'Movie belongs to Calgary': Film festival screens Alberta-shot western The Thicket at opening gala

The evening offered a glamorous lift-off for the film festival in its 25th year, which will feature more than 200 movies at various venues until Sept. 29

For the first time since 2019, the Calgary International Film Festival held a red carpet opening gala Thursday to kick off 10 days of international, national and local films and to celebrate the homegrown film industry with a screening of the Alberta-shot western The Thicket.

'Movie belongs to Calgary': Film festival screens Alberta-shot western The Thicket at opening gala Back to video

Director Elliott Lester, actress Leslie Grace, Calgary producers Chad Oakes and Mike Frislev and author Joe R. Landsale, who write the original novel the film is based on, joined member of the Alberta crew for the opening at Arts Commons Jack Singer Concert Hall. The film was a passion project of actor Peter Dinklage for years, who plays a bounty hunter named Reginald Jones. He was initially set to walk the red carpet in Calgary on Thursday but scheduling conflicts forced him to cancel.