Celebrating and inspiring community through the shared experience of film, the Grand River Film Festival (GRFF) hosts both an annual non-competition festival and year-round film programs dedicated to bringing bold, reflective and inspiring films to Waterloo Region (Cambridge, Kitchener, Waterloo).

The non-competition festival hosts local, Canadian, and international films, pairing screenings with panels consisting of directors, film professionals, local interest groups and notable guest speakers. GRFF recognizes the power of film to connect people and is thrilled to act as a vehicle for the community to build relationships and host meaningful conversations within the Waterloo Region.

The annual Grand River Film Festival will run May 2025 fully in-person. GRFF will be showing feature films and shorts during this week, and welcome submissions for consideration of both.

Rules & Terms

ELIGIBILITY FOR FEATURE FILM CATEGORIES

- Selection will be based on quality and form
- Films must be in English or in the original language with English subtitles
- Duration: must be more than 65 minutes
- Entries previously submitted and not accepted may not be resubmitted
- Submissions must be making their Waterloo Region premiere at the festival and must be deemed a new release by the programming committee

ELIGIBILITY FOR SHORT FILM CATEGORIES

- Selection will be based on quality and form
- Films must be in English or in the original language with English subtitles
- Duration: must be less than 30 minutes including credits
- Entries previously submitted and not accepted may not be resubmitted
- Submissions must be making their Waterloo Region premiere at the festival and must be deemed a new release by the programming committee

13 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • AvAMaC Productions

    Grand River is an excellent non competitive yet high quality film festival that gets better every year.

    May 2024
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  • Julien Hardy-Cardinal

    Superb festival! Great programming and communication! Highly recommend! It was a real pleasure and honour to have my short film "Her Home" included in the 2023 edition! Thank you so much!

    June 2023
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  • Aidan Lesser

    Treated all filmmakers with respect and overall well-organized. Great selection of both international and domestic films.

    May 2022
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  • Mark Anthony Ramitt

    This is the 2nd year that I had my films selected for screening. For the 2022 season, I had the great pleasure of having one of my short narrative films screened in-person at the Apollo cinema in downtown Kitchener. What a thrill to watch my film on the big screen in front of an appreciative audience! Also had the opportunity to meet and chat - and take photos - with festival programming chair, Michael Clark in the theater lobby. I will definitely submit my next film to the 15th season!

    May 2022
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  • Kirsten Brass

    It was an honour to be part of Grand River's 'Coming of Age' Shorts Program this year! What a fantastic array of films and a well-organized festival.

    May 2021
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