Many film buffs from all over have started their submissions for the first ever Okotoks Film Festival this summer.

The festival has already received over 400 submissions for the international event in the Foothills.

Festival Director Katie Fournell says with the Academy Awards on February 26, it's a great way to get those cameras rolling.

"The Okotoks Film festival is a three day international film festival that takes place in June," she says. "We're going into our first year in 2017 and we're hoping to make this an annual event."

To get the film juices going before the festival, The RPAC in conjunction with the Film Festival will be showing short films that have the potential to take home an Oscar.

"We're showing the Oscar nominated short films and we're actually showing them immediately before the Oscars. We're showing the short films on February 22nd and 23rd. The really cool thing about this project is that we are doing them and Calgary is not."

The viewing times are at 6 p.m. and tickets are $15 or $25 for both nights.

Fournell says the best way to find out the latest events happening leading up to and during the festival is simply logging onto their website.

"If you go to our website www.okotoksfilmfestival.ca and click submissions. Just click the Film Freeway button from there and it takes you to our submissions page."

For information on the OFF follow the link.

The last day for film submissions is March 31, 2017.