How to Vote

I loved a film - or films! - this year. How do I vote for the People's Choice Award?

Voting for online films

To vote for your favourite online films, simply click the thumbs up button under the film once you've finished watching it. You can vote for multiple films throughout the Festival and for each films in a short film program.

Voting for in person films

Volunteers will be standing with tablets outside the theatres for you to vote. For shorts programs, you can vote for any and all films within a program. For features, you can just vote 'Yes' or 'No'.

How does voting work?

Votes are tabulated periodically throughout the Festival. We calculate award winners for our People's Choice Award for Best Feature and Best Short proportionately, looking at the total number of votes vs. the film's total attendance. This means the winners aren't necessarily just the films that have the highest attendance; every film has a chance at winning.

Example

Film A has 100 attendees and 30 people vote for the film. Film A has a rating of 30%.

Film B has 10 attendees and 8 people vote for the film. Film B has a rating of 80%.

Film B is the winner.

We use proportional voting because we're interested in a film being judged by the people who have seen it and we know not every film will have the same number of viewers. Regretfully, there often isn't enough time for every guest to watch every film. We also know our audiences' tastes are wide and varied, and the Festival strives to offer films that will appeal to many people. Proportional voting ensures that a film is judged on the full artistic package, not just on the face value of its marketing.

Can I vote for the same film multiple times?

No. Please only vote once for each film. We want to be fair to all of our filmmakers who work incredibly hard on their films. You are welcome to vote for multiple films however.