Windsor International Film Festival

Windsor International Film Festival
An audience at the 2019 Windsor International Film Festival fills Windsor's Capitol Theatre's Pentastar theatre.
An audience at the 2019 Windsor International Film Festival fills The Capitol's Pentastar theatre.
LocationWindsor, Ontario, Canada
Founded2005
LanguageInternational
Websitewindsorfilmfestival.com

The Windsor International Film Festival (WIFF) is a cultural, charitable organization whose mission is to recognize and celebrate the art of cinema by showcasing Canadian and International films and filmmakers. When the festival first took place, it had 1,000 people in attendance and screened 20 films over the course of 2 days.[1]

Marking its growth, in 2009 the festival screened 25 films and sold 1,500 tickets.[2] In 2011 it was attended by 8,000 people.[3] By the time of the 9th festival in 2013, the festival screened 65 films[2] over a 6-day period,[1] with an attendance by 14,000 people under the guidance of executive director Vincent Georgie, who replaced the retiring Peter Coady.[4] In 2016, the festival sold over 20,000 tickets, and was the 2nd-largest volunteer-run film festival in Canada.[5][6]

WIFF 2017 saw ticket sales increase to 22,000, while in 2018, they went up by 10 percent. That same year, 143 films were screened in three different venues: the Capitol Theatre; St. Clair College's Chrysler Theatre, and the Windsor Armouries.[7] The increase in attendance prompted organizers to extend the festival from 7 days to 10 days the following year.[8] 2019 was another record-breaking year with over 42,000 in attendance for WIFF's 15th anniversary.[9] The creation of WIFF Alley[10] as well a partnership with Netflix was established.[11]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, WIFF was cancelled in both 2020[12] and 2021,[13] and WIFF Under the Stars was created in 2020 as an alternative.[14]

  1. ^ a b staff (Nov 8, 2013). "Windsor International Film Festival opens, features 65 films". CBC News. Retrieved August 24, 2014.
  2. ^ a b Gottlieb, Bryan (November 7, 2013). "Windsor International Film Festival". Detroit Metro Times. Retrieved August 24, 2014.
  3. ^ staff (Nov 14, 2011). "8,000 attend Windsor International Film Festival". CBC News. Retrieved August 24, 2014.
  4. ^ staff (Nov 11, 2013). "Windsor International Film Festival has new leader". CBC News. Retrieved August 24, 2014.
  5. ^ staff (Nov 7, 2016). "WIFF shatters ticket sales for 2016 festival". CBC News. Retrieved November 8, 2016. ...the festival was named the second-largest volunteer-run film festival in Canada.
  6. ^ staff (Nov 7, 2016). "WIFF shatters ticket sales for 2016 festival". CBC News. Retrieved November 8, 2016. ...more than 20,000 tickets sold.
  7. ^ "WIFF 2018 - By the numbers". WIFF. 2018-10-09. Retrieved 2021-11-08.
  8. ^ "WIFF wraps with record attendance, plan to expand to 10 days in 2019". windsorstar. Retrieved 2021-11-08.
  9. ^ "WIFF announces record-breaking ticket sales for 2019". Windsor. 2019-12-18. Retrieved 2021-11-08.
  10. ^ "WIFF takes to the streets with outdoor village and graffiti alley". windsorstar. Retrieved 2021-11-08.
  11. ^ Garton, Rich (2019-11-11). "New Martin Scorsese film to play in Windsor before Netflix release". Windsor. Retrieved 2021-11-08.
  12. ^ "Windsor International Film Festival Announces Cancellation of 2020 Festival". WIFF. 2020-06-24. Retrieved 2021-11-08.
  13. ^ "Movie lineup revealed for WIFF Under the Stars 2021". windsorstar. Retrieved 2021-11-08.
  14. ^ "WIFF cancels 2021 festival, but announces return of drive-in series". windsorstar. Retrieved 2021-11-08.