New Calgary film festival explores life's third act

In Noatak: Return to the Arctic, a pair of70-somethingsrecreate a kayak trip they took through the Arctic as young men.

An 81-year-old man checks out ofeveryday life and into an experimental society filled with performance artin Charlie Goes to Burning Man.

In Edith and Eddie, apair of 90-somethingsface the challenge of life as America's oldest interracial newlyweds.

Those are snippets of three films screening at The Third Act(ion) Film Festival, which takes place June 8-10 at the GlenbowMuseum.

The festival's artistic director Mitzi Murray spoke to theCalgary Eyeopeneron Tuesday.

Q: What's the Third Act(ion) Film Festival?

A:It's all about discovering the possibilities of aging. We are a youth-centric culture andit's time for that to change.

Seniors have so much to offer andthere's so much possibility in that stage of life. And people need to know about it.

Q: What is the third act, anyway?

A:If you go by what Stats Canada says, it would be the seventies, eighties and ninetiesbecausewe're just living that long now.

Q:You're not in your third act yet. What got you interested?

A:About threeyears ago, I got a job in the seniors industry andit really hit home about ageismandhow people aren't prepared for the third act.

In fact, my family was dealing with the onset of dementia,and I just thoughtpeople need to be thinking about this. Not hard, but a little bit. And be prepared for it.

I know the best way to educate is through entertainment. I love film. [So]let's do it. Let's put on a film festival!

Q: Hollywood seems to have given up on people in their second act, let alone the third. Was it hard to find films featuring characters in the third act of their lives?

A:No, exactly the opposite. We had170 submissionsto the festival and that's just submitted, let alone the ones we sought out. Jane Fonda is pushing hard for films in that age range. I actually think it's turning around.

Q: What's screening at Third Act(ion)?

A:We have [All the World's a Stage], a Calgary-born documentary a homage piece to Joyce Doolittle, GrantReddickandJohnMurrell, who are icons in the [Calgary] theatre industry.

We have an Academy Award-nominated documentary calledEdith and Eddie. It goes from awe-inspiring love story to a soul-crushing damnation of public guardianship in the U.S.

What's very scary is thepublic guardianship system is similar in Canada. It's important for people to see that.

[The British comedy]Finding Your Feetactually played in Calgaryabout a month ago. My husband andI went,and the theatre was full. They clapped afterwards.

Q: What time did it screen?

A: Early evening. [It] wasn't the middle of the day!

Q: It sounds like a cross between real life and entertainment. Is it?

A:We want togive a real mix. Life is full of possibilities. But the third act is the third act. We have to be cognizant of what is coming and beprepared for it.

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With files from theCalgary Eyeopener.