Alberta films, music and trains: Lots to do this weekend in Calgary

Summer is over but that doesn't mean you have to hibernate just yet.

The Homestretch'sdirector and entertainment columnist Tracy Fuller has you covered on what to do this weekend in Calgary as Autumn officially begins.

All the films

Red carpets, spotlights, lineups and swanky parties are taking over downtown for the Calgary International Film Festival.

A number of big budget productions will be showing, such as Stronger, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Tatiana Maslany, and Breathe, with Andrew Garfield and Claire Foy, and Borg McEnroe withShia LaBeouf.

Be sure to check out two films withstrong Alberta connections.

First, Tragedy Girls, adark satire by Calgary's Tyler MacIntyre. In it, two teen girls with a popular blog manipulate a local serial killer into doing their bidding. Thesetragedy girls, as they're called, aren'tafraid to get their hands dirty as well.

That guy they kill, that'sJosh Hutcherson,a.k.a. Peta from the Hunger Games series.

The second pick is Never Steady, Never Still, about a recently widowed woman with Parkinson's who fights to regain her independence.Her son has left home to work in Alberta's oilsands. The film brings the two of them together again as adults,to face struggles neither of them asked for. It's definitely going to be a tear-jerker, so bring your tissues.

You can also catch the first two episodes of Tin Star, the big name United Kingdom-produced crime drama that's set in the Canadian Rockies and filmed around southern Alberta. It's at 3 p.m. on Saturday at the Eau Claire Market theatres, with a cast Q&A hosted byCBC's own Russell Bowers.

Film Fest events

Many of the panel discussions at the Calgary Film Festival are free.

Former Daily Show correspondent Jason Joneswill talk on Saturday afternoon, and there's a panel on Alberta'ssecret film locations on Sunday.Plus, there's one on the art of creating a film score on Saturday.

Railway Days

On Saturday and Sunday, Heritage Park's steam trains will be front and centre with the grand unveiling andinaugural start up of the recently completed CP Rail Steam Railway Crane. It's theonly working 100-tonne locomotive crane in Canada.

The Railway Days events will include train demos, storytelling, model exhibits and caboose rides. Lots of other train demonstrations will be happening throughout the weekend.

Alberta Ballet

The Alberta Ballet has opened its season with Tango Fire, the dance of love. The show promises sublime sensual performances, drawing inspiration from the great tango houses of Buenos Aires.

Zenkora

For something completely differentin the world of dance, check out Zenkora:The Seven Eras,a multimedia creative projectthat follows the adventures and stories of an original fantasy universe.

This "new age" concert series runs 8 p.m. Fridayat University Theatre, on the University of Calgary campus.

You can watch a teaser online. The full show will include ballet, opera, animation, a stage-play, a radio-play and even a live video game, all with the accompaniment of a live orchestra.

Spiritus Chamber Choir

Thischoral music concert will get your blood pumping and satisfy any lingering Beakerhead cravings.

Calgary's Spiritus Chamber Choir, with its award-winning, angel-voiced singers, arecoming together Sunday with the Calgary Girls Choir and a neuroscientist to turn theirconcert into a visual experience of how the bodyresponds to music.

That's at Sunday at 3 p.m. at the U of C's Rozsa Centre.

With files from Tracy Fuller and The Homestretch