The Toronto International Deaf Film and Arts Festival (TIDFAF) goal is to promote cultural diversity, educational awareness and the celebration of emerging Deaf Cinema through the visual medium.

Mission Statement

The Toronto International Deaf Film and Arts Festival (TIDFAF) goal is to promote cultural diversity and the celebration of emerging "Deaf Cinema" through the visual medium.

Vision

Toronto International Deaf Film and Arts Festival is about showcasing works made by deaf people about topics that have absolutely nothing to do directly with being deaf and bridging the gap between deaf and mainstream arts audiences to celebrate our similarities as well as our differences. TIDFAF does not only represent the story of Deaf people however represents the human experience of love, hate, togetherness, abandonment, meaning and discovery on themes we are all familiar with.

The goals of TIDFAF are to promote the works of the deaf, hard of hearing, and deafened filmmakers\' achievements and showcase their films to mainstream audiences. The festival also is to create more public awareness around issues explaining the lack of larger representation of deaf artists in mainstream culture and also hopes to act as a mentoring and resource partner for deaf students and artists seeking assistance on getting their projects seen and heard.

The bi-annual festival showcases the work of talented national and international Deaf, Hard of Hearing, Deafened, Deaf-Blind filmmakers and artists as well as those who produce works in collaboration with the Deaf community. "TIDFAF does not only represent the story of Deaf culture, it represents diverse layers of the human experience we are all familiar with," says Catherine MacKinnon, TIDFAF Festival Director & Co-Founder.

TIDFAF, a first and only festival of its kind in Canada, is one of the fastest groing Deaf festivals globally.

From the Festival in 2006, we\'ve already received submissions and interest from Japan, England, Sweden, Ireland, Nepal, the (United) States and Africa, and everyday our e-mail inboxes continue to grow. We recognize the calibre of work within the deaf culture internationally - this festival in Toronto shall continue to be wake-up call to acknowledge the talents right here in Canada and international-wide.

First festival was hosted in May 10 - 14, 2006 and found to be very successful - thus leading us to continue the work on hosting the next festival this year on May 21-23, 2009.