The word Kosmorama means a perspective rendering of the world's sights. The festival has been named after one of Trondheim's first large cinemas: Kosmorama Theater, which was established in 1910 by Paul Kraüsslich. In addition to being a cinema manager, Kraüsslich was a keen cinematographer. In 1906, he filmed the coronation of King Haakong and Queen Maud in Trondheim, and already three hours later he was able to show the film to the people of Trondheim. In 1908, he received the honorable commission to show films for the royal family in Stiftsgården in Trondheim. Film pioneer Kraüsslich has been a source of inspiration for us as we now, over 100 years later, work every day to create our own Kosmorama.

The idea and motivation behind the name and the festival is that we should offer our audience something more than light-hearted entertainment. There is a general impression that there is a growing desire for knowledge in the population and we want to contribute with an offer where you can go to the cinema to learn something new about the world. Therefore, Kosmorama offers films from all over the world, and gives a different insight into current topics, in the form of both fiction and documentary. By promoting filmmakers from all over the world, including from Central Norway, we get a completely unique selection of films: Films that address themes and tell stories that people think are important where people live - from the Gaza Strip to Grong.

The Kanon award was created by Kosmorama and has been a permanent part of the festival since its inception in 2005. The name is inspired by the cultural term 'canon'.

The Kanon award pays tribute to the best Norwegian films in the chronological film year that has passed between each festival. The prize was previously awarded at the Kosmorama Trondheim International Film Festival in March.

It was awarded in different subject categories: director, producer, writer, cinematographer, editor, sound designer, production designer, composer and actors. The winners of the various categories are chosen by the film workers themselves through voting among members of the various industry organizations within Norwegian film production according to the principle "one member - one vote". The award is therefore sometimes called "Norway's answer to the Oscars".

In 2021 and 2022, the Kanon award was not held due to the pandemic.

I 2023 the board of directors of Kosmorama decided that the festival was to be organised without the traditional Kanon Award. The reason for this being changes in the economical situation of the festival. As the festival lost specific funding that had previously been received since 2018 for organising the Kanon award event. It was decided that significant new funding would be necessary in order to reinstate the award show in 2023, and thus it has been decided to postpone the Kanon award event until further notice.