The Crystalline Film Festival is a new, semi-annual international film festival based out of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Though our first festival is focusing primarily on short films, we have plans to welcome feature film submissions in the near future.

Our mission is to showcase and celebrate the energy, focus, and grit that goes into completing independent short films. The Crystalline Film Festival is an immersive platform designed by filmmakers for filmmakers, embracing diversity and committed to creating opportunities for other members of the artistic community.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Crystalline Film Festival is currently being hosted on a virtual platform, but we eagerly anticipate when we are able to have live screenings and red carpet events for our festival-goers.

We are accepting films from January 1, 2018 to the present. We encourage all films to be submitted by genre, despite country of origin or language. Please see the rules and terms for complete breakdown.

**SUBMISSION WAIVERS**
While we understand that, especially during the Coronavirus pandemic, submitting to numerous festivals can become quite costly. We work hard to keep our submission costs as low as possible for our filmmakers, but in order to keep the festival running properly, we are unable to offer submission discounts or waivers.

Please refrain from requesting them.

The Crystalline Awards - The Festival Jury votes on their favourite film in the following categories:
- Outstanding Narrative Short
- Outstanding Canadian Short
- Outstanding Foreign Language Short

The Audience Awards - The festival attendees get to vote on their favourite film in the following categories:
- Outstanding Narrative Short
- Outstanding Canadian Short
- Outstanding Foreign Language Short

The Diamond In The Rough Award - The Festival honours an emerging filmmaker's outstanding achievement within a low-budget production.
- Outstanding Production of a Low-Budget Indie Short Film

The Cinematic Tribute Awards - The Festival Jury votes for one of the nominated films to win a certificate in the following categories:
- Outstanding Achievement in Direction
- Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography
- Outstanding Achievement in Costume Design
- Outstanding Achievement in Visual & Special Effects
- Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design
- Outstanding Achievement in Original Score
- Outstanding Achievement in Make-Up Design
- Outstanding Achievement in Editing
- Outstanding Achievement in Screenwriting
- Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Male)
- Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Female)
- Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role (Non-Binary)
- Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role (Male)
- Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role (Female)
- Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role (Non-Binary)

1. Submissions for the festival will be accepted only through FilmFreeway.
2. All submissions are final. Crystalline Film Festival will not refund submission costs for unselected or disqualified films, or incomplete entries.
3. The decision of the festival selection committee is final. Correspondence with the festival organizers shall be only through email, and shall be in regards only to selected films. Any correspondence regarding unselected/disqualified films will receive no reply.
4. Festival organizers are not responsible for unscreened films or disqualification for awards due to film formatting problems or missed deadlines.
5. Crystalline Film Festival reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to take necessary actions (including but not limited to disqualification of your film submission) should any person connected to the making of said film be involved in, or alleged to be involved in, any situation that violates the CFF Code of Conduct.
6. Harassment or abuse of any kind (including but not limited to slander, discrimination, cyberbullying, etc. toward the festival organizers, judgement panel, or other festival selectees) will not be tolerated, and may result in legal action.
7. All films submitted must not infringe on any copyrights or any other rights of any third parties. Contestants agree that they have obtained all required copyright permissions (including but not limited to music, sound, and images) in their film.
8. All entrants agree that the Crystalline Film Festival organizers will not be held liable for any copyright violations by the entrants or their films.
9. No film may be submitted to the festival if it has involved, in any capacity, any of the festival’s judging panel.
10. All films accepted to the festival will be considered for award nomination.
11. The Crystalline Film Festival programmers will select the films accepted into the festival, and all further judgement for award and certificate purposes will be made by an appointed jury (save for the Audience Choice Awards).
12. All non-English films must have English subtitles.
13. The festival organizers will have the right to retain copies of each film and the material sent (including but not limited to teasers, trailers, posters, biographies, and both still and motion pictures) as part of our festival library, and can be used for promotional purposes on our social/internet platforms.
14. Films accepted into the festival will require (minimum) HD format of the film for download to be screened on the festival website.
15. All films which are selected for the festival will be informed only by email, at which point you will be provided the official Crystalline Film Festival laurel for your own promotional use.
16. Nominations for awards and certificates will be announced on the festival website by December 31, 2021.
17. The Crystalline Film Festival organizers reserve rights to change, cancel or re-schedule the festival dates, awards, and categories at their discretion and are not required to notify entrants.
18. The winners of the awards will be announced on the festival website at the close of the festival.
19. Films, once entered in the festival, will not be allowed to be withdrawn except on mutually agreed terms. Should mutual agreement be reached, no refund will be provided.
20. By submitting to the Crystalline Film Festival, each entrant asserts that they have read the terms of the festival, and agrees to adhere to all aforementioned rules and guidelines.

For full Code of Conduct, please see www.crystallinefilmfestival.com.

Overall Rating
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  • joanne vannicola

    The Crystalline Film Fest, while not without its challenges, did a brilliant job with their first year running to include, inform, and make filmmakers feel like our work mattered. While I did not attend online (I tried!) there were some technical glitches, but they fixed things quickly, and were the kindest people too. It's not easy running a festival during a global pandemic, but they ran their first one with style and grace and made us all feel so honoured. They should be proud of their efforts. Not only did they have awards, but they made it feel like the Oscars, literally giving us a show of all who were selected and the four or five top choices in each category for awards, showing clips and announcing the winners. It really was a show and they did a fantastic job. So kudos to the team at Crystalline! Thank you for making my film Trashed and our crew/cast feel so seen and honoured by your efforts. I look forward to seeing what you do next year now that your first year is under your belt! I'm certain it will be brilliant. Thank you for honouring non-binary and queer film as well, and being inclusive. Really great work.

    February 2022