OCan22

The audience at 2022 OCanFilmFest has voted 'Tehranto' the Audience Favourite. Congratulations to director Faran Moradi and the creative team!

"Faran brought us a story that was culturally specific and universal relatable at the same time, and it’s easy to see why it was such a hit with our jury and the audience."  — Jith Paul, OCanFilmFest Co-founder

It was great to return to a communal, in-person cinematic experience at the historic Bytowne Cinema this year. Thank you to Ottawa Film Commissioner Sandrine Pechels de Saint Sardos for opening the festival, local directors Nicole Bedford, Ramy Raphael, Fitch Jean, and directors March Mercanti, Peter Riddihough, Chris Lennox-Aasen and Faran Moradi who travelled to Ottawa to introduce their films, provide context, and answer questions from the audience and at the festival and at post-festival events. Special thanks to everyone who worked behind the scenes to make this year’s festival a success, and to everyone who attended.

Circle the first weekend of November 2023 in your calendars. We’ll be back. Our call for submissions for our 2023 festival opens on FilmFreeway in January.

The Star Mill, Daniel Blake (Oakville, ON) [ Short | Animation ]

A boy and his pet owlbear learn to appreciate being in the present (and not worry about the future) while running a windmill that powers the stars

Director Daniel Blake grew up in Port Dover, Ontario before moving to the city of Oakville to attend Sheridan College's Bachelor of Animation program. In his final year of the course he created his directorial debut short film, The Star Mill, to act as his thesis project, and now works as a storyboard revisionist in Toronto. His career goal is to eventually work as a storyboard artist on feature films and further hone his storytelling craft.

More info: Trailer | Web | Instagram | Twitter

Read Alvin's review: The Star Mill
Read Philippe's review: The Star Mill

the smallest steps, Nicole Bedford (Ottawa, ON) [ Feature | Documentary ]

Activists across generations working to end violence against women in Canada. Tagline: What will your small step for change be?

Nicole Bedford is a documentary filmmaker based in Ottawa, ON, unceded Algonquin Territory, whose work explores themes of identity, power, and resiliency. Since launching into film in 2019, she has created and screened several short documentaries, is an alumnus of three mentorship programs (including with the DOC Institute and the National Film Board of Canada), and is the winner of a 2020 Canada Council for the Arts Explore and Create Grant, a 2021 City of Ottawa Creation & Production Fund Grant, and a 2022 Ontario Arts Council Media Artist Creation grant. She's also a 2020 finalist for the Roy W. Dean Summer Grant. Currently, she is in post-production for her second documentary feature, Roots & Mesh, about women in the tiny town of Lockeport, Nova Scotia who find a sense of community by forming a band named after the women's music festival that birthed them.

More info: Web | Trailer | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter

Read Uchechi's review: the smallest steps

The High Road, Keith Robertson (Yellowknife, NT) [ Short | Documentary ]

Dwayne Wohlgemuth attempts to become the first person to traverse the longest esker in the world in the remote Barren Lands of the Northwest Territories. During his gruelling, 40-day journey, Dwayne encountered no people, but he was never alone.

Keith Robertson has been making films in the Northwest Territories since 2017. His films have played at festivals across the globe, including the Banff Mountain Film + Book Festival, New Zealand Mountain Film Festival, and on CBC television. You can watch another of Keith's films that features Dwayne Wohlgemuth, the subject of this film, on Amazon Prime Video. That film is called Family Routes. Keith has recently moved to Montreal where he and his partner are expecting their first child.

More info: Trailer

Jelly, March Mercanti (Toronto, ON) [ Short | Narrative ]

A couple's relationship is tested when an evening with friends erupts with jealousy.

March Mercanti is a Canadian filmmaker and visual artist. He attended the Toronto Film School where he won Best Documentary for his underground wrestling documentary and Best Director for his fantasy fuelled thesis film. He went on to receive an Ontario Arts Council grant for his award winning short film Clean Ice that surrounds the peculiar events that take place at a run-down hockey arena. His latest short film, Jelly, a dramedy about his romantic struggles, is currently on the festival circuit. March’s work explores themes of love and loss. He loves to create tension and awkward moments within his narratives as a way to give the audience an opportunity to laugh. He is currently developing a screenplay for his first feature based on true events that took place during his father’s funeral weekend.

More info: Trailer | Web | Instagram

Read Alvin's review: Jelly
Read Uchechi's review: Jelly

Plus que des cheveux (More Than Hair), Fitch Jean (Ottawa, ON) [ Short | Experimental ]

Sitting for the first time in a barbershop, a young black boy will discover for the first time the symbolic power of black hair.

Fitch Jean is a Haitian-Canadian storyteller and an all-around filmmaker. Fitch has been writing novelty and short stories since he was 11 years old. His passion for creating a story made him get into photography and visual arts which he has been doing for the past 5 years. But with the feeling that still images were never enough, he moved to the next medium and started his filmmaking career. He has been shooting short films, interviews, docs, commercials, and music videos for the past 2 years and has won various awards thus far. He usually directs, DPs, and edits his own projects. He has worn all three hats on 2 feature documentaries, 3 Unscripted Web-series (50+ episodes), and various short films, commercials, and music videos. He has also won 6 awards for his short films with 15 selections at various film festivals.

More info: Trailer | Instagram

The Untouchable, Aazeh Shahnavaz (Toronto, ON) [ Short | Narrative ]

A young woman who is clearly very upset, stands in the middle of a highway holding up traffic.

Avazeh (Ava) Shahnavaz is an Iranian-Canadian filmmaker. Born in Tehran, Iran on Dec 23, 1989, she moved to Canada in 2007. Avazeh graduated in film production from Toronto film school and received a Bachelor of Science Degree with a Major in Psychology from the University of Waterloo. She started her career with making documentaries about places and people, as well as producing advertising videos for various purposes. Avazeh moved back to Iran in 2018 and has since started to make short films in her home land, since Iran is the main source of inspiration for her.

More info: Trailer | Web

Tears of Oizys, Ramy Raphael (Ottawa, ON) [ Short | Experimental ]

Suffering secretly from depression, Isaac could not muster the courage to express what he feels to his wife, Nina. So, he wrote her an emotional letter.

Ramy Raphaël is an Ottawa-based cinematographer, writer and director. He is recognized for his breakthrough with award-winning short film, Inara (Ray of Light), in which he contributed as a cinematographer and co-writer. His cinematic style often portrays dreamy tones, featuring a great deal of attention given to composition, emotional complexity and overall mood.

More info: Trailer | Web

Read Alvin's review: Tears of Oizys

L'Entente Cordiale (The Cordial Agreement), Gautier Piton, Clement Douillet (Montreal, QC) [ Short | Narrative ]

A couple of tenants pay a visit to their landlords to discuss the annual increasing of the rent.

Composer and singer, Gautier Piton began filming in 2019 during the production of his music videos. From 2020, he directed many funny short films in which he starred. In 2021, he wrote “L’ENTENTE CORDIALE” and was selected by Kino Montreal to direct it within the frame the Kino Kabaret Festival of that same year.

After studying cinema in France, Clément Douillet had a career as an editor in production companies, 4 years in France, then 6 years in Montreal, mainly in documentaries, magazines and documentary Since he recently became self-employed, Clément had the opportunity to get back into fiction, whether in editing or directing, first via the music videos of his friend Gautier Piton, then by directing short comedies with Montreal semi-professional actors.

More info: Trailer | Facebook

Read Alvin's review: L'Entente Cordiale (The Cordial Agreement)

Sarah, Peter Riddihough (Hamilton, ON) [ Short | Narrative ]

An abstract portrait, based on a true story, of a young woman experiencing homelessness on the streets of Hamilton, Ontario.

Peter Riddihough is a filmmaker and media artist with extensive experience in film and video production. Early films include the feature documentaries, One Man’s Island (2003) the story of one man’s obsession with the world’s most dangerous motorcycle race, which premiered at the Montreal World Film Festival and achieved cult status amongst motorcyclists worldwide, and Jump (2006) a profile of basejumpers in Toronto, was also selected for prominent film festivals in Canada and broadcast on the CBC. Narrative / non-factual work includes the short film, The Ballad of Gloria Sedgwick (2016), the web series Child-ish (2021) for which he was co-director and cinematographer, as well as music videos for Canadian artists S.G. Sinnicks and Another Crush. Projection and stage design for live theatre productions include the co-creation of Last Supper (2018), a site-specific film-theatre hybrid performance piece, named as runner up “Best of Theatre 2019” by Hamilton View Magazine. Upcoming projects include the original short narrative film One Night Only. Peter was born in Dublin, Ireland, raised on the west coast of Canada, studied film at Ryerson University Toronto, and lives in Hamilton, Ontario.

More info: Trailer | Web | Facebook

Read Alvin's review: Sarah
Read Uchechi's review: Sarah

Magic Trick, Chris Lennox-Aasen (Vancouver, BC) [ Short | Narrative ]

An enchanting meet cute.

Christopher Lennox-Aasen, (He/Him) is a filmmaker and musician who grew up in Latin America, a UN service brat. He acquired his degree in film from SFU in Vancouver, and has worked in the local industry for the past decade, to not only earn a living, but also to watch professional directors at their craft, and thus hone his own. As a storyteller Lennox-Aasen is fascinated by archetypes and genres, and how they are deep reflecting pools for human experience. Frustrated that certain local production companies had no interest in touching his scripts featuring queer and poc characters and alternative subcultures. He decided to take matters into his own hands, and Magic Trick was born.

More info: Trailer | Instagram

Read Alvin's review: Magic Trick
Read Philippe's review: Magic Trick

Baduk, Induk Lee (Halifax, NS) [ Short | Narrative ]

Haejijn rediscovers the game 'baduk' that she played with her mother in her youth, and revisits the moments that shaped their relationship.

Induk Lee is an emerging Korean Canadian filmmaker from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Induk started in the industry working on independent short productions and has now expanded to working on TV shows. Her credits include CBC shows Moonshine (Season 1 and 2), Diggstown (Season 3), and CBS/Paramount+ show Rabbit Hole (Season 1). Baduk is her debut short film that has screened internationally and is the recipient of the Best Atlantic Short award at the 2021 Atlantic International Film Festival. In 2022, Baduk won the award for Best Short Film at the Screen Nova Scotia Awards, and was showcased on CBC’s national program Short Film Face Off. Induk currently lives in Toronto, Ontario where she is working on her next creative endeavours.

More info: Trailer

Read Alvin's review: Baduk
Read Philippe's review: Baduk

Tehranto, Faran Moradi (Toronto, ON) [ Feature | Narrative ]

In Toronto, lively music, intricate textiles and vibrant colours paint an unlikely story of love and family when Badi and Sharon, two young students with very different upbringings from a divided Iranian community, accidentally fall in love.

Iranian-Canadian filmmaker, Faran Moradi, born and raised in Ontario, Canada is best known as a Telefilm Talent to Watch recipient for his feature film, “Tehranto”. After having made numerous films during his studies at Sheridan College, Faran went on to direct and edit on Emmy Award winning TV shows including "Odd Squad", and write and direct the award winning short film “Blackpowder and Guilt”. His most recent credits include four episodes of the Hulu series "Holly Hobbie" and as a director shadow on the eOne show “Moonshine”.

More info: Trailer | Web | Instagram

After hosting our last two festivals online due to the pandemic, we’re excited to welcome viewers back in-person, November 3rd - 5th, at the Bytowne Cinema for our 6th annual film fest. From comedy, to fantasy, to socio-political dramas, this year’s film festival program showcases 12 Canadian-made films that will make you cry, laugh, and leave you thinking.

OCan’s 2022 film lineup includes:

• The Star Mill [ Short | Animation ] Director: Daniel Blake, Oakville, ON
• the smallest steps [ Feature | Documentary ] Director: Nicole Bedford, Ottawa, ON
• The High Road [ Short | Documentary ] Director: Keith Robertson, Yellowknife, NT

and much more.

"Once again, we received an overwhelming number of quality entries from filmmakers from across the country. Narrowing them down to 12 excellent, compelling, thought-provoking, and entertaining films was no small feat for our jury. We are returning to in-person screenings this year, and I’m looking forward to enjoying these films on the big screen, chatting about them with the audience and local filmmakers, and the many filmmakers who are visiting Ottawa to attend the festival.”  — Jith Paul, OCanFilmFest Co-founder

The OCan fundraiser event "Monster Monologues" saw actors compete for a chance to win free passes to our 2022 Annual festival screenings. The event took place on Saturday October 29th at the Westboro Barley Mow.

Thanks to The Meus Talent Agency, the actors who participated and everyone who attended. It was a fun gathering and a good opportunity to network and reconnect.

Congratulations to the winners: Paul Whitney, Logan Martin, and Morgan Blackbyrne.