Film Festivals
Film Festivals and Public Screenings by Not-For-Profit Organizations
Film festivals and screenings offered by not-for-profit organizations are a thriving and important part of Alberta's culture.
Alberta Film Classification supports community screenings by helping host organizations provide advance content information to audiences.
Film festivals and other not-for-profit organizations are required to:
- post an age rating for each film they are showing
- provide information about the age rating system where tickets are sold
- enforce Alberta's age-ratings system for their film screenings
Alberta Film Classification helps festivals and not-for-profit organizations fulfill these requirements. We offer the following services free of charge:
- An age rating for each film being shown
- Rating signage in hard copy or a downloadable format for postage at the screening venue
- Promotional material explaining Alberta's age-rating system
Festival and other not-for-profit organizers are required to submit a completed Community Screenings Registration Form, including a complete listing of film titles, by e-mail, fax or regular mail (note: completing this application also satisfies the Alberta Foundation for the Arts Festivals Project Grant guideline 3.4). The form is here:
Community Screening Registration Form
The Community Screening Registration Form contains interactive form fields and is best viewed with Adobe Acrobat 7.0, a free download from Adobe.
To arrange the submission of film material for rating, please contact Alberta Film Classification. Please ensure an ample amount of time is allowed to screen, rate, and return your film material. As a general rule, the earlier film material is submitted, the better.
Alberta Film Classification accepts various formats for screeners, including 35 mm, 16 mm, DVD, and VHS. We will accept online versions if no other formats are available.
Film festivals and other not-for-profit organizations are responsible for the arrangement and payment of shipping of submitted film materials. The Alberta Film Classification office is open 8:15am - 4:30pm, Monday - Friday, for deliveries and pick-ups.
Self-Classification for Film Festivals and Not-For-Profit Organizations
Alberta Film Classification recognizes films festivals often select specific films for specific audiences and have the capacity, with support and consultation, to classify films and provide film content information to their patrons. As such, film festivals and not-for-profit organizations are provided the opportunity to assign age ratings to their film material.
If your festival or organization is interested in rating your film program material, please refer to Frequently Asked Questions about Rating Films For Festivals and Not-For-Profit Organizations for a detailed description of the process.
Festival representatives will be provided with the Alberta Guidelines for Classification for review to ensure confidence in, and familiarity with, the film classification process. Additional support and/or training sessions about film classification will be available upon request.
Upon completion of the classification of the film materials, festival representatives will provide Alberta Film Classification with a list of titles and classifications, including any content advisories assigned. Festival representatives will be provided with Classification Notes Forms to use in classifying their film materials.
The Classification Notes Form contains interactive form fields and is best viewed with Adobe Acrobat 7.0, a free download from Adobe.
Alberta Film Classification reserves the right to request a copy of any film classified by festival representatives. In the event of a discrepancy between a rating assigned by festival representatives and that by Alberta Film Classification, the rating assigned by Alberta Film Classification shall be used.
Note: Only films being hosted by not-for-profit organizations registered in Alberta can apply film ratings for their film material. If an organization that is NOT a registered not-for-profit group would like to exhibit a film in a public space, they will be required to submit the film to Alberta Film Classification and will be charged a classification fee (see Information for Distributors).
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