London Ontario’s Forest City Film Festival celebrates the art of cinema through a regional lens with a focus on national and global films and filmmakers connected to Southwestern Ontario. We honour successes, showcase new, compelling artists and inspire future ones.

We are somewhat focused on the region of Southwestern Ontario, Canada. We are looking for films that have at least one member of the key artistic team that has spent a significant portion of their lives in the area, or films that were filmed in the area or are about the area. Key artistic team includes director, writer, producer, DOP, Sound design, lead actor. Subject matter or setting of the film is not restricted to the region. The film does not have to have been shot in the region.

Official selections are screened to an audience and will earn a percentage of the door if the filmmaker is present at the screening. Win or not, we pay when filmmakers participate!

FCFF is a Canadian Academy Qualifying Festival.

Each category has a cash prize except experimental.

Best Short - $500 and Sculpture
Best Feature- $500 and Sculpture
Best Short Documentary- $500 and Sculpture
Best Long Documentary- $500 and Sculpture Supported by Specsavers
Best Short Animation- Sculpture
Best Feature Screenplay- $500 and Sculpture Supported by Western Arts and Humanities
Old Oak Audience Choice Award - $500 and Sculpture
Old Oak Audience Experimental Fan Favorite - boasting rights

Entries must be in English or - Subtitled or dubbed in English.
All entries should be sent via FilmFreeway. Please don't send discs or any downloadable files to us.
Works in progress are not accepted.
Films must be completed after January 1, 2022.
Entry fees are non-refundable.

To qualify, at least one of the key artistic team must be from or resided in Southwestern Ontario for a portion of their life, or been about or filmed in Southwestern Ontario.

The decision of the judges and selection committee is final.

Terms and Conditions:
By submitting to the festival, you agree to allow your film (or other artistic work) to be screened by the festival during the festival run, for which you are submitting, at no charge to the festival. If there are to be any additional screenings, we will come to a mutual agreement between the filmmaker and the festival.

All Films selected by the festival will be asked to provide promotional materials, but we ask that no promotional materials be sent until selected and notified.

By submitting to the festival you are admitting copyright ownership of everything submitted and by submitting a work for consideration (a Work), entrant hereby grants the Festival the following non-exclusive, irrevocable rights to use and display the names, voices, photographs, likenesses, and biographies of the entrant and the Work's director and producer for advertising, publicizing, and promoting the Works in any media

The festival reserves the right to disqualify any submission at any time, if there is any question of ownership, copyright infringement or any sign of disrespect (in any form of media) to the festival or its representatives. The Festival will not be held responsible for any inclusion of uncleared materials in your film.

All submitters will be automatically subscribed to the Forest City Film Festival newsletter and may opt-out at their option at any time.

Films that are posted publicly without charge on YouTube or other public video sites cannot be screened in competition at our festival. The exception to this is the music video category. We ask that films submitted not screen in the London region between August 15 and October 28 outside of the festival.

Films that are official selections are not permitted to withdraw from the festival after September 15th.

Only filmmakers that attend the festival for a Q&A with their film will receive a percentage of the door to be determined at the discretion of the festival organizers.

Films that already have a major distribution deal are not considered for competition but we may want to screen them out of the competition.

Promotional films do not qualify for competition.

FCFF reserves the right to update or modify these terms and policies without prior notice.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Karolyne Natasha

    My feature film BROKEN WATERS had its in-person premiere at FFCF in October 2023 and it was absolutely wonderful to watch it on the big screen at Imagine Cinemas. The festival director and staff made me feel valued as a filmmaker and gave the sincere impression that the festival was very excited to be screening my film. The hard-copy program was polished and contributed to the professional look-and-feel of the festival overall. Giving me the opportunity to sign the film poster prior to the screening was a fun way to up the enthusiasm, and having plenty of staff/volunteers on hand on the night of the screening eased my stress levels. Receiving a share of the revenues was also much appreciated.

    March 2024
  • Cailleah Scott-Grimes

    A wonderful festival experience! They really take care of and appreciate their filmmakers. A lot of thought and effort went into the curation of each program and panel. The industry conference had many high-level industry speakers, but it wasn't as hectic and overrun as some of the larger festivals, so a great chance to speak with important folks face-to-face. Thank you, FCFF!

    October 2023
  • Brad Spencer

    The Forest City Film Festival was an amazing event to attend and have a piece in the festival. The staff and show they put on it well executed and celebrates local talent. Highly recommended.

    March 2023
  • Nicole Bedford

    I had a very positive experience participating as a filmmaker in this festival. The communication was excellent, the venue is gorgeous, and the volunteers and organizers were all very welcoming. The festival also provides a lot of different opportunities for networking, which I appreciated. I was especially impressed with the venue technicians (every screening I attended ran so smoothly!) and the awards night, which was a lot of fun because they treat it as if you're attending a mini version of the academy awards (there's literally someone in a tux and white gloves handing out the awards!). I haven't been to many festivals, so maybe this special treatment for an awards night is normal,? Regardless, I thought it was wonderful!

    December 2022
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    Response from festival:

    Thanks so much for your kind words, Nicole. We are delighted that you notice all the care we take to make it a special and memorable experience!

  • I had a great time attending the Forest City Film Festival and screening our short film Wayne. The festival had a great turn out, and was run by very organized and lovely people. The atmosphere was awesome and the panels where very informative and interesting. Thank you for the experience!

    November 2022