This Edmonton film festival offers pay-what-you-can screenings

It’s about that time of year, because Fava Fest is back in full swing in Edmonton.

Fava Fest is the Film and Video Arts Society of Alberta’s annual celebration of remarkable film, video, and media artwork. Filmmakers and creatives get to show off their projects created in the last 24 months, and a whole bunch of like-minded people get to congregate and share their passions.

With documentaries, narratives, music videos, animation and more, this festival will wrap up at the Fava Gala on March 27. Here, the Excellence Awards will be presented to the best of the fest.

What to expect

The festival itself has three pay-what-you-can screening dates, as well as one feature screening: Interface.

Screening dates are as follows: March 6 at the Metro Cinema, March 13 at the Orange Hub, and March 20 at the Capitol Theatre. For exact times, I suggest checking out Fava Fest’s festival program, available online.

These screenings will feature a variety of different media, ranging from music videos to animation to short films.

As for the workshops they are holding, they definitely are interesting. I’ve never seen any opportunities like this in Edmonton before.

The first workshop was held on March 1, where Alyssa Nider taught participants how to capture motion capture using TouchDesigner and an Xbox Kinect camera. For four hours, guests learnt how to work with TouchDesigner’s nodal operators to build visual systems that respond to depth, motion, and presence captured by the Kinect.

For the second workshop, independent artist Jamie McRae will be teaching guests a new approach. A new and experimental method of creating visuals. This can be incorporated into film, music videos, video installations and more.

To celebrate the success and end of the festival, the festival will be holding a gala.

We can expect the Fava Gala, an awards show with a red carpet, where members are invited to dress up and come celebrate. The organization hands out thousands of dollars in cash awards and prizes. This year, in addition to its standard cash awards and prizes, it will be giving out a unique prize. The Distribution Prize is a jury-selected cash prize designed to go to an outstanding film to cover submission fees and further distribution.

When: Now until Tuesday, March 27, 2026
Time: Various times
Where: Multiple locations
Cost: $5+

Recent posts:
A huge new 10-pin bowling alley and arcade has opened its doors in Edmonton
Why you don’t want to miss out on the Edmonton Craft Beer Festival