February 4th 2023 – On Saturday, MPP Brian Riddell was present at the Cambridge Arts Theatre for a screening of The Six, presented by the Grand River Film Festival (GRFF), to acknowledge an $11,000 Capital stream grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) awarded to the festival. The festival kicked off its return to entirely in-person events for the first time since 2019, and this grant will enable them to continue to participate in community events and offer screenings for years to come.

“Congratulations to the Grand River Film Festival on this much-deserved grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation and on its return to in-person events,” said Brian Riddell, MPP for Cambridge. “I look forward to witnessing the growth of the festival as it utilizes this grant to connect with more and more people in our community and beyond.”

After moving to digital screenings throughout the pandemic, the Grand River Film Festival (GRFF) is returning to in-person events in 2023. Thanks to the $11,000 grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, the festival will replace and refresh technology and branded materials that became outdated during the pandemic which are essential to offering in-person screenings. The grant will also allow the festival to take part in more community-lead events and interact with our audience across the Region throughout the year.

“This grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation allows us to not only pick up where we left off but grow beyond that,” said Michael Clark, Chair of the Board of Directors for GRFF. “It will allow us to complete our rebranding – which began with a relaunch of our website last year thanks to a separate OTF grant – and replace technology without which our events cannot happen. You can expect to see GRFF at more community events throughout the year and see our screenings happening at locally owned venues throughout the Region of Waterloo. We also want to congratulate the Ontario Trillium Foundation on 40 years of granting and building healthy and vibrant communities across the province.”

In 2023, the Grand River Film Festival celebrates its 15th season of inspiring the community through the shared experience of film, hosting both an annual festival (May 9-13) and year-round programs dedicated to connecting our audience in the Region of Waterloo to the themes of the best independent movies from across Canada and around the world. If you want to learn more about GRFF’s plans for 2023, and to buy tickets to their events, please visit the website at:
grff.ca

The Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF), an agency of the Government of Ontario, and one of Canada’s leading granting foundations celebrates 40 years of grantmaking in Ontario and making a lasting impact in communities. Last year, OTF invested nearly $209M into 2,042 community projects and partnerships, which included funding for the Government of Ontario’s Community Building Fund. Visit otf.ca to learn more.

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Organization Contact for Media Inquiries:
Melissa Naylor, Director of Marketing
Grand River Film Festival
program@grff.ca