Where do we begin?

The Canadian International Comedy Film Festival was birthed in the Sturgeon Heights Community Club in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 2013. Funded through a grant by a wealthy Winnipeg family via the Shärt Foundation, we actually began as the Shärt International Comedy Film Festival (SICFF). (Un)Fortunately the financial taps were turned off by season 5 (screw you Deloris Shärt!) and the festival was mired in court proceedings during the 2018 festival, known as our Six Pack – Number 6.  However, thanks to the brilliance of the legal team at Bille, Bie & Thehauer, that’s all history. We were finally able to be reborn as the Canadian International Comedy Film Festival – CICFF in our seventh season (2019).

While we’ve had to take off the old hag’s family name, the festival still remains true to its core philosophy — comedy film is a legitimate art form and deserves a venue to honour that artistic expression. We screen a wide variety of comedy films each year, some with minimal budgets shot on $30 internet specials, and others made with stunning production values and stars like Alec Baldwin, Gemma Whelan, Colin Mochrie, and Kevin McDonald. Bottom line is, if your film really makes us laugh it’s gonna get in. We appreciate the art and the laughs above all else, and the last thing we’ll ever do is take ourselves seriously.

Along the way we’ve had some amazing sponsors, world class filmmakers, and most importantly – our socially lubricated and always appreciative audiences. Come join us again or for the first time, to appreciate comedy film as an art and as an excuse to let it all hang out.

Your friends in comedy,

Andrew Wall and David Rabsch
Co-founders and co-directors
Canadian International Comedy Film Festival