Making films is hard. We believe film festivals should pay artists for their work.

CIFF’s Filmmaker Solidarity Fund is part of our ongoing commitment to creating a more equitable reality for independent filmmakers. Established in 2020, the fund initially provided 50% of net proceeds from our virtual pass and ticket sales directly to feature and short filmmakers selected for CIFF. Building solidarity with filmmakers to create more equitable, sustainable conditions for the creation and distribution of documentary films is at the heart of what we do, and we hope this initiative will help inspire other organizations to think similarly. In its current iteration, the fund provides a flat honorarium to all feature and short films programmed. In total, we have distributed nearly $60,000 to filmmakers over the past three years.