The Festival showcasies 200 short and feature length multi-genre films, from Canada and around the world. With Academy Award® accreditation and juried cash prizes of up to $20,000, our twelve day Festival is world class in its celebration of cinema’s best and brightest. As part of our continued mission, we host participating filmmakers and connect them with the general public and audiences through events such as interactive post-screening Q&A’s, networking events, and moderated panels.
Each year’s line-up is grouped into 11 unique series – Headliners, Canadian, New American, World Cinema, Documentaries, Music on Screen, Late Shows and Shorts.
We host five juried awards with a total cash value of almost $20,000 CAD. In additional to this, the recipient of the Calgary International Film Festival's Best of Shorts Award is eligible for consideration in the Animated Short Film / Live Action Short Film category of the Academy Awards®.
We also present 10 audience awards to outstanding films selected by our viewers and esteemed jurors.
Awards & Prizes
$10,000 CAD : Best Canadian Narrative Feature Film Award. This juried award emphasizes the promise of emerging directors whose content does not yet have a history of major theatrical distribution.
$2,500 CAD : Best Live Action or Animated Short Film Award. This juried award also qualifies the winner for consideration in the Animated Short Film / Live Action Short Film category of the Academy Awards®, without the standard theatrical run that a film typically needs to qualify for an Oscar® nomination.
$2,500 CAD: Best Documentary Short Film Award
$2,500 CAD: Best Albertan Short Film Award
$1,000 CAD: Best Canadian Documentary Feature Award
8 x Audience Choice Award - Feature Film (Alberta Feature, Canadian Narrative Feature, Canadian Documentary, International Documentary, New American Cinema, Headliner, World Cinema, Late Shows)
3 x Audience Choice Award - Short Film (Alberta, Documentary, Live Action or Animated)