This year’s Gimli International Film Festival had a net attendance of roughly 9,000 people, the event’s largest audience since before the pandemic. Read this article for free: Already have an account? To continue reading, please subscribe: * This year’s Gimli International Film Festival had a net attendance of roughly 9,000 people, the event’s largest audience since before the pandemic. Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? This year’s Gimli International Film Festival had a net attendance of roughly 9,000 people, the event’s largest audience since before the pandemic.
“It was our most successful year since 2019,” says festival executive director Teya Zuzek. “Considering that we’re still coming out of the pandemic, and considering the state of arts and culture throughout Canada and what’s happening at many other institutions, this shows that Manitoba has a strong love for the arts.” Prior to the pandemic, the festival’s audience exceeded 12,000 attendees.
In 2023, the organizers experimented with a hybrid format, combining an on-demand digital program with a return to live screenings; about 7,200 people attended. Zuzek, who was hired in November 2023, attributes the uptick in part to the festival’s attempts to broaden its reach ahead of the festival, which ran from July 24 to 28 in the interlake community. “A lot of it had to do with marketing,” she says.
“We appealed to a younger demographic through social media ch.