New West Film Society is led by a group of passionate film aficionados who want to share their love of film with the community to spark appreciation, conversation, and culture, itself. Its signature event is a 3-day October festival held annually. It has steadily grown in popularity and has evolved over the years since its inception in 2011.
The New West Film Society was begun by a committed group of environmental and social activists who focused on relevant documentaries. In 2015, the society re-branded itself as the New West Film Society and widened its fare to include contemporary feature films and documentaries on many subjects, while still paying homage to its roots. More recently, it has taken on the mantle of the “filmmakers festival”. Rather than going through curated sources of films, such as the Toronto International Film Festival, it now solicits filmmakers directly – locally, nationally and internationally. This has allowed the society to create a unique festival with films of strong local relevance and also to bring to audiences to films from across Canada and around the world that aren’t seen on local screens or at other festivals.
The NewWest FilmFest is the mainstay of the society, but it is also expanding its wings to create other film events throughout the year, sometimes in partnership with others.
Over the years, the non-profit organization has partnered with a number of organizations and has been generously supported by local businesses, grass-roots organizations, the Arts Council of New Westminster, Green Ideas Network and New Westminster Environmental Partners.
