Call for submissions are now open.

Contact submissions@regentparkfilmfestival.com for more details

OR

Please download the Entry Form and Guidelines

The 7th Annual Regent Park Film Festival was our BEST year ever!

Big heartfelt thank you to all our volunteers, audiences, panelists, partners, artists, caterers and guest filmmakers for making this year a LUCKY 7. Our attendance has increased this year thanks to your support. Please continue supporting us by spreading the word about RPFF. Come to our monthly screenings, and join our facebook group and twitter and filing in our survey.

Take a look at the beautiful photographs Daryl Buttineau took throughout the festival in our photo gallery. Also check out what Damien Denny captured for us on his Flickr page.

Winner of Humber College Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning's Audience Choice Award for Best Film Made by a Youth goes to Alwyn by Alwyn Barry ( Mr Barry, Alwyn's father, will be receiving the $500 cash award on behalf of his son Alwyn. Accepting the award on behalf of the family on Closing Night was the producer of Alwyn, Laura Rocca)

It is a delight to welcome you to another edition of Regent Park Film Festival. Our new slogan, REEL IMAGES; REAL COMMUNITIES, reflects the authentic community experience our festival provides. Seven years ago, Regent Park Film Festival started out as a volunteer group of teachers, filmmakers and community activists; it has grown into an incorporated non-profit organization with a Board of Directors, two staff and many volunteers. We remain true to our founding principle, to create a safe, accessible space for all to enjoy the most interesting, thought-provoking, entertaining and culturally diverse independent films and videos from “home” and around the world.

Nelson Mandela Park Public School, one of three model schools in Toronto, is the perfect venue for our festival, and has generously hosted us since our inception. We thank Elizabeth Shaeffer for her unwavering dedication and support over the years. This year’s festival opens with the “Community Stories” Youth Media Program, celebrating youth-made productions from across Canada and the USA. Young filmmakers will be in attendance, sharing experiences with their Regent Park counterparts. We hope you will join us for their “talk back” panel discussion, moderated by Regent Park resident youth, Fathima Fahmy.

Our festival line-up includes 16 programs, showcasing 76 films from 11 countries, selected by 3 programming committees of talented and insightful individuals. Our School Matinee programs, for Grades 1-8 students from 12 neighbouring schools, are educational and entertaining, with films addressing alienation, prejudice, empowerment and other issues relevant to youth. In recognition of our young talent, new this year, Humber College is offering the “Audience Choice Award” for Best Film Made by a Youth Filmmaker.

From the mysterious reckoning behind Ethiopia’s celebration of the last millennium (“Generation to Generation”) to a compelling story of a dark chapter in Canada’s history with First Nations peoples (“ The Experimental Eskimos”), there is surely a film that will entice you.

Finally, for our Closing Night Program, we are honoured to screen Alwyn by Alwyn Barry, an extraordinary young Guyanese-Canadian filmmaker from Jane and Finch, who documented his battle with colon cancer and award winning and Oscar-nominated Hubert Davis brings us Invisible City, a moving story of two boys from Regent Park crossing into adulthood.

The program will be followed by spoken-word performers, poet Moustafa Ahmed, a 12- year-old Regent Park resident and Mahlikah Awe:ri is an oralist and practicing cultural artist, of African/Mohawk/Mik’maw heritage. It’s going to be a blast! Come and enjoy. All our activities are free, and we offer complimentary childcare.

Karin Hazé
Executive Director