Toronto has TIFF, France has Cannes and now Scarborough will have its very own film festival. The Scarborough Film Festival will be held from June 4 to 9.

Festival co-director Sergei Petrov says Scarborough has a lot to offer to the arts scene in the GTA and deserves more positive attention.

He hopes to highlight Scarborough talent, but that’s not the festival’s only objective.

“Our hope is definitely to get people in Scarborough to come see the movies, but also to bring more people in to Scarborough,” Petrov says. “Our goal is also to bridge that gap between East York and Scarborough.”

This is the first year the film festival is being held and Petrov says he expects many more to come. It has been challenging to get sponsors because the festival still hasn’t made a name for itself. However, the staff has succeeded in getting sponsors and advertisements to help spread the word about the festival.

The festival’s staff are all volunteers. Many are from Scarborough, which is positive because they have that extra passion since there’s a personal connection, Petrov says.

The festival got over 300 submissions, which is huge for a new festival and shows it is off to a solid start.

For more information visit the website: www.scarboroughfilmfestival.com