Our Mission: To connect the public to the magic of early filmmaking, and to support novice filmmakers of the future.
Our Vision: To be the destination for celebrating vintage films, and to become a premiere resource for information and artifacts related to vintage film.
The Vintage Film Festival, which has been presented since 1992, is organized by a committee of the Marie Dressler Foundation as a fundraising event. (More here on our History)
The Festival is held every year on the third weekend in October and presents twelve or thirteen classic films spanning the period from the beginnings of the cinema to “just” half a century ago. The movies chosen span all genres (comedy, drama, musical, adventure, film noir…) and sample the work of the biggest stars and the greatest directors. Typically, each programme also introduces patrons to a great foreign film, and includes two silent classics with live musical accompaniment. The movies start late Friday afternoon and run through to dinnertime on Sunday. For a list of all films shown to date, click here.
Capitol Theatre - VFF Festival 2006The Festival experience also offers the opportunity to hear an interesting speaker at the Brown Bag Lunch on Sunday, buy Festival-themed merchandise, and bid on gift packages in the Silent Auction.
The Festival takes place at Port Hope Ontario's historic Capitol Theatre, an “atmospheric” Art Deco movie theatre built in 1930. (Venue location map here).
For more on previous festivals, see our news page. See the program page for information on the movies to be shown this year. Tickets for the coming season go on sale each year in early summer.
Apart from keeping the memory of Marie Dressler alive, the Foundation provides scholarships to students in Northumberland who are planning further education in the arts. Go to the separate site for Marie Dressler and the Foundation for more details.
Festival costs are not covered by ticket revenue - continued funding depends on the generous support of our Sponsors.
Mailing List
If you'd like to join our mailing list, we'll keep you informed of news and updates about our program. This mailing list is used strictly for updating you on the Vintage Film Festival and the Marie Dressler Foundation and will not be made available to anyone else. Sign yourself up on the positive confirmation mailing list system available here.
Contact Us
For Contact Information, go to our "Contact Us" page.
2023 Committee
| Name | Portfolio |
| Rick Hill | Chair |
| Al Brown | Treasurer |
| Cathie Houston | Promotion & Publicity (chair), Programming, 30th anniversary |
| Lynn Hardy | Catering, Silent Auction |
| Rick Miller | Tickets, 30th anniversary |
| Sital Bailey | Promotion & Publicity, 30th Anniversary |
| Leslie Benson | Venue coordinator, Silent Auction |
| Tom Cruickshank | Programme Book Editor, Programming |
| Terry Foord | Programming (chair) |
| Stewart Granger | Programming |
| Chris Jiggins | Promotion & Publicity |
| Aaron Peacock | 30th anniversary, Promotion & Publicity, |
| Larry Williamson | Promotion & Publicity |
| Gary Potter | Silent Auction (Chair) |
Minutes and Graphics - for VFF Committee Members only
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