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The Kingston Canadian Film Festival is an annual four-day celebration of Canadian cinema and the largest festival in the world dedicated exclusively to Canadian film.

We bring the best Canadian feature films of the year to a number of traditional and unconventional venues in downtown Kingston.  We also present four short film programs (including films by local artists and young filmmakers under 17) and schedule free workshops, welcome over 60 industry guests, and keep the celebration going all weekend from our opening night reception to our closing night awards reception with special events, music, comedy, and awards.

We welcome audiences to explore a range of film programming with genres, stories, and perspectives as diverse as the artists who create them.  We present films in many languages, including both official languages, and provide access for local audiences and visitors to Kingston to see this work.  KCFF is not your average night at the movies: our festival activities like post-screening Q+As with visiting filmmakers and special guests, free workshops, parties, and special events all ladder up to create a vibrant and lively festival experience.

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KCFF was launched in 2001 by Alex Jansen, then a film student at Queen’s University.

It began as a three-day event at the Screening Room Movie Theatre, a two screen repertory cinema which Jansen was managing at the time (and still one of our main festival venues).  Over the years, the festival continued to develop, launching the Local Filmmaking Initiative to provide educational and networking opportunities for local filmmakers, presenting a high school outreach program, guaranteeing the inclusion of French language films at each festival, and adding retrospective screenings and a Master class.

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Since then, KCFF has screened approximately 500 feature films and 750 short films, highlighting the best work from emerging artists, international award-winners and audience favourites.

We support the work of local artists by showcasing feature and short films in a national context, and provide professional development and networking opportunities for local filmmakers.  We encourage engagement in festival programming for audiences of all ages, backgrounds and abilities by offering free workshops including hands-on skills-building workshops, informal lectures, networking events and mentorship opportunities.  We take our festival programming directly to underserved people in our community by working with other arts, education, and social services organizations across the city.  We’ve also expanded our festival activities to include special events like music, comedy, and interactive gaming exhibitions. 

We are always looking for new ways to create unparalleled festival experiences for our audiences who brave the wintery weather with dedication, enthusiasm and support of our national cinema and of our filmmakers.  No small coincidence: they also really like the free beer.

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Mission

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A country’s national cinema is a conversation between filmmakers and audiences about who we are as a people — what we have in common, when we disagree, where we’ve come from and where we’re going.  For that conversation to flourish, Canadian audiences need access to our films, not just in the biggest cities, but in communities across the country.

The mission of KCFF is grounded in the belief that Canadian film and filmmakers are distinctive and vital to our country’s culture. We seek to develop an audience for our national cinema by promoting, celebrating and showcasing Canadian film and by supporting and encouraging Canadian film production.

We do this by:

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• Researching, programming and exhibiting Canadian feature-length films

• Presenting and promoting culturally diverse Canadian films and films in both official languages

• Providing educational, networking and career opportunities for professional and amateur Canadian filmmakers and artists

• Presenting locally-produced short films

• Nurturing film production in our community

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KCFF is a one-of-a-kind chance for our audiences to access these films and the festival’s programming approach is infused with that sense of responsibility and opportunity.

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