2013 Edmonton Short Film Festival
2014 Edmonton Short Film Festival
2015 Edmonton Short Film Festival
2016 Edmonton Short Film Festival
2017 Edmonton Short Film Festival
2018 Edmonton Short Film Festival
2019 Edmonton Short Film Festival
2020 Edmonton Short Film Festival
2021 Edmonton Short Film Festival
2022 Edmonton Short Film Festival
2023 Edmonton Short Film Festival
2024 Edmonton Short Film Festival
The Edmonton Short Film Festival was created in 2013 by Groove Soldier Productions, an independent film production company in Edmonton. The goal was to provide a venue for other local, independent filmmakers to have their projects screened for their friends and family in a professional setting, celebrating their work with other like-minded people. Over 250 minutes of film was submitted to this inaugural festival and the coordinators chose 18 projects to screen.
This inaugural event was well attended (the 250-seat theatre was sold out), so in 2014, the festival was incorporated as a non-profit “Edmonton Short Film Festival Ltd.” (ESFF) With partnership from the Government of Alberta and the City of Edmonton, as well as community support from TELUS, Pixel Blue College and others, ESFF was able to offer added value to the filmmakers by providing cash award and a special add-on educational event.
2015 marked our third anniversary and we were thrilled to be present the festival at the Royal Alberta Museum. Independent adjudicators joined the ESFF directors as well as special guest Canadian filmmaker Bryan Michael Stoller, who has been living and creating films in LA for 30 years!
2016 brought fun and excitement with the Gala on Saturday and an added Family Fun Day on the Sunday. That year also introduced a special mobile device filmmaker challenge and custom workshop.
2018 brought a Virtual Realty Experience and the new Long Shorts Day which featured the best of Canadian and International Long Short Films.
In 2022 we held our 10th anniversary at the Metro Cinema and were awarded a special proclomation from Mayor Sohi celebrating our milestone.
In 2023 we added a third day to the Gala weekend to bring in talented Alberta filmmakers, actors and stunt people for entertianment and educational events.
Although the festival is growing, we are still holding true to our grassroots foundation – by filmmakers and for filmmakers – screening films that feature technical excellence as well as great entertainment value.