Score

We’re still a couple of months away from the Edmonton International Film Festival (EIFF), but they’ve chosen their opening night movie.

The 24th EIFF will begin with “Score: A Hockey Musical.” (Watch the trailer here.)

It’s from Michael McGowan, who took home the EIFF’s audience favourite award back in 2008 with his movie “One Week.”

It’s supposed to get your Canadian-ness all riled up and excited. And while it will be debated as opening night choice, as any film festival’s opening selection usually is, it’s certainly sticking to the Edmonton mandate of choosing a Canadian film to kick things off.

Edmonton is opening with the same movie Toronto is opening it’s festival with, just a few weeks earlier.

That doesn’t worry Festival Programmer Guy Lavallee.

“If anything that really helps us, because people will actually have ‘heard’ of the movie by the time it comes here,” he writes in an e-mail.

“We battle that every year, where a movie is so new that people don’t really know anything about it, but because most of the local media give a lot of ink to TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival), there will be lots of good coverage on SCORE, so I’m hoping that will produce a big spike in advance ticket sales.”

Other EIFF notes from the movie team:

• They received more than 800 films, more than 80 from Albertans
• October 2 will close out the festival with an entire day – titled “Our Own Backyard” – of Albertan movies
• More than 60 movies and documentaries, and more than 100 short films will be shown during this year’s Edmonton International Film Festival. All movies will be shown at the Empire City Centre 9 (in City Centre Mall)
• Passes go on sale August 8.