The Vancouver International Film Festival introduces a new cash award of $8,000 for Best Canadian Film sponsored by the Directors Guild of Canada. The winner will be announced at the 33rd annual festival, which runs September 25 - October 10, 2024.
One of North America’s largest film festivals, VIFF will host over 350 films from over 70 countries this fall. However, the celebrated Canadian Images series remains an integral part of the festival. The largest exhibition of new Canadian cinema in the world, this incredibly popular series has screened over 1,000 feature films and 1,600 shorts to an audience of over 600,000 since its inception.
Canadian Images is also home to the BC Spotlight. Launched in 2024 with two significant cash awards to help local storytellers continue creating, this showcase of British Columbia productions earned the highest attendance ratings in VIFF’s history. The dedicated mustseeBC.viff.org promotional microsite received over 10,000 unique visitors in just two weeks, while the #mustseeBC campaign generated over 100,000 social media impressions.
VIFF is excited to announce the return of the BC Spotlight awards and our incredible 2024 sponsors, plus the addition of the new Best Canadian Film Award. Cash awards for Canadian filmmakers now include:
Best BC Film
$10,000 development bursary provided by the Harold Greenberg Fund (The Fund)
BC Emerging Filmmaker Award
$7,500 cash award sponsored by the Union of BC Performers/ACTRA and ACTRA Fraternal Benefits Society, and a $10,000 equipment credit supplied by William F. White
(Films must be signatory to a UBCP/ACTRA agreement to be eligible.)
Best Canadian Film – NEW
$8,000 cash award sponsored by the Directors Guild of Canada
Most Promising Director of a Canadian Short Film
$2,000 cash award
In order to allow as many filmmakers as possible to make their work eligible for these cash awards, submission deadline extensions for all Canadian productions are being offered until Friday, July 18. For submission guidelines, please visit viff.org or email us at info@viff.org.