We’re Rolling

The Calgary International Film Festival kicks off Wednesday with a musical documentary. Then the beat goes on. Here are five flicks screening early in the festival that caught our eye.

When They Awake

The opening-gala film is a documentary look at the burgeoning Indigenous music scene, from Buffy Sainte-Marie and Robbie Robertson to A Tribe Called Red and IskWé. The latter plays the after-party. Wednesday, Sept. 20 at the Jack Singer Concert Hall, 7:30 p.m. $37.75 - $77.75.

La La Land in Concert

Last year’s musical hit won six Oscars and restored some of Hollywood’s faded lustre along the way. The Calgary Philharmonic burnishes the film further with a live performance of the soundtrack. Thursday, Sept. 21 at the Jack Singer Concert Hall, 8 p.m. $20 - $80.

Mary Shelley

Frankenstein is a stranger and more compelling book than you might imagine after years of movie adaptations. As this biopic makes clear, the book shares these qualities with its author. Thursday, Sept. 21, 6:30 p.m., Globe Cinema, and Saturday, Sept. 23, 10:15 p.m., Cineplex Eau Claire.

Rat Film

This documentary will likely leave you grateful that Alberta continues, with occasional interruptions, to be rat-free. The film looks at Baltimore’s infestation as a reflection of that city’s social issues. Friday, Sept. 22, 5 p.m., Cineplex Eau Claire, and Tuesday, Sept. 26, 9:30 p.m. at Globe Cinema.

Worst Case, We Get Married

The latest from Léa Pool ( Desire in Motion, Lost and Delirious) is an at times disturbing look at the relationship between 14-year-old Aïcha and the man she is desperate to impress. Saturay, Sept. 23, 3:30 p.m. and Tuesday, Sept. 26, 8:30 p.m. at Cineplex Eau Claire.