Niagara Canada International Film Festival (NCIFF) is an IMDb qualifying festival conducting an innovative international film festival and invites participation from aspiring and upcoming independent filmmakers. A unique film Festival, focusing on opportunity creation for global filmmakers.

[Niagara Canada International Film Festival is to promote new movie makers, exchange of knowledge, information, ideas & culture between Canadian & other nations in context of their social and cultural ethos. NCIFF also promotes friendship and co-operation among people of the world through the medium of films & documentaries.]

Our festival supports independent cinema across formats and aims to showcase the best talent & cinema from across the globe.

Also, The Niagara Canada International Film Festival is an annual showcase of World Cinema created by world film makers. Films include short, feature, documentaries and Social & Music which explore the culture, history and tradition. It is a unique festival to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the film industry from Canada, USA, Europe, Asia and other parts of the world.

Reaching a potential audience of millions of Ontario-based movie lovers, NIFF (Niagara Canada International Film Festival) provides a unique cultural destination for Niagara and Ontario based ex-patriots to connect with the culture of home through the magic of cinema.

๐Ÿ’ก Our Vision:

"Bringing the World to Niagara Falls, Canada through a shared passion for film and the power of storytelling.โ€

๐Ÿ“ข Our Mission

The Niagara Canada International Film Festival is dedicated to the discovery and promotion of Film Makers, Storytellers and Artists and sharing with audiences. Everyone has a story to tell, our goal is to inspire and encourage people to share their stories using the media of film and to create events that enable the sharing of those stories across communities and beyond.

We accept all genres of films from all over the world. We create an opportunity for filmmakers to get their films judged and let them compete with other filmmakers. We perform a comprehensive evaluation process and select only high-quality films.ย ย 

NCIFF is an IMDb qualifying Festival
https://www.imdb.com/event/ev0073754/

๐Ÿ† Winners will receive Trophy, Certificates & Prices.

๐Ÿ“น In person Events include Redcarpet, Screening & Award ceremony

Jury awards categories:

๐Ÿ† Best Feature
๐Ÿ† Best Documentary
๐Ÿ† Best Short
๐Ÿ† Best Animated Short

โค๏ธ All films are eligible for the Audience Choice Award

โค๏ธ All official Selection will get printed certificate at the events.

๐Ÿ† Best international narrative Short
๐Ÿ† Best Canadian narrative Short
๐Ÿ† Best Documentary Short
๐Ÿ† Best Animated Short
๐Ÿ† Best Experimental Short
๐Ÿ† Best Student Short Film
๐Ÿ† Best International Feature Film
๐Ÿ† Best Directing in Feature Film
๐Ÿ† Best Actor
๐Ÿ† Best Actress
๐Ÿ† Best Music Video
๐Ÿ† Best Directing
๐Ÿ† Best LGBT'S Film
๐Ÿ† Best First Time Filmmaker
๐Ÿ† Best Horror
๐Ÿ† Best Comedy
๐Ÿ† Best Animation
๐Ÿ† Best Web Series/ Tv Pilot
๐Ÿ† Short Scriptโ€จ
๐Ÿ† Feature Script

A) Eligibility Requirements

1. We accept films of all genres.
2. Films completed on or after Jan 1, 2017 are eligible for considerations. All entries must be either in English or subtitled in English. Dialogue lists are not accepted.
3. Short films must be under 40 minutes and features should be 40 mins and over.
4. Multiple entries from the same submitter are accepted. A separate submission and a separate entry fee must accompany each entry.
6. Only HD format films are screen at festival.
7. Entrants confirm and warrant required legal authority to submit the entry to the Festival and to use all music, images, and content in the entry.

B) Submission Guidelines

1. Only complete entries (including fee payment and screener) will be considered.
2. Entrants are permitted to submit works-in-progress (i.e., without final color correction or sound mixing), but please note that the programming committee will only consider the version submitted. Subsequent cuts or replacement copies will only be accepted at the request of the programming committee.

C) Judging & Selection

Films are selected for Festival presentation by the Niagara Canada International Film Festival programming committee. If a film is selected, the Festival office will contact the entrant by phone or email. The Festival does not provide feedback or screening notes to entries that are not selected.

All competitive film categories are judged during the Festival.

D) Entry Fees

Each entry must be accompanied by the appropriate entry fee. Entry fees are not refundable. Fees cover registration, registration notification, consideration by the programming department, and notification of the results. These fees may be paid by credit card (VISA, MasterCard, or American Express).

Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • After spending the last month and a half trying to get clarification from the festival, without success, Iโ€™ve decided to leave a review of my experience.

    SCREENING EXPERIENCE
    I was originally very excited to be screening in the 7:00 block. Being slotted right after the red carpet, the audience at the start of the screening was very impressive. However, it was extremely disheartening to see almost the entire crowd walk out, and be left with only a handful of people remaining (Including myself and who I assume were the jury members) by the time my film screened. I believe this is due to the curation of the screening block, as the first few films (two of which were produced by the curator, and one of them doesnโ€™t even appear to be an official selection) maintained the audience, but then a series of questionably placed films saw the audience leaving in groups. I was also aware of the organizers, including the curator, following suit and leaving halfway through the block. This was our world premiere, and this is something we communicated very clearly, so it felt very disrespectful to be slotted this way and end up watching my film premiere to an empty room.

    In general, I wish that there was more being done to discourage attendees from constantly entering and exiting in the middle of films, as this was very distracting. There was a lot of phone usage and talking throughout the films, and I believe more could have been done by the festival organizers to discourage this behavior. So much work is put into these projects, so to have them treated so casually is disheartening.

    AWARDS
    We are very grateful to have been awarded at the festival, however, I do have some concerns.

    It became evident that the jury was awarding based on a โ€œspread the loveโ€ mentality, which I am not inherently opposed to. However, when submitting for your festival, it was a very โ€œpay to playโ€ system, where filmmakers had to pay per category they wish to be nominated in. It feels dishonest and fraudulent to then only allow films to be awarded in one category. As someone who paid a large amount to be considered for all eligible categories, then to see several eligible categories only have two or three nominees, and not be nominated, it made me regret paying so much. It does not seem fair to advertise certain categories, then show up to the awards ceremony and have several categories either be combined, or not awarded at all. Why was the โ€œBest LGBT Shortโ€ category not awarded? Why were all of the performance categories combined into one award category?

    It was also advertised on Film Freeway that winners would receive cash prizes, yet this was not acknowledged at the awards ceremony. This has also since been amended on Film Freeway, since my first email.

    OVERALL VALUE OF EXPERIENCE
    This was by far the most we have paid to be submitted to a festival, so far. With that, and with the prestige branding of the festival, I had higher expectations for the festival experience. I donโ€™t believe selected filmmakers should be paying full cost for entry to the festival, if having to pay entry at all. Paying $65 for a ticket (and $250 if you purchase the day before?!) seems steep when there isnโ€™t even bottled water included for filmmakers, and concessions in the venue were limited to $8.50 hotdogs. If the festival is not paying screening fees to the filmmakers, and selected filmmakers have to pay entry on top of already high submission fees, there should certainly be some included aspects for the filmmakers.

    I reached out to the committee immediately after the festival, and was told they would discuss and get back to me the following week. Iโ€™ve since followed up several times, and eventually contacted Jey Jeyakanthan directly, who gave me a different email to contact. After following up to that email again, and trying twice more to call him, Iโ€™ve received no reply. Iโ€™ve given the festival committee ample time to rectify the situation, without any luck.

    I would caution anyone who is considering submitting to Niagara, as I thoroughly believe it is not worth the cost, and thatโ€™s coming from someone who won an award.

    July 2024
  • Jack Spero

    This was my first film festival after graduating film school and I'm so thrilled it was. The environment, networking opportunities and films on display were second to none, and I had an amazing time.

    Make sure to attend if you want to meet some amazing people.

    July 2024
  • Juan Carlos Huerta

    Great experience, the staff was friendly and professional, Ill 100% recommend it.

    June 2024
  • The "MarriageFit" talent and crew are honored and humbled to win the "BEST COMEDY SHORT"! Wow and WOW!! Thank you! #MarriageFitMovie

    June 2024
  • Neil Warren

    I was unable to attend, but was very pleased to receive an award for my film Mr. Poe, Memory and Nightmares

    June 2024