*COVID UPDATE* - As you all know, the world has become a very bizarre place in the past few weeks. Given the circumstances surrounding COVID-19, the recent closures of facilities, including movie theatres, and the need to practice social distancing and not gather in groups, we are postponing the upcoming Bloody Mary Film Festival which was slated to take place on April 23-24, 2020. We feel confident it’s the socially responsible thing to do and we are determined to do our part to be part of the solution during these tough times. We’re passionate about bringing the festival to you and our audience later on in 2020 and our theatre, The Revue Cinema, is working with us to find new dates once it becomes safe and comfortable for us to all gather and share our love for genre films together again. Thanks for your patience and stay safe!

THE BLOODY MARY FILM FESTIVAL

The Bloody Mary Film Festival is held annually in Toronto, Canada. Named after the legendary mirror ghost from slumber parties past, the festival aims to showcase the achievements of female-identifying directors across Canada working in the horror, sci-fi and fantasy genres. The festival also seeks to inspire future generations of female genre film fans to create their own work by offering them a platform where their voices can be seen and heard.

Filmmakers are encouraged to attend and participate in post screening Q&A's where they can engage with the audience in a discussion of their work.

By fostering a community of genre filmmakers and film fans, BMFF hopes to contribute to remedying gender inequality in the genre film industry.

This year The Bloody Mary Film Festival is happy to announce it will be taking place at a new venue: The Revue Cinema in Toronto's west end.

All films qualify for the BMFF Audience Choice Award. This award is sponsored by Grande Camera. The director of the winning film will receive a $5000 voucher to put towards camera rentals on the next film they direct.

The Bloody Mary Film Festival accepts genre films directed (or co-directed) by Canadian FEMALE-IDENTIFYING FILMMAKERS ONLY. We invite female filmmakers to submit their short and feature length horror, sci-fi and fantasy films. No premiere status is required!

For short films: Maximum runtime: 25 minutes
For feature films: Minimum runtime: 60 minutes

Films in a language other than English MUST be subtitled in English

We accept ONLINE submissions only.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Gio Olmos

    Amazing opportunities and dedicated team! Thank you for having us this year, we hope to be back soon!

    November 2018
  • Shannon Litt

    We had a blast at the Bloody Mary Film Festival. The festival itself was really well organized, and there was a great turnout on Friday when our short film screened. Co-founders Krista & Laura answered all my questions promptly & kindly via email. They also organized a fantastic feature film incubator program, which was an excellent opportunity to meet lots of producers & people in the field!

    November 2018
  • We had an amazing time screening our short at this year's Bloody Mary Film Festival. The organizers were clear & communicative before the fest, and made us feel incredibly welcome at the screening. The other films in the short program were an amazing and diverse group of genre films made by women, and we felt honored to be in their company. Obsessed with this fest and can't wait to go back in future years!

    November 2018