The Calgary International Film Festival (CIFF) and American Express confirmed today it will offer a $25,000 cash prize to the winner of its newly created competition, Movie Mavericks. Inspired by the pioneering spirit and can-do attitude of Calgarians, Movie Mavericks will become the flagship of CIFF’s program, and will include a competition adjudicated by a jury of well-known maverick filmmakers, an international marketing campaign and $50,000 in scholarship funding for up-and-coming maverick filmmakers enrolled in the SAIT film studies program through the American Express Movie Mavericks Scholarship.

“Movie Mavericks will have a real and significant impact on CIFF and the City of Calgary,” Jacqueline Dupuis, executive director, Calgary International Film Festival, said. “It will allow us to differentiate the festival from other film festivals around the globe, attract industry professionals from around the world to CIFF, and create international awareness and cache for Calgary. This will significantly impact tourism and spending in the downtown core during the festival.”

Beginning at the 2009 festival, which will run September 18 to 27, 2009, CIFF will curate a selection of films from around the world that exemplify what it means to be a Movie Maverick: films that forge new cinematic ground and break traditional models for success. These films will be showcased for the public in the newly created Movie Mavericks section and entered into competition. The winning filmmaker will win the American Express Movie Mavericks Award, which includes a cash prize of $25,000 donated by American Express.

In mid-2009, CIFF will announce the appointment of a well-known Movie Maverick to attend the festival and serve as head juror to the Movie Mavericks competition. The public will be invited to view the work of this honorary Movie Maverick during special presentation film screenings.