22nd Calgary Underground Film Festival

April 17-27, 2025

13th CUFF.Docs Documentary Film Festival

November 19-23, 2025

CUFF Poster Gallery

CUFF Poster from 2004 by Silas Kaufman
Silas Kaufman 2004
Silas Kaufman is a professional illustrator and full-time sessional instructore at Alberat College of Art and Design.
http://www.silaskaufman.com
2004 Silas Kaufman
CUFF Poster from 2005 by Tim Huesken
Tim Huesken 2005
Tim Huesken lives in Victoria, BC where he acts as the Lead Game/UI Artist at Smoking Gun Interactive Inc. His keen skills in character development were developed at Alberta College of Art and Design, where he completed a degree in Drawing and Sculpture. When not developing chracters for games, Huesken is known for creating show pasters for Wolf Parade, and Hot Little Rocket, to name a few.
http://www.timhuesken.com/
2005 Tim Huesken
CUFF Poster from 2006 by Eric Dyck
Eric Dyck 2006
Eric Dyck is a cartoonist and art educator living in Lethbridge, AB. Since 2013, he has been documenting his experiences and adventures in Southern Alberta through his comic strip, Slaughterhouse Slough. Eric’s comic strip allows him to share the stories of the people he meets, and to learn more about all of the weird critters and plants that populate Southern Alberta.
http://www.ericdyck.com
2006 Eric Dyck
CUFF Poster from 2007 by Josh Holinaty
Josh Holinaty 2007
Josh Holinaty is an illustrator whose works has been found in books, magazines, mobile apps, and even on coffee cups. His previous books include Ira Crumb Makes a Pretty Good Friend, Norma Fleck Award finalist A Beginner's Guide to Immortality, and Innovation Nation. Josh lives in Toronto with his wife Genevieve and their dog, Jack, a connoisseur of socks.
http://www.holinaty.com
2007 Josh Holinaty
CUFF Poster from 2008 by Marigold Santos
Marigold Santos 2008
Marigold Santos pursues an inter-disciplinary art practice, and holds a BFA from the University of Calgary, and an MFA from Concordia University. As a recipient of grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Alberta Foundation for the Arts, and the Conseil des Arts et des Lettres du Québec, she continues to exhibit widely across Canada. Marigold Santos divides her time between Calgary and Montreal.
www.marigoldsantos.com
2008 Marigold Santos
CUFF Poster from 2009 by Matt Luckhurst
Matt Luckhurst 2009
Matt Luckhurst is originally from Calgary, Alberta and a graduate of Alberta College of Art Design, as well as NYC’s School of Visual Arts (Designer as Author Masters program). Professionally has worked closely with Brian Collins for 9 odd years, after studying under him at SVA. In 2012 left for a year to join Airbnb as the Graphic Design Lead. Currently Matt is the CCO and Co-Founder of COLLINS in San Francisco. He is a Creative Director and Strategist doing his best to be a designer and illustrator.
http://mattluckhurst.com
2009 Matt Luckhurst
CUFF Poster from 2010 by Kiarra Albina
Kiarra Albina 2010
Calgary-born artist Kiarra Albina works within and between the disciplines of drawing, painting, traditional animation, tattoo, comics, folk art and sound. Both a solitary and collaborating contemporary artist strongly influenced by folk traditions, myth, and dream work, she reintroduces nature, magick, and notions of wildness, unbridled play and heart-centredness in an aim to authentically share her human experience. Her work has been exhibited in artist-run centres, galleries, music venues, houses, gardens, and at festivals throughout Western Canada, London, Ontario, Montreal, Australia, U.S. and Vienna. She is currently an apprentice at Mission Tattoo Parlour, where she is living her best life and teenage dream, hanging out with artists all day and putting forever-drawings on people.
https://www.instagram.com/magick.is.afoot/
2010 Kiarra Albina
CUFF Poster from 2011 by Ty Semaka
Ty Semaka 2011
Ty Semaka has been doing graphic design and illustration for over 20 years in Calgary, specializing in the entertainment field. Some past clients include One Yellow Rabbit, Theatre Calgary, Dancers Studio West, Springboard and Ground Zero Theatre. Some recent contracts include the TV series’ Fargo, Wynonna Earp, Tin Star, The Detour, and Damnation. Ty is also the singer and lyricist for local gipsy rock band The Plaid Tongued Devils since 1991.
http://www.tysemaka.com
2011 Ty Semaka
CUFF Poster from 2012 by Mike James Gaboury
Mike James Gaboury 2012
Mike Gaboury went to college for a digital media diploma. Afterwards he spent 4-5 miserable years as a graphic designer. Though a very important step in his journey and quest to level up, he eventually realized it just wasn’t for me. From there he was inspired me to start illustrating and ultimately making clothing and games.
http://mikegaboury.tumblr.com
2012 Mike James Gaboury
CUFF Poster from 2013 by Fiona Staples
Fiona Staples 2013
Fiona Staples is a comic book artist living in Calgary, Canada. She has illustrated comics such as Mystery Society, Done to Death, Secret History of the Authority: Hawksmoor, Jonah Hex, and Northlanders, and contributed covers to DV8, T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents, Criminal Macabre, Superman/Batman, Archie, and more. Her work on the 2009 horror series North 40 was nominated for an Eisner Award, and she took home the 2011 Shuster Award for Outstanding Cover Artist.
http://fionastaples.tumblr.com
2013 Fiona Staples
CUFF Poster from 2014 by Jarett Lee Sitter
Jarett Lee Sitter 2014
Jarett’s illustrations delve deep into the dreamlike and the fantastical, with outsider themes of the misunderstood monster being a common thread within his work. A narrative usually arises, making his art accessible to the casual viewer but rewarding scrutiny and contemplation. Jarett’s illustrations mix ink and digital mediums, and as an animator his illustrations are often given life within video. He has created artwork for a wide variety of projects ranging from editorial illustrations to music videos.
http://jaretts.com
2014 Jarett Lee Sitter
CUFF Poster from 2015 by Chad VanGaalen
Chad VanGaalen 2015
Chad VanGaalen is a visual artist & musician from Calgary, AB. Videos for Head & The Heart, Timber Timbre, Metz, Shabazz Palaces and his own celebrated albums have established him as a highly sought-after animator with a unique vision and vivid imagination, and his distinctive animations and illustrations have been featured in film festivals and galleries around the world. Likewise, as a musician Chad is known for a unique and powerful musical voice, and he has released six celebrated albums. Chad recently released a 22 minute animated short film entitled "Tarboz" and he contributes character design and score to the Adult Swim show "Dream Corp LLC".
http://www.flemisheye.com/chad-vangaalen
2015 Chad VanGaalen
CUFF Poster from 2016 by Mark Kowalchuk
Mark Kowalchuk 2016
Mark Kowalchuk is a Canadian illustrator and graphic artist based out of Calgary, Alberta. Co-founder of the skateboard company ‘Artschool’ 6 years ago, Mark has found success selling his own designs through a variety of skate shops in Canada and the USA. As well, has collaborated with nearly every major snowboard and skate brand, having had 2 snowboard designs being named in the Top 10 Snowboard graphics of 2014 by Snowboard Magazine. Currently Mark focuses on his art, collaborations with other artists as well as clothing design with recent contributions to Volcom, YES Snowboards and Bombsnow Magazine. In summer 2017, Mark was featured in Thrasher Magazine’s canvas section and in Snowboard Business’ Flight of the Art article.
http://markkowalchuk.com
2016 Mark Kowalchuk
CUFF Poster from 2017 by Helen Young
Helen Young 2017
Helen Young creates imagery that exaggerates physical representations of humans and other beings, using wild colour palettes and curious body positioning. She primarily utilizes mediums such as markers, ink and forms of printmaking to create her work. Helen graduated from the Alberta College of Art + Design in 2009 with a major in Print Media, and has since maintained an active presence in the local Calgary art and music communities.
http://www.unbindhelensmind.com/
2017 Helen Young
CUFF Poster from 2018 by Nicole Brunel
Nicole Brunel 2018
Nicole Brunel attended the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s studio arts graduate program in 2017. She studied Painting and Sculpture at the Alberta College of Art + Design in Calgary, Canada, and at the New York Studio Arts Residency in Brooklyn. Her art practice researches how art and humor can be used as tools for social justice. Before studying art, Nicole worked as an archaeologist and a musician (separately). She was born with 4 kidneys.
http://nicolebrunel.com
2018 Nicole Brunel
CUFF Poster from 2019 by Kelly Archibald
Kelly Archibald 2019
Kelly Archibald graduated from the Visual Communication Design program at the Alberta College of Art and Design in 2016. She draws primarily in inks, markers, and watercolour, though she has recently learned to embrace digital art tools and join the current century. Drawing inspiration from pop culture and the bizarre, she creates exaggerated characters that walk the line between charming and grotesque. She currently lives in Calgary with her daughter, Josie, and far too many cats.
okkelly.com
2019 Kelly Archibald
CUFF Poster from 2020 by Caleb LaPierre
Caleb LaPierre 2020
Emerging from a heap of empty coffee cups and hailing from the luxurious Northern Alberta town of Lac La Biche, Caleb is a mysterious and divine creature of many talents; Illustration and explaining jokes to people who already understand the joke, to name a few. Luckily for all the people around him, he only went to school to polish one of those talents. That school was The Alberta College of Art + Design (or as you may all know it now as The Alberta University of the Arts) where he received honours and multiple awards for his work. Caleb draws inspiration from stuff he grew up with, like playing outside and being socially awkward, but more importantly: cartoons, movies and video games. So when he got offered the opportunity to design this year's CUFF poster he knew it was his destiny. Caleb's main mission in life is to show the world his weird view of things, bringing the audience's attention to the little gross details that go overlooked in their everyday lives.
https://www.instagram.com/thelegendofcaleb/
2020 Caleb LaPierre
CUFF Poster from 2021 by Trey Madsen
Trey Madsen 2021
Trey Madsen is a creative artist born in Yellowknife, NWT who now resides in Calgary, AB after graduating from the Alberta College of Art & Design. Irregular and unconventional, the things that make him right for this job can sometimes mean the wrong thing for everything else. Open-minded, and embracing a vast array of inspirational material from "the Everyday" such as movies, art, music, popular vibes, current trends - to the music they play in grocery stores that you admire - and every other virulent influence that we experience from The Everyday. Life is beautiful and the world around us is overwhelming. Find Trey on Instagram at @coolguymadsen #FLOZ
https://www.treymadsen.com/
2021 Trey Madsen
CUFF Poster from 2022 by Jag Mackenzie
Jag Mackenzie 2022
Jag Mackenzie has bad breath & a physical splash zone, which made him the #1 prospect for designing the CUFF 2022 artwork. He paid the profs under the table to graduate with distinction at AUArts, where he held the facility hostage to his award-winning lowbrow breath-funk slime designs <3. Best known for his support of the online art community (artsyfartsy), ideation & direction work for foxadhd and aok, Jag is currently the creative director at dandypop™, a vandal-filled, artist supporting, devious soda co. based in Calgary. Though he holds pride most in establishing the world record for the most consecutive drawings of a rat.
http://www.jagmackenzie.com/
2022 Jag Mackenzie
CUFF Poster from 2023 by Riley Rossmo
Riley Rossmo 2023
A graduate from the Alberta College of Art and Design, Riley Rossmo worked in editorial and Advertising illustration before moving into comics full time. Riley has worked on various creator owned projects at Image Comics, as well as comics at BOOM, IDW, Marvel Comics, and DC comics. When he's not drawing Riley spends his time with his family as well as reading, running, and watching movies. Check out more of Riley's work on Instagram @rileyrossmo and Twitter @rileyrossmo1.
https://www.instagram.com/rileyrossmo
2023 Riley Rossmo
CUFF Poster from 2024 by Matthew Springer
Matthew Springer 2024
Matthew Springer is a multidisciplinary artist based in Calgary Alberta specializing in Illustration, Painting / Murals, Design, Photography, and Sound art. Matthew is a 2020 graduate from the Alberta University of the Arts with a study in Photography. Currently working at Alberta University of the Arts in the Bookstore, and has filled roles as one of the main graphic designers of the institution. Throughout his practice Matthew combines both physical mediums such as drawing, painting / murals, collage, and print media with digital processes such as using Photoshop, graphic design, and photography. Exploring different mediums and textures is a big part of his work. Matthew has been working as a freelance illustrator and designer since 2017. Creating various works such as Event posters, Album covers, Murals, Personalized commissioned Drawings / Paintings, Photographs, Clothing, and more. Through His artwork Matthew enjoy’s exploring dreamlike worlds and landscapes to escape our minds into the alternate realities of our own imaginations, subconsciously influencing the emotions that we experience in the physical space of our bodies. Matthew is very interested in creating works of art that stimulate positivity and the drive to continuously better our own awareness of mental health, both within ourselves but also to the communities around us. Positivity and inclusivity are key aspects to changing perspectives and in creating a stimulating and caring community and artwork is an excellent tool to both express yourself but also to encourage others to do the same. Instagram/Twitter: @Springatus  TikTok: @wubulus
https://matthewspringer.bigcartel.com/
2024 Matthew Springer