DRIFF 2025 Fall Festival
Thursday, October 23
Friday, October 24
Saturday, October 25
Welcome to a Taste of DRIFF 2025!
It is an honour and pleasure to host an event that promotes arts, culture, creativity, and community with the support of so many wonderful volunteers, sponsors, and partners. The Durham Region International Film Festival (DRIFF) has a fantastic line-up for our fall festival October from 23 to 25 at three great venues. We could not have a festival without the support of filmmakers around the world and in our own backyard and we are truly excited for this year’s festival.
Click HERE to read more about DRIFF 2025!
DRIFF Receives 97 Film Submissions!
The spirit of DRIFF is truly flourishing, and we couldn't be more thrilled! As the deadline for submissions closed on June 30th, we were absolutely delighted to receive 97 wonderful entries for the 9th annual film festival!
Click HERE to read more about the submissions!
Introducing DRIFF’s Pre-Screening Committee!
Each year, DRIFF assembles a cohort of ‘pre-screeners’ to aid in the festival’s film selection process. Pre-screeners are film lovers who volunteer their time by watching and evaluating short and feature films in consideration, and they play an essential part in shaping the Festival’s final line-up.
Too see more information and who the members are, click HERE
Meet Our Team!
Click here to meet the amazing team that helps make DRIFF possible!
Meet our Director of Programming!
Jessica Smith is an arts professional with more than twenty years of international film and events programming experience. She is currently serving as both the Programming and Projects Producer for TIFF Lightbox and the Director of Programming for the Durham Region International Film Festival (DRIFF). Throughout her career, Jessica has worked for many esteemed festivals and media organizations including the Tribeca Film Festival, BAMcinématek, the BFI London Film Festival, Sky Cinema, Sky Arts and the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival. Prior to rejoining TIFF in 2022, first as the interim Manager of TIFF Cinematheque, Jessica served as the Director of Programming for Toronto’s restored Paradise Theatre where she curated a diverse range of film, music, comedy and multi-arts events.
Dive into the DRIFF Archives
If you've ever been curious about which films have screened at DRIFF, the full catalogue is now available!
Visit the DRIFF archives to see film synopses, trailers and even links to watch films dating back to DRIFF’s inception in 2017.
Connecting communities by the power of film
Since 2017, DRIFF has been dedicated to promoting arts, culture, and community from within the Durham Region. Program offerings have included an annual film festival, monthly shorts programs, a high school film program and outdoor drive-in film screenings. DRIFF recently embarked on a strategic planning process which will serve as a guidepost for the organization in years to come. We hope you join us on this exciting new journey.
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“A ‘must enter’ for any aspiring and seasoned filmmaker. Great people talking, living and loving great movies!”
