Wondering where to enter your film in 2026?
With hundreds of Canadian and International Film Festivals and Markets to choose from, Filmmakers need to do their homework before spending thousands of dollars on entry fees! Some festivals accept feature, documentaries, and short films – other’s don’t. Target the festivals which best fit your genre and film length.
Key Festivals for Canadian Films & Oscars
Telefilm Canada supports key festivals and having your film screened at various major international festivals can lead to distribution deals. Festivals like the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), Cannes, Venice, Sundance and Berlin can give your film a major buzz.
Winners at TIFF have proven to be stronger contenders for the Academy Awards. Films honoured with TIFF’s People’s Choice Award have tracks record of going on to be nominated in the Oscar’s Best Picture category.
Telefilm Canada provides a list of Oscar Qualifying Festivals that offer direct qualification for Oscar nods, especially for Shorts and Documentary films. Telefilm also runs the process to select one Canadian film to represent the country in the International Feature Film category at the Oscars.
Film Freeway is the place online to enter film festivals and screenplay competitions.
Screendaily updated 2025-2026 Festivals and Market calendar.