Good Films. Do Good.

Our Story

Founded in 2005 as the Marda Loop Justice Film Festival, we began as a small community event held at River Park Church and the downtown Public Library. Over time, we grew into a city-wide festival, expanding to include additional venues such as the Globe Cinema and the Plaza Theatre. In 2024 we entered into a partnership with The Confluence Historic Site & Parkland, which is now our permanent home. Alongside our annual festival, we also launched justREEL, a year-round film series that continues to engage audiences throughout the year.

As our audience and influence expanded, we changed our name in 2021 to the Calgary Justice Film Festival (CJFF) to better reflect our broader reach. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, we adapted by offering virtual screenings. In 2022, we returned to presenting a three-day in-person festival. Thanks to the ongoing support of our community and supporters, we have proudly offered free admission every year of the festival.

Each year, our documentaries are selected from hundreds of submissions from across Canada and countries around the world. Screenings are followed by engaging discussions featuring filmmakers, experts on the film’s subject matter or those with lived experience. These conversations are inclusive, thought-provoking, and often spark meaningful dialogue among attendees.

As part of the festival, we also host a two-day Peace Market. This event provides a space for nonprofit organizations working in justice-focused causes to share their missions and connect with the public. We also have vendor tables of amazing artists and craftspeople, sharing their work with festival attendees and the public.

The United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals

The Calgary Justice Film Festival uses the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals as a blueprint for film programming. The films screened align with at least one goal.

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. At its heart are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries - developed and developing - in a global partnership. They recognize that ending poverty and other deprivations must go hand-in-hand with strategies that improve health and education, reduce inequality, and spur economic growth – all while tackling climate change and working to preserve our oceans and forests.