Calgary’s pop duo Tegan and Sara Back in town for CIFF

Calgary’s Tegan and Sara are back in town for the 23rd annual Calgary International Film Festival (Photo: Henna Saeed, CityNews Calgary)

Posted Oct 1, 2022 10:45 am.

Calgary’s very own Tegan and Sara are back in town for the Calgary International Film Festival.

Based on the memoirs of Calgary’s Tegan and Sara, a special screening of the Amazon series High School’ was held at the Calgary International Film Festival last Thursday.

The Western Canadian Premiere of Tegan and Sara's new show, HIGH SCHOOL, is coming to #CIFF!

The screening of HIGH SCHOOL will feature the first three episodes of season one, followed by a live Q&A & short acoustic performance by Tegan and Sara!
https://t.co/Td1b02y1p6

(1/2) pic.twitter.com/2eSO40A8RX

— Calgary International Film Festival (@CIFFcalgary) September 6, 2022

The Quins share their connection and love for their original hometown of Calgary.

“I’m so excited to be back here. Sarah and I loved growing up in Calgary and we’re so honored to have been able to make our show here and have the opportunity to make a show,” said Tegan Quin.

Parts of the series High School have been shot in the City of Calgary and are based on the memoirs of the city’s very own Tegan and Sara.

“Love Calgary. Calgary is like the star of the show. Forget us. It’s so beautiful. The show just really shows off the best parts of Calgary and we love it,’ said Tegan.

“Oh my god, I absolutely love it. If it wasn’t so cold in the winter, I might move back here. I mean, I’ve been gone for 20 years, but I met everybody. I don’t know. I loved it. I loved making the show here,” said Sara Quin.

What is the finest memory of you being here in Calgary that happened in your memorial and do you like it being filmed in the series?

Sara Quin: You know, it was a real honor to go back to our high school at Crescent Heights, to be able to film in our actual high school I think adds an extra layer of authenticity. We did not want to be in our high school when we were actually attending Crescent Heights but man do I like roaming around the halls now as an adult? It’s awesome.

Do you like the way your characters have been portrayed? And do you want to change anything or add anything?

Tegan Quin: You know honestly, I feel really in season who we found. We discovered them on Tik Tok. They were not musicians. They were not actors. We found them a year ago. We really push to have them cast as us and I’m so happy with our decision. I think they give a really organic raw real look at who we were in high school but they bring their own story to our story. And I think it’s really beautiful. I think they did an amazing job as us. This is not a biopic. Nobody’s pretending to be us. I think it just captures the essence of who we are. And I don’t think we could have found better leads.

Any future plans you want to share with us?

Sara Quin: we’re releasing a new album on October 21 Cry Baby and we’re going on tour. So go online and find us.

High School fans came out in large numbers to meet Tegan and Sara and attend their special performance and the show’s screening at the Calgary International Film Festival.