Regulations
CSFF 2025
Canadian Sport Film Festival - Regulations
The 17th annual Canadian Sport Film Festival (CSFF) is happening November 20-22, 2025 at TIFF Lightbox in Toronto, Canada.
Submissions to CSFF2025 are open from March 6, to May 9, 2025.
Submitting your film to the Canadian Sport Film Festival implies you have read and accept the CSFF Regulations below.
Eligibility
Focus: The Canadian Sport Film Festival (CSFF) accepts submissions of films about sport, both feature-length and short films, that explore, support or reflect the CSFF mission and purpose, as defined below.
The Canadian Sport Film Festival (CSFF) aims to provoke dialogue on the power of sport to inspire social change by sharing powerful personal and political stories about sport from around the world to educate, engage and entertain audiences and communities throughout Canada.
CSFF Purpose
- To redefine the role of sport in society
- To affirm ethical values in sport
- To normalize equity, diversity and inclusion
- To demonstrate the social value of sport
- To update and expand the existing sport narrative
- To inspire social change through the universal language of sport
- To promote physical activity as a means to achieve physical, emotional and social well-being
Date of production: Films must be completed after January 1, 2023 unless solicited by, or having received the approval of, the Canadian Sport Film Festival.
Projects previously submitted to the Festival and not programmed will not be reconsidered.
Language: Films must be in English or have English sub-titles
Categories:
- Documentary feature
- Documentary short
- Fiction (narrative) feature
- Fiction short
- Animated feature
- Animated short
Duration:
- Feature films are 40 minutes or longer.
- Short films are less than 40 minutes
Awards & Prizes
The Canadian Sport Film Festival (CSFF) is a non-competitive film festival.
Entrants will be notified of the decision regarding their film in Summer 2025.
The Festival pays a screening fee to each film selected for the festival:
$250 CAD for a feature film and $75 CAD for a short film.
Filmmakers of selected feature productions will be invited to the Festival and will be the Festival’s guests, including accommodation and/or transportation.
Submissions
Submissions to CSFF 2025 will be open on FilmFreeway from March 6, 2025 to May 9, 2025.
Films on the theme of sport produced since January 2023 are encouraged to submit for festival consideration.
- Submitting a film to the Canadian Sport Film Festival implies you have read and accept these CSFF Regulations.
Entry Fees and Deadlines
Film duration | Entry fee – until April 10, 2025 | Entry fee – until May 9, 2025 |
|---|---|---|
Feature films (40 minutes or longer), all categories | $50 CAD | $75 CAD |
Short films (less than 40 minutes), all categories | $25 CAD | $40 CAD |
Submissions will only be considered complete once all required details have been submitted and entry fees are paid.
Selection
Notification:
- Entrants will be notified of the decision regarding their film in Summer 2025.
- CSFF will announce the festival selections and our film schedule on social media and on our website: sportfilmfestival.ca
- No selected film may be withdrawn from the Festival.
Screening fees:
- The Festival pays a screening fee to each film selected for the festival:
- $250 CAD for a feature film and $75 CAD for a short film.
- For non-Canadian productions, PayPal is the Festival’s preferred method of payment.
- Note: wire transfers will not be sent for fees of less than $200.
Filmmaker attendance:
Filmmakers of selected feature productions will be invited to the Festival and will be the Festival’s guests, including accommodation and/or transportation.
Promotion
CSFF would like to promote the festival and all film screenings as widely as possible.
CSFF will announce the festival selections and our film schedule on social media and on our website: sportfilmfestival.ca
Selected festival films are also asked to support promotion of the festival and their film screening as follows:
- Provide a trailer that CSFF can upload and embed / link to (if trailer not available to download on FilmFreeway).
- Provide high-resolution digital stills for promotion (if not on FilmFreeway).
- Confirm the premiere status for your film at CSFF: Is it a North American, Canadian or Toronto premiere?
- Confirm social media channels and accounts that CSFF can tag when promoting your film at the festival.
- Promote your film screening to your networks, on your website and on social media.
- Confirm any groups / individuals / channels that CSFF should include in promotion.
Note re: Promotion: The Festival and its media partners reserve the right to use excerpts of the production (up to five minutes) and to reproduce photos of the production, for promotion and publicity purposes.
Screeners, Shipping and Responsibility
The Canadian Sport Film Festival prefers to screen from digital, projection-quality screeners.
Digital files:
- The easiest and most cost-effective way is to screen using a digital file, if one can be transferred.
- CSFF will confirm the email address and the deadline to send your digital assets.
Exhibition copies:
- CSFF will confirm the mailing address and the deadline to receive exhibition screeners in Toronto.
- CSFF will notify you when your film arrives.
- We are able to screen from a variety of digital formats.
- We would prefer Blu-ray over DVD, if those are the only options.
Note: All shipping and related costs for exhibition films/videos sent to the Festival must be borne by the owner.
Each film/video sent to the Festival is entered in Canada on a temporary duty free and GST exempt basis, which means that all films must leave Canada following the Festival. To prevent delays and duty at customs, please:
- Mark all packages with “Film/Video for Festival to be returned to owner – No Commercial Value”.
- Include an invoice containing title of film, format, and fair market value (cost of print only)
All exhibition videos and film prints will be returned by regular mail (unless specified otherwise and paid by the entrant).
The Festival is not responsible in case of accidental damage or loss of entries, except when in the Festival’s possession.
Liability: In case of loss or damage to a print, the obligation of the Festival is limited to compensating the filmmakers for the cost of making a new print.
Note: The Festival has the power to decide on any matters not specifically dealt with in these regulations. Participation in the Festival implies acceptance of these regulations. In any dispute, the decision of the Festival will be final.
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