prize $125
Best Experimental Short Prize $125
Best Music Video Prize $125
Join us and experience these incredible stories bright and loud on the big screen!
4 screening areas over 3 days will light up exclusive premieres with cast and crew in attendance, special events featuring director and actor Q&As, live scores performed over classic silent films, immersive virtual reality experiences and our exciting first Gala to celebrate our shared love of great cinema. LIFF has curated a prolific and engaging selection of films that will inspire, challenge and move you.
LETHBRIDGE INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL, 2025, TRAILER
Lethbridge Independent Film Festival Gala & Opening Film
Friday, April 11, 2025, Galt Museum & Archives Viewing Gallery
7pm to late
OPENING FILM: MORRISMORRIS x METROPOLIS
Directed by Fritz Lang / 1927 / 183 mins / world premiere, with new live score performance
“The mediator between the head and the hands must be the heart."
We will kick off the festival with musician MORRISMORRIS, who will perform a live score to Metropolis for the first time, premiering the film anew. This iconic and stunning 1927 silent film, made in Germany during the Weimar period, is known for its art deco style. This film critiques industrialization through a socialist lens, and nearly 100 years after its creation, the message remains thought-provoking in our current era of AI, economic crisis and fascist resurgence.
MORRISMORRIS creates industrial music with influences from the ethereal side of post-punk and rave cultures from around the world. Their signature sound is at once raw and ultramodern, and unmistakably human, with a tender, sensual quality that invites both dancing and deep emotion.
OPENING VR FILM: THIS IS NOT A CEREMONY
Directed by Ahnahktsipiitaa (Colin Van Loon) / 2020 / 20 mins / Alberta premiere
As a courtesy to others, also in an attempt minimize no-shows,
please refer to the LIFF 2025 program schedule to ensure you’re available for the viewing experience.
Scene from “This is Not a Ceremony”, a film experienced fully immersed in virtual reality using a VR headset. Viewing times must be booked ahead of time on the website.
THIS IS NOT A CEREMONY, TRAILER
CLOSING FILM: THE OUTRUN
Directed by Nora Fingscheidt / 2024 / 118 mins
"The Outrun" starring Saoirse Ronan, is an emotionally-charged film driven by a pounding soundtrack, hallucinatory visuals, and a dynamic storyline. Based on Amy Liptrot’s memoir, it follows Rona's journey of recovery from alcoholism as she returns to her childhood home in the Orkney Islands after a decade in London. Ronan's captivating, cathartic performance offers redemption in this masterpiece of sight and sound.
THE OUTRUN, TRAILER
The Lethbridge Independent Film Festival is committed to bridging local talent with global creativity, offering a rich tapestry of genres and styles with something for every audience member, regardless of age or taste. We celebrate the powerful impact of cinema through highlighting films and voices from marginalized communities. This year, we are so excited to share our selection of 54 transformative films, including 37 premieres, from every corner of the globe— Germany, UK, France, Spain, Uganda, Turkey, Sweden, Brazil, Argentina, Palestine, USA, Northern Ireland, Japan, Iceland and of course a diverse selection of groundbreaking works from Canadian filmmakers! We also proudly support the local film industry by showcasing 13 productions from right here at home!
Our team would like to acknowledge and honour that we gather on Treaty 7 territory - the traditional and ancestral territory of Niitsitapii, the Blackfoot Confederacy, including Kainai, Piikani and Siksika First Nations. As well as most recently the TsuuT'ina Nation, Stoney Nakoda First Nation and the Metis Nation of Alberta, Region 3.