Toronto International Nollywood Film Festival (TINFF) invites you to come celebrate the true diversity that brings Hollywood/ Bollywood/ Nollywood and International films and filmmakers to the beautiful city of Toronto. TINFF’s objective is to be a leading film festival in Toronto that celebrates diversity in our beautiful city. TINFF’s main focus is to advance creative, independent film direction through diversity, innovation, and uniqueness by capturing the series of movements and experiences in a single film. We encourage music and filmmakers across the globe to build an audience for their projects and work to diversify the film industry.

The Toronto International Nollywood Film Festival (TINFF) is a year round award competition and live screening festival with an annual event in the beautiful city of Toronto. Each year, we have our festival event and award night to celebrate diversity through film. We welcome filmmakers from across the globe to Toronto.

After Official Selected Films have been announced and notified, we will proceed to the next stage of the selection process, and subsequently, announce TINFF's Festival Finalists that will compete at the live festival event in Toronto. All Finalists will be announced on the TINFF's festival website and TINFF's Facebook page.

TINFF is a focus oriented music and film festival, with an awards night to recognize and encourage filmmakers by appreciating, promoting, challenge and develops an understanding of equality, social justice, non-discrimination, diversity, and multiculturalism.

Awards & Prizes

Awards & Prizes

TROPHY STATUE / AWARD CERTIFICATES
Best Project and Audience Choice Award
InkTip publishing opportunity
True Sail Distribution (Cinema Deal) In Toronto

We award the best independent filmmakers after a comprehensive evaluation process. All official selection and finalist get LAURELS. Finalist will have an opportunity to contest again at a combination of audience and judges vote for a TROPHY at various categories and a DISTRIBUTION OFFER which is optional to you. Also, thanks to one of our sponsors, winners of the “Top Three Screenplays” will receive an InkTip Script Listing to promote themselves and their scripts to InkTip’s entire network of producers, managers, and agents. Producers have made more than 375 from scripts and writers they found through InkTip.

In addition, all entries are eligible for an award from the list below. A certificate suitable for mounting and display will be given to the winners of each category. Winners of our annual TINFF-Festival Gala will receive an engraved Toronto International Nollywood Film Festival (TINFF) Audience Favorite Trophy. The event will be held at The Toronto York Woods Theatres. Filmmakers will have access to festival Screenings, Red carpet Interviews, Awards Ceremony and Networking opportunities in Toronto, Canada.

Best Feature Film (Hollywood-USA)
Best Feature Film (Nollywood)
Best Feature Film (Bollywood)
Best Feature Film (International)
Best Feature Film Caribbean
Best Feature Film (Canada)
Best LGBT Feature Film - NEW
Best LGBT Short Film -NEW
Best Short Film
Best Music Video
Best Trailer
Best Actor
Best Actress
Best Supporting Actor
Best Supporting Actress
Best Director
Best Producer
Best Web Series
Best Horror
Best Thriller/Action
Best Comedy
Best Animated film
Best Sci-Fi
Best Student film
Best Documentary
Best Editing
Best Cinematography
Best Visual Effects
Best Original Music Score
Best in Show
Best Costume
Best Art Director
Best Music - Non Visual (Audio Only Category) -- NEW
Best Reality Shows -- NEW
Best vBlog -- NEW
Best Gospel Video -- NEW
Best Female Filmmaker (Producer / Director) -- NEW

NEW CATEGORIES ADDED THIS YEAR

Audience Choice Award: (Online Voting Category, Films with the highest online fan vote wins)
Jury Award
Best of Show
Awards of Excellence
TINFF’s Nollywood Special Jury Awards
TINFF’s Bollywood Special Jury Awards
The True-Sail Award For Outstanding Black Film / Filmmaker
The True-Sail Award For Outstanding Minority Film / Filmmaker
Awards of Merit
Awards of Recognition

TINFF is proud to Announce InkTip as a sponsored partner for our screenplay awards Categories at the Festival this year in Toronto.
In Addition to Winning a Trophy, Winners from our Screen Play Categories will receive an InkTip Script Listing to promote themselves and their scripts to InkTip’s entire network of producers, managers, and agents.

Companies who are InkTip members include: ABC, Anonymous Content, APA, CBS Films, HBO Films, ICM, Paradigm, Paramount Pictures, Hallmark Channel, FX, Universal, WME, Echo Lake, Zero Gravity, Bad Robot, 20th Century Fox, and many more. Producers have made more than 315 films from scripts and writers found through InkTip.

{InkTip: Where producers go for scripts and writers.}

SCREENPLAY:

Screenplay under 30 pages
Screenplay under 60 pages
Screenplay under 120 pages

Rules & Terms

Rules & Regulations:

• The competition is open to films from Canada, Nollywood, Bollywood, USA-Hollywood, and International entries. Please check individual categories and submit suitable categories to your project.

• Feature films are 30 minutes in length or longer. Short films are under 30 minutes in length. All non-English speaking films must be presented in their original version with English subtitles.

• All Entries with or without distribution deal are welcome.

• Films previously entered into and screened at our festival are eligible for one additional re-entry in subsequent years.

• Entries must be submitted for pre-screening through our online submission platform. If you use a secured link, you are REQUIRED to keep us updated with passwords.

• Works in progress are accepted. We cannot promise that we will be able to watch re-edited submissions. Please only submit works in progress if submitting close to the final deadline.

• TINFF confirms that the festival has the permission to exhibit your film(s) during the festival and /or at any other Festival event. Submission of a work implies that the Festival can employ moving image excerpts and reproduce stills of exhibition promotion. Credit will be given to any filmmaker or screenwriter of such material is used in Festival promotion. The Original copyright holder retains all rights to their work.

• You may submit multiple entries but must pay an entry fee for each.

• If the movie has nudity or sex. The movie should have a strong story line; however, we are strictly not accepting any movies about porn, animal cruelty.

• To submit a Film for Festival consideration, Applicants must complete the registration process at the online submission platform and pay the required fee by the deadlines. Submissions must be postmarked or an online submitted via submission platform. Submitted DVDs must contain one version only of the Film, in the original language of production, with English subtitles if the original language is not English.
• DVDs must be labeled in the following manner: Title. Production company name, phone number, and address. Director’s name. Length in minutes and submission platform tracking number.
• Where the applicant chooses to forward a DVD instead of an online screener, the Applicant is responsible for ensuring that the submitted DVD screener plays in its entirety on an industry-standard DVD player. If TINFF is unable to view the DVD, TINFF is under no obligation, to contact the Applicant in order to obtain a replacement DVD.
• TINFF will not review multiple versions of a submitted Film. Only one version of the Film may be submitted. If multiple versions are submitted, TINFF will view only the version that was received first.
• Note! DVD screeners will not be returned.
• All Films must be sent by way of prepaid shipping. TINFF will not accept cash-on- delivery shipments or be responsible for duties, taxes or customs brokerage. Charges are to be billed to the sender. TINFF is not responsible for and will not accept shipments incurring expenses for terminal charges, duties, taxes or customs brokerage. Shipping and customs charges are to be billed to the sender. Any shipping charges incurred by TINFF will be billed back to the Applicant.
30 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Nancy Stafford

    even though I did not attend they were great I was so happy that one of my pieces did win an award. thank you. I may enter again sometime next year with some of my newer pieces.

    September 2018
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    Response from festival:

    Thanks for supporting TINFF

  • Aimiende Negbenebor Sela

    I'm torn... I hate writing this. I truly want to rave about this festival as 1) I am of Nigerian descent, 2) when I came across this festival and saw its ratings, I was really excited, 3) I just wanted so badly for this experience to be a good one..., but it wasn't.

    Though I'm grateful for the award win in my category, I am truly disappointed by how the festival was run. It was completely disorganized -- at least during the weekend, we were there. I and three members of my team fly into Toronto from L.A. for this festival weekend and purchased VIP passes too. We were left with a sour taste in our mouths. I felt so bad for the father-son couple I met who flew in from China just for the weekend to attend the festival...

    I see someone made a long list of suggestions in their review here, so no need for any more from me. Please take accountability. Try and do better. I do not imagine running a festival to be an easy task by any means. There is just so much potential for this festival to be something great. Even if it means being smaller, do better.

    On a positive note, the communication from the festival was great. The people we met from the team were friendly, and the fellow filmmakers we met were lovely.

    September 2018
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  • Kumar Raj ( Rajendrakumar M. R. )

    Our special comments for TINFF
    We are very proud & glad for our feature film " Tara the journey of love & passion " film team to be part of your prestigious film festival .
    We have suggestions which we would like to put forward for positive improvement of our film festival to grow & become worlds no1 film festival & we will be happy to contribute positive suggestions in the growth of your film festival .
    a) PRESS INCLUDING TV , RADIO , FILM MAGAZINES , ENTERTAINMENT MAGAZINES , EVENT COMPANIES , MAGAZINES , E -NEWS PAPERS has to be invited by your festival coordinator has to send our invitations to entire press to cover the event . regular press releases send before and after the event .
    b) The consulates of all countries to be invited
    c) Govt officials , minsters to be invited
    d) Big sponsors to be invited
    e) The tourism ministry & tourism department to be notified in advance to include the film festivals in all their publicity & printouts
    f) There has to be advertisement / publicity in local news papaers & on billboards which are sponsored .
    g) Big names in show biz in the country have to be invited to make the event successful
    h) Tie up with colleges & schools to ensure all seats are filled up during all screenings and award function no seat should be empty .
    i ) Have interns for the film festival taken from media colleges where by you have 30 interns to help during the film festival
    j) There should be photographers interns from photography college . there should be 25 photographers clicking pics .
    k) Red carpers have to be bigger
    l) The publicity boards for taking pix in front have to be bigger & better
    m) The directors -producers & lead actress have to be sponsored to fly down for film festival with help of big sponsors .
    n) Sponsors you have to tie up with biggest advertising companies , event management companies radio , billboard & tv companies for big sponsorship tie ups
    o) You can get sponsors form various consulates , govt bodies , event management companies , film commissions etc .
    Good luck i can keep going on
    Would love you to succeed in very big way & become no 1 in world , we are there to stand by you all the time we promise you .
    Good luck
    God bless you
    Best regards

    Kumar Raj ( Producer & Director )
    E: kumarrajproductions@yahoo.com

    Umair Siddiqui ( Film Festival Director For Feature Film Tara )
    C: +919773503615
    E: umairfilmfestivaldirector@gmail.com

    Kumar Raj Productons

    September 2018
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    Response from festival:

    Thank you Kumar Raj for the contribution. We can assure you that our 3rd year is going to be even bigger! We are starting to get interested organization to be a part for next years event. We will take your advice and hope to have you return again!

  • Cine Squirrel

    It was a wonderful experience, with many great films to see and lots of networking opportunities. Awesome group of organizers and volunteers. Highly recommended for submissions. Looking forward to returning in the future.

    September 2018
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    Response from festival:

    Thank you and we can't wait to have you back again!

  • Marc Adebesin

    Brilliant Film Festival held in Canada with a very vibrant culture

    September 2018
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    Response from festival:

    Thank you Sir!