Peter Dinklage to walk CIFF red carpet in support of Alberta-shot 'The Thicket'

Peter Dinklage (right) stars in The Thicket. The film will screen at the Calgary International Film Festival's opening gala. (Courtesy: Calgary International Film Festival)

The Calgary International Film Festival (CIFF) will kick off its 25th anniversary with a star-studded red carpet – featuring Peter Dinklage.

Dinklage, best known for portraying Tyrion Lannister in Game of Thrones, will be attending CIFF in support of his new film The Thicket.

The Alberta-shot film, described as a dark western thriller about vengeance, justice and an unlikely companionship, also stars Juliette Lewis (Yellowjackets), Esmé Creed-Miles (Hanna), and Levon Hawke (Wildcat).

Dinklage will be joined by Leslie Grace (In the Heights) to walk the red carpet at the Jack Singer Concert Hall in Arts Commons, for the festival’s opening gala on Sept. 19. The event will be followed by a post-screening Q&A.

“When fierce bounty hunter Reginald Jones (Peter Dinklage) is recruited by a desperate man to track down a ruthless killer known only as Cutthroat Bill (Juliette Lewis), he rallies a band of unlikely heroes, including a grave-digging ex-slave and a street-smart woman-for-hire,” CIFF said in a news release.

“Together, they embark on a perilous quest to track down Cutthroat Bill, leading them into the deadly no man’s land known as The Thicket.”

The Thicket was filmed around Calgary in mid-winter. Produced by Chad Oakes and Michal Frislev of Calgary-based Nomadic Pictures and directed by Elliott Lester, the film was adapted from the novel of the same name by Joe Lansdale.

“Launching the festival with a film that was made right here in Alberta with Alberta crews is a perfect fit for our opening gala and having the most high-profile red carpet in CIFF’s history with guests like Peter Dinklage means we get to demonstrate Alberta’s place in the film economy on a star-studded stage,” said Katherine Penhale, CIFF’s acting executive director.

Tickets for the opening night gala go on sale on Aug. 28 at 10 a.m. through Arts Commons.

More information about the festival can be found on CIFF's website.