The Guelph Film Festival is an international film festival started in the early 1980's, making it one of the oldest documentary-focused film festivals in the world. We are located in Guelph, Ontario, Canada and our programming focuses on social justice, the environment, and community building (all broadly construed). We have purposefully kept the festival small to encourage participation in our post-film discussions, which are lead by the filmmaker, film subject, and/or someone from the community with knowledge of the topic(s) that can connect broader issues with local initiatives and understandings. At the GFF we focus on inspiring community engagement and appreciation for the arts through connecting people with stories of global reach and local relevance. #LetsTalkDoc
The Guelph Film Festival is dedicated to expanding the proliferation of voices and perspectives of all kinds, through the presentation of stories from the margins. We program 50% Canadian Documentaries (this applies to both films shot in Canada and/or with a Canadian Director), 50% with Female-Identifying Directors, 50% Diversity (BIPOC/LGBTQ+/Deaf & Disabled). At least two screenings every year are highlight Indigenous-made documentaries. We are serious about promoting gender parity and diversity in the film industry and every decision we make is guided by principles of inclusion.
For our 2023 festival we focused all of our creative energy on doing live, in-person events better than ever—bigger, louder, quirkier, more playful, and more deeply thought provoking. The festival returned to the 9-day fully in-person format. The festival opened by exploring love and music with July Talk: Love Lives Here, and closed by showcasing the glittery excellence of Black Barbie. The festival included 13 screenings and 7 extended conversations or events, including a live performance by Peter & Leah of July Talk, and a an ACB only event celebrating the Black community, as part of continuing the GFF's long standing commitment to deepening community engagement around the themes of our programming.
In addition to offering screenings of well renowned films, we are passionate about discovering and supporting the hidden gems and emerging filmmakers...the great docs that may not have made it into HotDocs, but that deserve a passionate audience to experience their stories.
The festival takes place over nine days at the beginning of November in a variety of venues throughout downtown Guelph. Venues range in size from 50-300 seats, with most being around 50-120 seats and include a variety of community locations from galleries, museums, and performance centres to coffee shops, churches to art studios, and a 300 seat theatre on campus.
A screening fee will be provided to each documentary selected for screening at the Guelph Film Festival.
$500 (CAD) for features: World Premieres
$350 (CAD) for features: Guelph & Canadian Premieres
$135-265 (CAD) for mid-length between 30-59 mins
$75-135 (CAD) for shorts less than 30 mins
The Guelph Film Festival accepts submissions from anywhere in the world. The festival considers films that have previously screened in Canada - ONLY GUELPH PREMIER IS REQUIRED- however, we do take these previous screenings and filmmaker availability into consideration when making official selections.