CENSURED IN CANADA is a film festival for Canadian-based artists and work marginalized by Canadian festivals and institutions – whether it was due to a lack of “right” credentials / connections; or the work challenges aesthetic / cultural / social norms. Our inaugural 2015 festival premiered 21 works of diverse themes and styles at CineCycle in downtown Toronto, ON

Tired of being rejected by yet another Canadian film festival? Can’t stand the crass commercialism, or twee sentimentalism you see on screens? Caught between Hollywood formula and abtruse art-school aesthetics? Made a film that espouses an alternative or unpopular opinion?

Do you challenge the limits of mainstream cinema, push the boundaries of independent film, or question socially-accepted perspectives; and find you can’t get your work shown in Canada? Or, are you frustrated because you do not have the right degrees and cliques to get your work funded or screened in Canada?

If any of the above is a resounding yes, We think CENSURED IN CANADA might be the platform for you to get your voice heard.

APPLICANT ELIGIBILITY
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+ Applicants must be the director or producer of the submitted work.
+ Applicants must be based in, or reside in Canada; this includes non-landed residents of Canada (e.g. work permits)
+ Applicants can submit up to 2 works each.
+ Applicants must own the rights to the work and the right to grant CENSURED IN CANADA permission to screen the work, and to use an excerpt for any promotional activities related to the festival.

WORK ELIGIBILITY
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+ All genres / styles / experiments are accepted.
+ Unless silent (no dialog), submitted works should be in English / have English subtitles.
+ The submitted work must not have been created for commercial purposes.
+ The submitted work must be a Canadian premiere, and must have been rejected by at least 2 to 3 Canadian film festivals. The more the merrier.
+ Eligible screening formats are: 8mm, 16mm, 35mm, DVD, Blu-Ray, Quicktime / MPEG-4 (H.264) file

Although we welcome diverse peoples, experiments, opinions and perspectives, we reserve the right to reject work that was created to instill hatred and prejudice.

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • everyone was nice at the festival, although I could not go communication lines were open and I sold 7 dvds this summer, which is rare.

    August 2017
  • Mars Roberge

    Censured in Canada held the Canadian premiere for both of my features, playing at all their festivals so far and can say thank God for them. Their motto stands true for me: "a film festival for Canadian-based artists and work marginalized by Canadian festivals and institutions - whether it was due to a lack of "right" credentials / connections; or the work challenges aesthetic / cultural / social norms." My last films played at Tier 1 festivals such as Rotterdam and Frameline, playing back-to-back with Academy Award-winning best picture "Moonlight", yet no local festivals picked it up but Censured in Canada. They have a pretty cool underground off-the-beaten path secret Toronto venue too that impressed my audience (with bar that serves during screenings). This is a place to build your audience if you're a Canadian sick of the system and want to get heard.

    June 2017
  • Fantastic mandate and idea for a festival. Steven and Mark were very accommodating. I am very honoured to have shown at the festival and hope for a continued future and success for Censured in Canada Film Festival.

    June 2017
  • Tom Strnad

    Great festival in downtown Toronto, excellent programming and a valuable venue for underground films in Canada.

    June 2017