About Us

MEET THE FESTIVAL

EIFF / About

Our Mission

The Edmonton International Film Festival Society’s (EIFFS) mission is to present a film festival in theaters that celebrates diverse cinema for audiences. To achieve this, we showcase high-quality films from around the world, providing filmmakers with a platform to engage in a forum that fosters community and positions EIFF on the global film festival map.

We present films produced within 20 months of each festival. These films are curated from submissions and solicited from distributors. The festival also features filmmaker chats, Q&As, gala screenings, a local filmmaker spotlight, ‘buzzy’ films traveling the festival circuit, shorts with lunch, and more.

Films are selected based on story, quality, and originality. All films must be Edmonton premieres.

EIFF is an OSCAR® qualifying festival for SHORT films — Live Action, Documentary & Animation — and is the final qualifying festival each calendar year.

Our Location

Located just a couple of hours from the majestic Rocky Mountains, Edmonton is the heart of the Canadian Prairies and the largest northern city in North America.

Each autumn, we raise the curtains on a cinematic feast celebrating film’s power.

The festival features a diverse lineup of over 150 films from more than 50 countries, encompassing a range of genres and formats from short to feature-length, dramatic to documentary, comedy to gut-wrenching, and studio to independent.

Our primary objective is to encourage and support the appreciation of cinema.

EIFF Stats

EIFF by numbers

MovieMaker Magazine lists EIFF as a ’50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee’ to 2022

Short Films

Annually

100+

Features

Annually

40+

Countries

Total countries participated

50+

Est.

From 1986

30+

EIFF is pronounced /’aif/ 

Who Attends?

EIFF+2016+Sept+29-36
Established in 1986, EIFF has a 30+ year history of welcoming veteran and emerging filmmaking talent. Over the years we’ve had the pleasure of hosting
  • ANVIL
  • Jon Cryer
  • Thom Fitzgerald
  • Paul Gross
  • Werner Herzog
  • Norman Jewison
  • Naomi Klein
  • Jørgen Leth
  • Avi Lewis
  • Neil Mandt
  • Luke Matheny
  • Albert Maysles
  • Bruce McDonald
  • Don McKellar
  • Deepa Mehta
  • Jesse James Miller
  • Molly Parker
  • Patrick Warburton
  • John Waters
  • Shea Whigham
… the list goes on! And countless emerging filmmakers, actors, writers and producers.
Venues

Landmark Cinemas 9 – Edmonton City Centre
10200 102 Ave NW, Edmonton, AB T5J 4B7

Metro Cinema at the Garneau

8712 109 St NW, Edmonton, AB T6C 1E9