The Victoria Film Festival is a publicly attended film festival

Film festival

A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...

 in Victoria, British Columbia

Victoria, British Columbia

Victoria is the capital city of British Columbia, Canada and is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of about 78,000 within the metropolitan area of Greater Victoria, which has a population of 360,063, the 15th most populous Canadian...

 running for ten days in February. The festival shows both Canadian and international films and unreels 150 films with 55 Features on 6 screens around Victoria. It attracts a continually growing audience, reaching 24,000 in 2011. The festival began in 1995 and is a provincially registered non-profit and federally registered charitable organization.

Art of the Cocktail

A yearly fundraiser for the Victoria Film Festival. Art of the Cocktail features tastings, workshops, a competition for the best mixologist of the Pacific Northwest and more.

Distillery ambassadors, representatives and lounges will be offering tastes of their products or creating sophisticated cocktails for sampling.  Wander around the Tasting Room sampling the cocktails that appeal to you while catching tips from mixologists, authors and reps. Take in ongoing demonstrations on their side stage that will run throughout the Tastings. Demonstrations include the competition for the Best Mixologist in the Pacific Northwest, a Flair demonstration and new trends worth trying.

Past guests have included Ron Cooper, Kevin Brauch, Philip Duff, Elayne Duke, Sabrina Greer, Ted Haigh,

www.artofthecocktail.ca

Free-B Film Festival

Since 2001, the Victoria Film Festival has hosted the yearly Free-B Film Festival in August. The screenings are free and open to the public, carry a G or PG rating, and take place outdoor in Beacon Hill Park at the Cameron Bandshell. Since 2010, some of the screenings have also taken place in Centennial Square at Victoria's City Hall. Audiences range from a couple hundred, to 1700 for Edward Scissorhands in 2010.

My Victoria

A video competition to create a 1 minute film about what most affects and interests you about Victoria, BC, held from November to January from 2007-2009. The competition was open to Greater Victoria residents of all ages and skill levels and was designed to encourage the budding filmmaker in everyone. The My Victoria films were screened at the Bay Centre and the Community Arts Council in 2007, at the Empire Theatre in 2008, and during the ConVerge program in 2009.

FilmCAN

November - January. An opportunity for local high school students to create a short video from beginning to end and have it screened at the Victoria Film Festival. Guided by local professional filmmakers, students are mentored and receive advice and information to create new work.

Festival History

In 1995, the CineVic Society of Independent Filmmakers, along with Origins Theatre, began the Victoria Independent Film & Video Festival. The Festival was a low-key affair for the first three years, and during that time Origins Theatre closed in Victoria and the Festival fell entirely to CineVic, who turned the focus to short films and videos. After the third event, the Board of CineVic felt that if the Festival were going to have an impact on the filmmaking community and develop audiences, then VIFVF would need to expand substantially.

The fourth Festival brought in filmmakers from Canada and around the globe and managed to capture the interest of the city for the weeklong event. The Festival had Canadian feature film premiere screenings of Stolen Heart, Cat Swallows Parakeet and Speaks, and the Canadian premiere of Smoke Signals, along with a multitude of short films including Rick Raxlen’s Geometry of Beware.

Filmmakers were hosted by the Festival from farther a field than ever before, and included John Waters

John Waters (filmmaker)

John Samuel Waters, Jr. is an American filmmaker, actor, stand-up comedian, writer, journalist, visual artist, and art collector, who rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films...

 (Pink Flamingos

Pink Flamingos

Pink Flamingos is a 1972 transgressive black comedy film written, produced, composed, shot, edited, and directed by John Waters. When the film was initially released, it caused a huge degree of controversy and thus became one of the most notorious cult films ever made. It made an underground star...

, Serial Mom

Serial Mom

Serial Mom is a 1994 American dark satire written and directed by John Waters, starring Kathleen Turner as the title character, Sam Waterston as her husband, and Ricki Lake and Matthew Lillard as her children. Despite statements to the contrary in the movie, the story is completely fictional...

, Pecker

Pecker (film)

Pecker is a 1998 comedy-drama film written and directed by John Waters and starring Edward Furlong and Christina Ricci. Like all Waters' films, it was filmed and set in Baltimore; this film in the Hampden neighborhood....

); Scott Hylands

Scott Hylands

Scott Hylands is a Canadian actor who has appeared in movies, television, and on the stage. He is probably best known for his role of Detective Kevin "O.B." O'Brien on the television series Night Heat, played from 1985 to 1989...

 ([Night Heat]), and Lynne Stopkewich

Lynne Stopkewich

Lynne Stopkewich is a Canadian film director, particularly notable as the director of the film Kissed .-History:In 1987, Stopkewich obtained her Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in film studies from Concordia University, followed in 1996 by a Master of Fine Arts Degree in film studies from the...

 (Kissed

Kissed

Kissed is a 1996 Canadian film, directed and co-written by Lynne Stopkewich, based on Barbara Gowdy's short story "We So Seldom Look On Love"...

). The Festival managed to more than double the number of people viewing independent films. Many wonderful receptions provided opportunities for guests to meet and exchange ideas. A forum was added for discussion, learning and augmenting of skills. After the 1998 Festival, due to liability issues, CineVic and the Festival became separate societies.

Subsequent years saw the Festival dramatically increase in size to the 2008 high mark of 18,000 attendees. VFF has added film discussions, an event Let’s Make a Movie gave the public an opportunity to try hands on filmmaking, a three day new media program Interactive Futures brought together world class innovators, a family day, a four part series that examined the influences on a notable filmmaker and a country highlight have been developed over the last seven years.

The Festival has hosted many guests including Kris Kristofferson

Kris Kristofferson

Kristoffer "Kris" Kristofferson is an American musician, actor, and writer. He is known for hits such as "Me and Bobby McGee", "For the Good Times", "Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and "Help Me Make It Through the Night"...

, Atom Egoyan

Atom Egoyan

Atom Egoyan, OC is a critically acclaimed Armenian-Canadian stage director and film director. Egoyan made his career breakthrough with Exotica...

, David Foster

David Foster

David Walter Foster, OC, OBC , is a Canadian musician, record producer, composer, singer, songwriter, and arranger, noted for discovering singers such as Michael Bublé, Josh Groban, and Charice Pempengco; and for producing some of the most successful artists in the world, such as Céline Dion, Toni...

, Barry Pepper

Barry Pepper

Barry Robert Pepper is a Canadian actor. He is best known for playing roles like Sergeant Michael Strank in the Clint Eastwood film, Flags of Our Fathers, Private Daniel Jackson in Saving Private Ryan, Roger Maris in 61*, Ned Pepper in True Grit and for his recent role as Robert F...

, Arthur Hiller

Arthur Hiller

Arthur Hiller, OC is a Canadian film director. His filmography includes 33 major studio releases, including the 1970 film Love Story...

, Don McKellar

Don McKellar

-Personal life:McKellar was born in Toronto, Ontario to a lawyer father and teacher mother. He attended Glenview Senior Public School, Lawrence Park Collegiate Institute and later studied English at the University of Toronto's Victoria College...

, Jonathan Lipnicki

Jonathan Lipnicki

Jonathan William Lipnicki is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in the Hollywood films Jerry Maguire, Stuart Little, The Little Vampire, and Like Mike.- Personal life :...

, Dirk Benedict

Dirk Benedict

Dirk Benedict is an American movie, television and stage actor, perhaps best known for playing the characters Lieutenant Templeton "Faceman" Peck in The A-Team television series and Lieutenant Starbuck in the original Battlestar Galactica film and television series.-Early life:Benedict was born...

, Keith Carradine

Keith Carradine

Keith Ian Carradine is an American actor who has had success on stage, film and television. In addition, he is a Golden Globe and Oscar winning songwriter. As a member of the Carradine family, he is part of an acting "dynasty" that began with his father, John Carradine.-Early life:Keith...

, Beverly D'Angelo

Beverly D'Angelo

Beverly Heather D'Angelo is an American actress and singer.-Early life:D'Angelo was born in Columbus, Ohio, the daughter of Priscilla , a violinist, and Gene D'Angelo, a bass player and television station manager. She is of part Italian ancestry...

, and David Keith

David Keith

David Lemuel Keith is an American actor and director. He received Golden Globe nominations for Best Supporting Actor and New Star of the Year – Actor for his performance in An Officer and a Gentleman.-Career:...

In 2007, the Film Festival shortened its name to simply the Victoria Film Festival.