Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival

Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival, also known as Cinéfest and Cinéfest Sudbury is an annual film festival in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, held over nine days each September. It is one of the largest film festivals in Canada.

First held in 1989, Cinéfest quickly became a popular destination for Canadian filmmakers. The festival's longtime managing director Patrick O'Hearn was named the new executive director of Cinéfest Sudbury following the departure of Tammy Frick.

Cinéfest is a qualifying film festival for the Canadian Screen Awards.

History

Patricia Rozema's I've Heard the Mermaids Singing was presented in Sudbury in 1988 at a special test screening. Planned as a onetime event, Sudbury was being used as a test market for alternative Canadian films in communities outside of Canada's top metropolitan markets. The result surprised everyone, with over 900 people attending the sold out screening. Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival was established a year later in 1989 as the Sudbury Film Festival, and despite some remaining skepticism, local citizens proved that the city could be receptive to repertory film culture, as approximately 9,000 cinema buffs crowded theatres during the three-day event. Founding director Cameron Haynes noted that not even the Toronto International Film Festival had been as wildly popular in its first year of operation.

Haynes left Cinéfest in 1995 to head up the larger TIFF Film Circuit, and was succeeded by Frick.

Northern Connections

Constantly working to bring knowledge to the north, Cinéfest introduced Industry Forum to the Festival's framework in 2003, an initiative that has since provided emerging and mid-career film artists with access to key film representatives, and invited partnerships between Festival, industry and educational institutions. Since the introduction of industry forum, Cinéfest has established itself as a focal point for independent filmmakers, and programmers. While the festival has a long history of presenting and supporting films that represent the output of Canada's independent film artists, Cinéfest Sudbury has also over the years extended significant support to its regional film artists. Through programs such as Northern Connections (introduced in 2003), a program which highlights the best and brightest of regional film talent, and the CTV Best in Shorts Competition, which has awarded over $92,000 in cash prizes to up-and-coming regional film talent since it was established in 2001, the festival has served as a place for regional artists to have their work seen and celebrated.

Mini-festivals

Since the overwhelming success of Cinéfest Sudbury in 2003, which saw 80 per cent of festival screenings either reach or exceed capacity, festival organizers have worked aggressively to ensure accessibility for its audiences. The Festival Expansion Initiative was developed and launched in 2004, through which the festival was expanded from six to nine days. A plan was also developed at that time to establish Cinéfest as a year-round venue to showcase the best in film. In 2006, Cinéfest Sudbury introduced two new mini-festivals, Canadian Spotlight and Show & Tell Children's Film Showcase). These events are now providing audiences with even greater access to the works of Canadian film artists and are providing area schools with educational and inspirational film works that meet the needs of each curriculum.

Cinema Summit

In 2010, Cinéfest Sudbury introduced The Cinema Summit, a presentation, exchange and development series devoted to the celebration, promotion and advancement of Canada's new and emerging filmmaking talent. Aside from expanding the number of film screenings attended by talent associated with selected films, Cinema Summit features additional panel discussions, master classes and lectures with specific topics of focus, and introduces attendees to experts in the film and media arts industries. Cinema Summit represents Cinéfest's next efforts to inspire audiences, talent, students and industry.

Cinéfest Sudbury Film Series

In 2010, Cinéfest Sudbury further expanded its year-round presence by introducing the Cinéfest Sudbury Film Series, a monthly film presentation series typically held on the last Thursday of each month, featuring the best in Canadian and international cinema. The Cinéfest Sudbury Film Series has since been discontinued.

Cinéfest Sudbury International Film Festival Collection

The Greater Sudbury Public Library maintains a dedicated "Cinéfest Collection", featuring DVDs of over 200 films that have previously screened at the festival.

Cinéfest Sudbury Red Carpet Patron Program

At the end of 2021, Cinéfest Sudbury introduced the Red Carpet Patron Program, a subscription-based program for dedicated festival fans to keep the spirit of Cinéfest alive all year long. The program initially presented four exclusive films throughout the year but, due to popular demand and praise, has since expanded to provide registered Red Carpet Patrons with complimentary popcorn and access to six exclusive films throughout the year.

Programming

Cinéfest currently boasts a nine-day repertoire of film programming for local, national and international guests. Its lineup often includes a selection of prominent international films which may have screened at TIFF just a week or two earlier, but also places a greater emphasis on both commercial and independent Canadian films. In 2021, when Michael McGowan attended the festival to screen All My Puny Sorrows, he praised Cinéfest's dedication to Canadian film, noting that it was the only film festival that had screened every single film he had ever made in his career.

Due to the Sudbury region's significant Franco-Ontarian population, the festival also programs a significant selection of French-language films from both Quebec and France. In recent years, the festival has also programmed a dedicated Cinema Indigenized stream of Indigenous Canadian films, and as the region is also a significant centre of Finnish Canadian settlement, the festival frequently tries to ensure that at least one film from Finland is also present in each year's lineup.

The festival is sometimes the world premiere venue for films that were produced or shot within Northern Ontario.

Cinéfest also includes a Best in Shorts competition, sponsored by CTV Northern Ontario, for student and emerging filmmakers from Northern Ontario. Films are entered in one of three categories, Open, Student or Northern Flicks, and are screened at a dedicated event during the festival, with the winners and runners-up in each category awarded cash prizes of $500, $750 or $1,250 depending on the category. Best in Shorts was suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic, but returned in 2023.

Unlike the larger Toronto festival, which often gives each film several screenings over the length of its program including private press and industry screenings, films at Cinéfest are almost always screened just once each. Accordingly, its awards are typically announced a few days after the end of the festival, rather than on closing day as at TIFF, so that films scheduled for late in the festival calendar are not excluded from award consideration.

Awards

1990

Best Canadian Film Award: An Imaginary Tale (Une histoire inventée), André Forcier
Best International Film Award: The Nasty Girl, Michael Verhoeven
Best Ontario Feature: The Adjuster, Atom Egoyan
Best International Film Award: A Mere Mortal (Simple mortel), Pierre Jolivet

1992

Best Canadian Film Award: Careful, Guy Maddin
Best International Film Award: Like Water for Chocolate, Alfonso Arau
Best International Film Award: Naked, Mike Leigh
Best International Film Award: Caro diario, Nanni Moretti
Best Ontario Film: Picture of Light, Peter Mettler

1995

Best Canadian Film Award: The Confessional (Le Confessionnal), Robert Lepage
Best International Film Award: The White Balloon, Jafar Panahi
Best Ontario Film: Rude, Clement Virgo

1996

Audience Choice Award: The Eighth Day (Le huitième jour), Jaco Van Dormael
Best Canadian Film Award: Hard Core Logo, Bruce McDonald
Best International Film Award: The Eighth Day (Le huitième jour), Jaco Van Dormael
Best Ontario Film: Project Grizzly, Peter Lynch

1997

Audience Choice Award: Ma vie en rose, Alain Berliner
Best Canadian Film Award: The Hanging Garden, Thom Fitzgerald
Best Canadian Short Film: Zie 37 Stagen, Sylvain Guy
Best Ontario Feature: Cube, Vincenzo Natali

1998

Audience Choice Award: Life is Beautiful, Roberto Benigni
Best Canadian Film Award: Nô, Robert Lepage
Best Canadian First Feature: Clutch, Chris Grismer
Best Canadian Short: Moving Day, Chris Deacon
Best Ontario Film: Last Night, Don McKellar

1999

Audience Choice Award: Happy, Texas, Mark Illsley
Best Canadian Film Award: New Waterford Girl, Allan Moyle
Best Ontario Film: Just Watch Me: Trudeau and the '70s Generation, Catherine Annau

2000

Audience Choice Award: The Luzhin Defence, Marleen Gorris
Best Canadian Film: Two Thousand and None, Arto Paragamian
Best Canadian First Feature: Parsley Days, Andrea Dorfman
Best Ontario Film: Picture Claire, Bruce McDonald
Best Canadian First Feature Film: Marion Bridge, Wiebke von Carolsfeld
Best Ontario Film: Rub & Tug, Soo Lyu
Best Ontario Film: Water, Deepa Mehta
Best Canadian Short Film: Dry Whiskey, Robert Budreau and Philip Svoboda

2006

Audience Choice Award: After the Wedding, Susanne Bier
Best Canadian First Feature: Away from Her, Sarah Polley
Best Ontario Film: Snow Cake, Marc Evans

2007

Audience Choice Award: Shake Hands with the Devil, Roger Spottiswoode
Best Canadian Film: Shake Hands with the Devil, Roger Spottiswoode

2008

Audience Choice Award: Passchendaele, Paul Gross

2009

Audience Choice Award: The Young Victoria, Jean-Marc Vallée
Best Canadian Film: The Woman of Ahhs: A Self-Portrait by Victoria Fleming, B.P. Paquette
Best Canadian First Feature: I Killed My Mother (J'ai tué ma mère), Xavier Dolan

2010

Audience Choice Award: Incendies, Denis Villeneuve
Best Canadian First Feature: Oliver Sherman, Ryan Redford
Best Documentary: Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie, Sturla Gunnarsson
National Film Board of Canada Carolyn Fouriezos Best Canadian Documentary Award: The Guantanamo Trap, Thomas Wallner
Northern Flicks Award: Morning Zombies, Kevin Hoffman
Audience Choice Award Best Documentary: I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story by Dave LaMattina and Chad N. Walker
Audience Choice Award Best Documentary: Meru by Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi

2017

Gala presentations: Back to Burgundy (Ce qui nous lie), Borg/McEnroe, Breathe, Call Me By Your Name, Don't Talk to Irene, Indian Horse, Long Time Running, Mary Shelley, Stronger.

Audience Choice Award: Loving Vincent by Dorota Kobiela and Hugh Welchman
Audience Choice Award Best Documentary: Everyday Heroes (Et les mistrals gagnants) by Anne-Dauphine Julliand
Audience Choice Award Best Short Film: Fix and Release by Scott Dobson
Best in Shorts, open category: Farewell Fire by Scott Armstrong

Audience Choice Award: Judy, Rupert Goold
Audience Choice Award, Runner-Up: By the Grace of God (Grâce à Dieu), François Ozon

Gala presentations for the festival were Ammonite, Girl, My Salinger Year, Nadia, Butterfly, The Nest, Nine Days, Percy and The Rose Maker (La fine fleur).

2021

The 2021 festival was again presented under a hybrid model, with both in-person and online screenings. The festival also introduced a number of juried film awards, following several years of only presenting audience choice-based awards; the new awards program includes cash prizes for Outstanding Canadian Feature, Outstanding International Feature, Outstanding Female-Led Feature, Cinema Indigenized Outstanding Talent, French-Language Feature, Inspiring Voices and Perspectives Feature, Outstanding Short, Outstanding Emerging Canadian Short, and Outstanding Animated Short.

Gala presentations included All My Puny Sorrows, The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, Official Competition (Competencia oficial), Falling for Figaro, Juniper, The Vinland Club (Le club vinland), Lakewood, Night Raiders, One Second (一秒钟), and The Card Counter.

2022

Gala presentations included Alice, Darling, Ashgrove, Beautiful Minds (Presque), Broker (브로커), Call Jane, North of Normal, The Return of Tanya Tucker: Featuring Brandi Carlisle, The Swearing Jar and Viking.

2023

The 2023 festival returned to a fully in-person model, following the partially-online hybrid festivals that took place from 2020 to 2022 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The gala lineup consisted of Swan Song, The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, My Mother's Men (Les Hommes de ma mère), Sweetland, La Chimera, The Old Oak, The Boy in the Woods, Close to You and Humanist Vampire Seeking Consenting Suicidal Person (Vampire humaniste cherche suicidaire consentant).

2024

The gala presentations were 1995, Bob Trevino Likes It, Bookworm, The Count of Monte Cristo (Le Comte de Monte Cristo), Drive Back Home, The Invisibles, The Mother and the Bear, The Outrun and Young Werther.

2025

References

External links