The Rain City Reels Film Festival is British Columbia’s first completely student-led film festival. It’s a space where emerging filmmakers in grades 8–12 can showcase their work in a supportive, professional, and non-judgmental environment. Our mission is simple: to celebrate creativity, spark a love of filmmaking, and inspire the next generation of storytellers. ​

The RCR Film Festival takes place every April at the theatre in St. George’s Senior School, Vancouver, BC. Nominated films will be screened for the audience. Awards will be presented for individual crafts—such as Best Writing and Best Director—as well as overall category winners. Prizes, including scholarships and filmmaking equipment, will be awarded to celebrate outstanding work.

RSVP link is out! There are limited seats available!
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe0R-t_kGo1L8wKyQxfpAQo0ty9UGspCciYet56jkamLOnqFA/viewform?usp=publish-editor

Awards & Prizes

*May be subject to change

Best Long Narrative
Best Short Narrative
Best Micro Short
Best Animation
Best Music Video
Best Performance
Best Cinematography
Best Writing
Best Editing
Best Picture

Rules & Terms

RCR (2026)

Entry Deadlines

Deadline: March 15th @ 11:59 PDT via FilmFreeway
No late submissions will be accepted, and there will be NO deadline extension this year!

Entry Fees

Free

By entering the festival, you are granting RCR non-exclusive rights to retain an archive copy of your production for the non-profit purposes of exhibition, promotion and education. By entering, you also give the RCR permission to post your video on our website, and/or other media for educational and/or promotional use.

Eligibility Criteria

Films that have been submitted in the past are not eligible for resubmission.
Films made before April 2025 are not eligible for submission.

Acceptable submissions are limited to student productions that are produced, written, directed, planned, and technically executed entirely by students in British Columbia, Canada. The involvement of parents, teachers and professionals is limited to minor, non-creative roles (ie. technical advice, funding). Directors, camera operators, editors, etc. must all be students enrolled in an elementary, middle, and/or secondary school in BC and be between grades 8-12.

Students from grades 8 through 12 are eligible to participate. For submissions involving students from various grades, the entry level is determined by the highest grade of all students involved in the production.

Films can be submitted to one category only.

RCR has the right to add/remove/combine submission categories and/or awards categories without notice.