The Gimli International Film Festival returns to Gimli, Manitoba, from July 22 to 26, bringing five days of screenings to Downtown Gimli and the beach. This is the 26th edition of the event, which is Manitoba’s premier film festival and the largest rural film festival in Canada.
More than 100 films from Manitoba, Canada, and around the world will be shown across four indoor venues, three of which are inside local churches. The fourth indoor location is the Gimli Theatre at 72 2 Avenue.
The festival’s signature event is the free RBC Beach Screenings, held every night at 9:45 p.m. on Gimli Beach. An 11-metre-tall screen is set up right in the waters of Lake Winnipeg. This year’s beach lineup starts with Shrek on July 22, followed by Raising Arizona on July 23, Jaws on July 24, The Tragically Hip: Long Time Running on July 25, and Night of the Living Dead on July 26.
The Rockin’ Gimli Harbour Concert Series will not have performances on July 25 or August 1. The series pauses July 25 for the film festival and August 1 for the Icelandic Festival of Manitoba, resuming on August 8.
The festival also includes the RBC $15,000 Emerging Filmmaker Pitch Competition, now in its 15th year of supporting new filmmaking talent in Manitoba. Over 15,000 people usually attend the festival, which started in 2001 as part of the town’s Icelandic Festival of Manitoba.
