February 2026
Welcome to the movie festival for the no-budget oddballs, the dorks, the creators self-exiled from the halls of High Art.
Attack of the $5 Film Festival! celebrates the modern spirit of guerilla filmmaking: creators armed with iPhones and 25-year-old handicams, using ketchup for blood and trawling yard sales for props.
On September 26, we will welcome short movie mavens to Kingston, Ontario for a screening dedicated to those who are more John Waters than Ingmar Bergman, favour Russ Myer over Stanley Kubrick, who would rather watch Who Killed Captain Alex than Death and the Maiden, who'd rather spend time in the Troma trenches than the Criterion closet.
To be clear, we're looking for movies made cheaply, not necessarily with a max budget of $5! But "made with couch change" is the ethos.
PRIZES
Set expectations
super low
A jury of weirdos will select the festival's Grand Prize Winner. The director will receive Cecil, a trophy of dubious value.
SELECTION CRITERIA
Arbitrary and
unfair.
Your film will be reviewed by weirdos and if it feels like a good fit, we'll toss 'er in there. Selections will be made based on vibes, commitment to the bit, best use of limited resources, fearlessness, and length (we're going to try to fit a bunch in, so short is good). It will be very arbitrary.
No fuckwits. If Ben Shapiro is in your podcast feed or Jordan Peterson is on your bookshelf, you can probably steer clear.
THE FESTIVAL
Hot summer,
hot celluloid
An afternoon of no-holds-barred high-octane no-budget sticky messes of filmmaking in Kingston, Ontario on September 26 from noon - 6 pm.
It will be hosted at the Screening Room, a classic old-school indie cinema, with real butter on the popcorn, candy at the concession stand, and normal seats.
WHY
What is wrong
with us?
Hey, we love quality films as much as the next folks. Elegantly shot, beautifully scripted, lavishly set, delicately acted cinema has its place.
And its place is every other film festival.
We want to make a home for the grimy, the weird, the amateurish; the I've-got-a-barn-let's-put-on-a-show school of filmmaking. The first-timers, the burnouts, the dropouts, the has-beens and never-weres.