"Toronto After Dark is a fabulous launching pad for independent genre film" - John Landis, Director/ Writer/ Producer (AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON, THE BLUES BROTHERS)
Toronto After Dark Film Festival is one of the world’s leading showcases of new horror, sci-fi, action and cult films. Celebrating its 17th year, the critically acclaimed annual event spotlights thrilling new feature films and shorts from around the world. Each year's festival is attended by thousands of enthusiastic film fans and over 100 press and industry representatives, generating hundreds of published reviews for our film selections and a number of distribution deals for filmmakers.
As well as the screenings, festivalgoers can also look forward to lively Q&A's with filmmakers and social events where fans get to hang out with the filmmakers! The festival, the films and the fans also benefit year round from a significant online presence, with film updates sent to over 80,000 social media and e-newsletter subscribers. Toronto After Dark is also proud to have been voted by local filmgoers Runner-Up for Best Film Festival in the City.
For Toronto After Dark's 17th Edition, the festival returns in person with five thrilling nights this October 18-22, 2023 at the Scotiabank Theatre, the biggest cinema in Canada’s largest city. We look forward to your entry and participation in this year's exciting Toronto After Dark: Horror, Sci-Fi, Action & Cult Film Festival!
WE PROVIDE A HONEST AND FAIR CHANCE AT WINNING ONE OF SEVERAL AWARDS: Instead of festival juries which often have internal biases, Toronto After Dark as a fan-driven event prefers to let our fans choose ALL the winners of our awards.
AUDIENCE CHOICE AWARDS - FOR BEST OVERALL FILM (Features and Shorts): The Best Feature and Best Short Films as determined by a democratic poll of our most rabid festival fans - over 200 Festival Pass Buyers, with Gold, Silver and Bronze Awards given to films in each category.
SPECIALTY AWARDS: Our Passholders also give out awards in such unique and fun specialty categories as Best Kill, Scariest Film, and Most Original Film as well as genre specific categories including Best Sci-Fi, Best Action and Best Horror Film!
In total approximately 30 Awards are available for filmmakers to win at the festival each year, giving every participating filmmaker, a fantastic chance to snag a prestigious Toronto After Dark Award!
GENRE ELIGIBILITY
Toronto After Dark Film Festival seeks independent feature-length and short films from around the world in any of the following main genre groups:
- Horror, Supernatural
- Sci-Fi, Fantasy
- Animation
- Crime, Action, Thriller, Suspense
- Dark Comedy
- Cult, Bizarre, Genre-defying, Experimental
- Music Video (with a genre connection)
- Documentary (with a genre connection)
SHORT FILM ELIGIBILITY:
- Completed after January 1st, 2021
- Completed films, works-in-progress and rough cuts accepted
- Run time of less than 30 minutes
- Films in a language other than English must be subtitled in English
- Not previously submitted to the festival
- A previous limited screening or limited release in Canada, the U.S. or Internationally does not disqualify your film from consideration by the festival.
- Limited Screening Exclusivity: must not be publicly viewable in Ontario, Canada on any Streaming platform including Youtube during our festival dates, Oct 18-22, 2023.
FEATURE FILM ELIGIBILITY:
- Completed after January 1st, 2021
- Completed films, works-in-progress and rough cuts all accepted
- Run time of 60 minutes or longer
- Films in a language other than English must be subtitled in English
- Not previously submitted to the festival
- A previous limited screening or limited release in Canada, the U.S. or Internationally does not disqualify your film from consideration by the festival.
- Limited Screening Exclusivity: Must not be available in Ontario, Canada for view on Television / Home Video/ Streaming/ Video On Demand, nor be screening theatrically in Ontario during our festival dates, Oct 18-22, 2023.
- While not a prerequisite, Toronto Premiere Status is of added interest
