'Shorts at Home' is a series of Canadian short films curated by OCanFilmFest's Board of Directors. The selections are non-competitive and are scheduled to run between annual festival screenings. The series was initiated in 2020, during lockdowns due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as a means to further our mission to celebrate Canadian films.
Perfect, Karim Ayari [ Narrative | Short ]
“Perfect” is a quirky comedy about one man’s attempt to free himself of any flaws, only to learn that perfection can mean many things.
More info: YouTube | Official Website
L’homme de la Maison, Karim Ayari
[ Narrative | Short ]
L’homme de la Maison (Before Me) is a bilingual film that explores social intolerance and its impact on children.
More info: Trailer | Official Website
Andre the Anti-Giant, Kim Saltarski
[ Documentary | Short ]
A 3-foot-something actor / comedian / disability advocate strives to retake the stage following a life-endangering diagnosis in this intimate and inspirational tale of hope, hardship, and hilarity.
More info: Trailer
As It Was, Blake Garbe
[ Narrative | Short ]
A young boy, Mason, senses that the relationship between his parents isn’t as perfect as he thought.
More info: Trailer
the art of the morning, Nathan Hauch
[ Cine-Poetry | Short ]
A lyrical look at how one person prepares for the day ahead, savouring each moment.
More info: Trailer
Angels, Taylor Olson [ Narrative | Short ]
A young Dad struggles to reconcile with protecting his daughter and bringing her up in a world that has nothing to offer her and will only take everything from her.
More info: Trailer
The Talk, Tyler Boyco [ Narrative | Short ]
Neil and Carol, a husband and wife, try to come up with the perfect way to have the most uncomfortable conversation known to mankind; the sex talk with their teenage daughter.
More info: Trailer
Baba Yaga, Nicole Sitanski & Cheryl Taam
[ Animation | Short ]
A desperate mother with an incurably ill baby ventures into the dark woods long believed to be the home of Baba Yaga, a mystical witch with the power to change fate.
More info: Trailer
Away Home, Jana Stackhouse
[ Narrative | Short ]
A man returns to his family home on the East Coast of Canada to unite his family and say goodbye to his terminally ill mother.
More info: Trailer
Girl in the Hallway, Valerie Barnhart
[ Cine-poetry | Short ]
Why does ‘Little Red Riding hood’ give Jamie nightmares? It’s been 15 years, and the girl in the hallway haunts him still.
More info: Trailer
Dirt Town, Lisa Meuser [ Narrative | Short ]
It took one call to change her life forever. When her husband, a train conductor working for the Canadian Pacific Railway, got transferred to work in a remote place in British Colombia, an unhappy wife is now forced to adapt to a new reality and to a husband that she no longer recognizes.
More info: Trailer | film613 review
Primary Colours Written & Performed by Roua Aljied, Derek Price [ Cine-poetry | Short ]
A cine-poem by Sudanese-Canadian artist Roua Aljied, aka Philosi-fire, about the realities of domestic violence and how each step a woman takes is a new colour to paint on the canvass of her life. Created in partnership with Women in International Security Canada and the 16 Days of Activism Campaign in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Night Drive, Arjan Atwal [ Experimental | Short ]
A mixtape triggers memories of a past romance and a haunting past.
More info: Trailer
death isn’t the same anymore,
Jennifer Mulligan [ Experimental | Short ]
“death isn’t the same anymore” is an experimental cinepoem that explores the intimate relationship humans have with their beds, and the cyclical nature of life between birth and death.
More info: Trailer | Vimeo | Official Website | film613 review
Honestly Charlotte, Sarah Hedar
[ Narrative | Short ]
In a world where artists need day jobs, one woman speaks the truth. A routine job interview goes sideways when the applicant gets completely honestly about what it’s like to be an artist trapped in a corporate cubicle.
More info: Trailer | Series website
The Gift, Lorelei E. Miller [ Narrative | Short ]
When you’re lost and broken what brings you back? A young man struggling with depression embarks on a journey back into the world he withdrew from. The Gift is a journey to find out what really motivates us as we navigate through the challenges in our lives.
More info: Trailer | Official website
Unfinished Manuscript, Vincent Valentino
[ Narrative | Short ]
A writer spends his life chasing that one thing that will define him, eventually coming to terms with what he has gained and what he has lost.
More info: Trailer
News, Robert Bazzocchi
[ Narrative | Short ]
News is nothing but information–it is its consequences that provoke us.
More info: Trailer
The Ottawa Canadian Film Festival (OCanFilmFest) is a cultural, not-for-profit organization that celebrates Canadian film. Our mission is grounded in the belief that Canadian film and filmmakers are distinctive and vital to our country’s culture and the development of the local economy.
This artist-run organization is composed of a volunteer board of directors and jury members. Sponsorships, donations, grants, film submission fees, and proceeds from ticket sales are used to fund exhibition / artist fees, that are paid out to filmmakers for the use of their work in our annual festival screenings.
Donations are welcome and can be made at PayPal.me/ocanfilmfest.
DonateLooking for information about an OCan film? Here is a list of all films featured at the festival.
Use the area below to search through the content on the pages of this site using Google.
Interested in volunteering with our festival?
drop us an email
Shorts at Home Volume 1
Shorts at Home Volume 2
Shorts at Home Volume 3
Shorts at Home Volume 4