The HEX Film Festival is an exciting opportunity to screen your Halloween, entertainment, sci-fi, or horror themed film. This is our 8th year running.

We have a live screening festival in Calgary Oct 4-31, 2025 with our official weekend being Oct 18/19 for 2025. Calgary is located just an hour from picturesque Banff, Canada, HEX After Dark is the largest Halloween Film Festival in Western Canada. The festival is held during Calgary's Screamfest festival (www.screamfest.ca) which features haunted experiences, live theatre, Halloween retail spaces, and of course our screening room. Last year we had 22,000 people attend the event.

The festival features a banquet of today's new independent films.. We would like to host industry guests including distribution companies and halloween / horror related media contacts, and of course - our film makers. Please see our reviews!!
The mission of the HEX Film Festival is to promote the artistry of independent films made in the spirit of creativity, provide exposure for talented visionary filmmakers, and celebrate a collective passion for Halloween.
We have changed our format last year and will be only showcasing short (less than 1 hour) films. This seems to suit our audience the best.
We have a super cool laurel - please take a look at our photos. We look forward to seeing your creations!!

**Only films that have a Halloween/Horror/Sci-Fi/Fantasy theme will be featured**
**We do not provide waivers - requests will be ignored**

Awards & Prizes

Two weekend passes to the full Halloween & Entertainment Expo will be provided to the creators of each accepted project.

Best Short Film
BEST Sci-Fi or Fantasy Film
Best Horror Film
Best Actor
Best Actress
Breakthrough Filmmaker
Fan Favourite
Best Cinematography
Best Soundtrack
Best Special Effects
Best Sound Effects
Best Comedy
Best Costume Design
Best Canadian Film
Best Foreign Language Film
Best Animated Film

Rules & Terms

Submitter agrees to take all responsibility for obtaining any and all rights and permissions for screening the project at HEX Film Festival.

We are looking for films that have been completed within the last two years.

Please either provide a download link on Filmfeeway or a link to a 1080p film.

By submitting the project, you agree to provide HEX Entertainment Inc. and its agents with a non-exclusive right to screen the project at HEX Film Festival in front of a live audience. If accepted, filmmakers allow HEX to use clips and images of their films in promotional material.

19 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Derek Bensonhaver

    Thank you so much for including our film 'The Highwayman'! It was one of the few I got to go to in person, and was great to meet and chat with some of the other filmmakers and see a lot of really great films!

    March 2025
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  • Lisa Soper

    We really enjoyed being part of this festival. There was great care taken to the guests and filmmakers. Highly recommend submitting and attending this great fest. A big thanks as well for selecting our short this year.

    November 2024
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  • Luigi Scarpa

    Many thanks to this wonderful festival in a wonderful atmosphere. Kind professional and helpful staff. It was a real pleasure to participate, thank you for everything

    November 2023
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  • Adam Kirkey

    Great communication, the organizers really love the genre, we were super thrilled
    To show Greed & Gore!

    November 2023
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  • Rosie Grypma

    I loved being a part of the HEX festival. Great communication, first time seeing our film on the BIG screen & ALL the films selected were fantastic, which really made ours feel all the more special to be shown alongside them... Also, Jamie Lee Curtis was an Exe producer in a film in the festival which also made us feel like a big deal. Anyway- CAM thank you! Love this festival.

    November 2022
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