Gimli International Film Festival

Overview

The Gimli International Film Festival is Manitoba's premier film festival, and the largest rural film festival in all of Canada! We are once again looking for the best contemporary cinema from Manitoba, Canada and around the world. This includes narrative and documentary, live action and animated, in short, mid-length, and feature film formats from across the globe. All films which screen at the Gimli International Film Festival are paid standard rate screening fees as outlined in the IMAA Fee Schedule. *GIFF has eliminated submission fees for Manitoba-based Filmmakers. — What to Expect: GIFF annually screens over 100 films, in the lakeside community of Gimli, Manitoba. A festival with strong Icelandic ties, GIFF is proud to highlight Icelandic film, but also be representative of the diverse communities that make up Manitoba. Wherever you are or wherever you are from, there is always something to enjoy at our festival! If your film is selected for our festival, we welcome filmmakers to join us and participate in a post-screening Q&A, take in one of our industry sessions, watch other films, network at our many social events, and enjoy the natural beauty of the Interlake region. This year, GIFF will continue to feature the best in contemporary independent cinema with a strong focus on Canadian and Manitoba-made films. We will also continue to curate film series based on the themes of social justice, under-represented voices, women filmmakers, Indigenous perspectives, and environmental issues. As an organization, GIFF is actively working to promote accessibility for all and inclusion that accurately represents our diverse culture. We also are working hard to ensure our organization is employing an ethical business model, which includes proper treatment and payment of all staff and contributing artists, as well as being an active contributor to the local community and the greater Canadian film community. In addition to paying all filmmakers proper artist fees, we also do our best to provide affordable film submission fees to encourage participation from low-income and marginalized communities. For questions or more information about the submission process, please contact our programming team at: submissions@gimlifilm.com

Last updated Sep 17, 2026

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FilmFreeway community

• Filmmaker

  We loved screening at Gimli Film Festival! The programming team was great to communicate with and the staff were incredibly warm and thoughtful. Our team had an amazing time and highly recommend the festival to other filmmakers!

• Filmmaker

  Wonderful! And Jaz was so kind to me. Great staff and great International Festival!

• Filmmaker

  What a wonderful crew of people! The festival was a delight!

• Filmmaker

  Always a great experience with GIFF.

• Filmmaker

  Thank you Gimli for programming Green Valley at your 2026 festival. While I was not able to personally attend, John and the rest of the team were wonderful to work with. They went out of their way to pre-tape a director Q and A session, were excellent communicators, extremely attentive to their filmmakers and even worked hard to support and warmly welcome members of my crew who could attend the screenings. This festival has been on my 'must attend' list for years, and after having two films screened at Gimli, it is definitely a 'must submit' for any filmmaker on the Canadian festival circuit.

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