Hamilton Film Festival is an international film festival held annually in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.Daniel Nolan, "The 19th annual Hamilton Film Festival has 130 movies for film fans this year". Hamilton Spectator, October 18, 2024. It stages an annual program of independent feature and short films, with a particular but not exclusive focus on films with direct production connections to the city.Christine Rankin, "How Hamilton's film industry is 'bouncing back' despite COVID-19". CBC Hamilton, November 14, 2020.
The event is a qualifying festival for the Canadian Screen Awards,"2024 Canadian Screen Awards: Eligible Festivals & Online Platforms". Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, 2023. is recognized by the Directors Guild of Canadahttps://files.dgc.ca/assets/national/DGC%20Recognized%20Festivals-2024.pdf Directors Guild of Canada Recognized Festivals, 2024 and has been cited as one of the top 250 international film festivals.
History The festival was launched in 2004 by the city's Staircase Theatre,Doug Foley, "Hamilton Film Festival ready for action". Hamilton Spectator, March 18, 2004. following the theatre's participation the previous year in the Travelling Film Festival, an event which toured a program of Canadian films to a variety of locations across the country."Made for Canada; Film festival hopes to put the spotlight on home-grown movies". Hamilton Spectator, March 18, 2003. A second event was then staged in 2005."A mix of flicks at Hamilton Film Festival". Hamilton Spectator, February 24, 2005. Due to organizational issues at the Staircase Theatre, however, it then went on hiatus for the next two years until returning in 2008,"Film festival back with local focus". Hamilton Spectator, October 31, 2008. and has been presented annually since then.
In 2014, due to the festival's growing size it began adding screening venues in addition to the Staircase, including The Zoetic and the Factory Media Centre.Amy Kenny, "The little film festival that could: Submissions have grown, venues have multiplied". Hamilton Spectator, November 1, 2024. In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic the festival added some drive-in and online screenings, and imposed social distancing restrictions on theatrical screenings for audience safety, but was able to proceed with these precautions.
Current venues include the Staircase, Ancaster Memorial Arts Centre, Playhouse Cinema and the Westdale,"19th annual Hamilton Film Festival kicks off". CHCH-DT, October 19, 2024. as well as short film programs being broadcast on Cable 14, the city's cable television community channel.Jody Aberdeen, "Hamilton Film Festival set to light up screens". Hamilton City Magazine, October 9, 2024.
Awards As of 2024, Hamilton Film Festival awards the following categories:
Best Feature Best Short Performance in a Feature Performance in a Short Screenplay Cinematography Sound Effects Music Production Design Emerging / Student Sparquie the Squirrel Truly Independent
See also
List of film festivals in Canada
References
External links
Hamilton Film Festival on IMDb