Image: Mike Vanden Bosch / Pattison Media / The CIFF must now find a new venue before its expanded five-day screening in November 2025.

By Alyssa Conti

INDEPENDENT FILM FEST

Local film festival seeks new home after Chilliwack independent theatre announced closure

May 19, 2025 | 9:26 AM

CHILLIWACK — A local film festival is on a race against the dying light of its home in Cottonwood 4 Cinemas.

With the city’s last independent movie theatre closing its doors, the Chilliwack Independent Film Festival must find another venue to show its screenings before the next event in six months. This year is set to be the biggest festival yet– expanding to five days from November 19 to 23.

“We pivoted when there were severe floods in the Fraser Valley and we had to postpone and lost half our operating budget… We pivoted when COVID hit and the world paused… And we’ll pivot again here,” wrote the CIFF in a social media post on May 15.

The festival is also in talks with the City of Chilliwack about finding a more permanent host in the future.

“In a time when funding for the arts is more difficult than ever, why the government does not provide more support to important community spaces will have to be a question for another day,” the CIFF added. “[W]e will survive and continue to provide a place for filmmakers to share their stories and be heard within Chilliwack, the Fraser Valley and beyond.”

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Organizers said theatre owners Pauline Lamb and Cathy Rayner took a chance on the annual CIFF since its conception, going from 29 films in one theatre in 2017 to fully booking the site with 100 films over the weekend in 2024.

“Thank you for running the Cottonwood for so long and for being a champion for independent film and the arts in our community.”

Cottonwood 4 Cinemas opened in June 1995 under different owners. Now, as the sun sets on Chilliwack’s very own cinema, the CIFF ended with a sentiment shared by many residents: “You have been well loved and will be deeply missed.”