A huge documentary film festival is coming to Calgary this fall
The Calgary Underground Film Festival (CUFF) is back for the 13th edition of its acclaimed documentary film festival, and it’s bringing a huge lineup of works from around Alberta and the world to town.
CUFF.Docs is taking over the Globe Cinema from Wednesday, Nov. 19 to Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025.
This year’s festival will spotlight 15 features, 14 shorts, and the highly anticipated CATVIDEOFEST over five days in downtown Calgary.
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“Once again, the team has curated a really unique and eclectic mix of documentaries from around the world, for curious minds to dive into,” said CUFF Festival Director and Lead Programmer Brenda Lieberman in a release.
“The stories, characters, and creative styles of documentary filmmaking each year always excite us, and I love the range we’ve found for the 2025 festival.”
Documentary enthusiasts can kick things off with Butthole Surfers: The Hole Truth And Nothing Butt, screening on Wednesday, Nov. 19, as the opening night film.
Learn how two college students found solidarity in their weirdness and their music to form the iconic American punk band Butthole Surfers.
Hearse Chasing
CUFF is highlighting Alberta content with screenings of #skoden, a feature documentary directed by Damien Eagle Bear from the Kainai First Nation of the Blackfoot Confederacy, and Calgary-shot Hearse Chasing. Filmmakers for both docs will be in attendance in November.
Other can’t-miss films include The Librarians, which looks at American librarians standing up for intellectual freedom during an unprecedented rise in book banning, the award-winning hybrid Canadian doc Modern Whore exploring the experiences of Toronto sex worker Andrea Werhun, and the latest film from Oscar-nominated director Tamara Kotevska with The Tale of Silyan.
The lineup also includes seven Alberta shorts featuring subjects like an Indigenous Olympic snowboarder from Calgary, a Canadian soldier who single-handedly liberated an entire occupied city in the Netherlands overnight, an NHL phenomenon from the 1940s, and more.
CUFF.Docs
Of course, there are lots for cat lovers to look forward to with the return of CUFF.Docs most popular event, CATVIDEOFEST. The screening is back for its third year and includes 75 minutes of newly curated cat videos.
Ten per cent of CATVIDEOFEST ticket sales will go to the Meow Foundation, and donations of both cash and pet supplies are also being accepted. There will also be a Meow Foundation market at Globe Cinema on Saturday, Nov. 22, with all proceeds supporting pets in need.
A full lineup of CUFF.docs and tickets can be found online.
CUFF.Docs 2025
When: Wednesday, Nov. 19 to Sunday, Nov. 23, 2025
Time: Various times
Where: Globe Cinema – 617 8th Ave. SW, Calgary
Tickets: Various prices, purchase online
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