Ottawa Canadian Film Festival (OCan)

  

OCan is an IMDB qualifying festival, and is listed among qualifying festivals for the Canadian Screen Awards by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television.

Minerva Navasca’s film Desync has been awarded Jury Prize and David Rendall’s film Triage has been voted Audience Favourite at this year’s Ottawa Canadian Film Festival with screenings on November 7-9 at the historic Bytowne Cinema in Ottawa.

“Desync stood out as the top film from this year's program with its masterful use of sound, editing, and writing to explore the complex relationship between conflict and love in immigrant families. Minerva Navasca skillfully blends fiction and reality, allowing viewers to fully immerse themselves in the story. The Jury unanimously chose to award Desync with this year's Jury Prize." — Zachary Chabot, Jury President

“An arguing couple deal with a sick pet at the height of the pandemic in Rendall’s film Triage. Rendall took his characters on an emotional journey, constantly “ratcheting up the heat” in the claustrophobic pressure-cooker they were forced to endure. It was especially impressive to learn that Colin Platt, the lead actor, was actually driving the vehicle in the film. The audience had a chance to chat with Rendall and Platt, who attended this year’s festival. Congratulations, team Triage, winners of Audience Favourite this year." — Jith Paul, OCan co‑founder

It was great to return to Bytowne Cinema for our eighth annual festival. Thank you to the City of Ottawa and Gallivan Wealth Management of RBC Dominion Securities for your financial support, and thanks to all of the local businesses and other non-profit film festivals for expanding our reach by sharing details about our screening.

Thanks to local directors, Luca Fiore, Amir Zargara, and Hassib Hani, and Lisa Kockeritz, Kelly Saxberg, David Randall, Bobby Singh Brown, Kiarash Dadgar, Shelby Adams, and Stéphanie Gagné, who visited Ottawa to support their films and participate in Q&A sessions. This is, by far, the largest group of filmmakers attending the festival in person!

Thanks to Jury President Zachary Chabot, and jury members Daniel Perras, Fitch Jean, and Nicole Bedford for giving us one of the strongest line-ups in our 8-year history, and a special thanks to Nicole for moderating our post-screening Q&A sessions.

Thanks to members of our board and volunteers who worked behind the scenes to make this year’s festival a success, and to everyone who attended. It is fantastic to see your support for independent Canadian films and filmmakers

About OCan:

The Ottawa Canadian Film Festival 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. We believe in programming and content that provides Ottawa audiences with entertaining and high-quality independent films, information, activities and events. Our festival, events, online presence and resources aim to encourage collaboration, artistic innovation and creativity while providing access for a broad audience segment.

Contact:

• Email: media@ocanfilmfest.ca
• Instagram: @ocanfilmfest
• Facebook: @ocanfilmfest

Desync, Jury Prize winner,
OCan Film Festival 2024

Triage, Audience Favourite winner,
OCan Film Festival 2024

Bytowne Cinema Marquee during OCan24

OCan24 gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the City of Ottawa and Gallivan Wealth Management of RBC Dominion Securities.

Check out our filmfreeway page for more reivews.

OCan is a Film Festival in Ottawa that celebrates Canadian film. Through annual festival screenings at the Bytowne Cinema in November and activities throughout the year, we work to promote Canadian film as distinctive and vital to our country’s culture and the local economy.

OCanFilmFest is a not-for-profit organization that is artist and volunteer-run, and is strongly committed to fostering diversity in its approach to programming. We strive to achieve this by encouraging film submissions from under-represented independent artists including those who identify as women, non-binary, Black, Indigenous, Persons of Colour (BIPoC), persons from the 2SLGBTQ+ community, and persons with disabilities. We recruit diverse members and voices to our Board of Directors and film selection juries.

OCan is an IMDB qualifying festival, and is listed among qualifying festivals for the Canadian Screen Awards by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television.

Check out our about page for more about our vision and history.

Blair Campbell

Board Member
Co-founder

Lorelei E. Miller

Board Member
Treasurer, Event Planner

Shelby

Festival Mascot

The 2024 Squad

What makes OCan different from other film festivals in Ottawa?

Ottawa is fortunate to host a variety of film festivals thoughout the calendar year at both indoor and outdoor venues throughout the city. Here are some of the differentiating features of the Ottawa Canadian Film Festival:

• Films at OCan are jury-selected from submitted work that is already produced and completed.
• All featured films are Canadian. Films are written or directed by Canadian filmmakers.
• There are no genre, theme or duration requirements. Selected films are usually a mix of short films, feature-length films and those that fall in between those two categories. Films can be narrative (fiction), documentary or experimental. There may even be a sprinkiling of dance films, music videos and cine-poetry.
• There is no premiere requirement. A film you see at OCan may be the first time it is shown to an audience outside of the filmmakers, or it may be Canadian movie that has had incredible buzz on the festival circuit elsewhere but not yet widely available. You may see a short film or two that was made in response a "catch" or featured at another festival held in Ottawa or elsewhere earlier in the year or a few years ago. You may also see a film that has been available on a streaming platform getting its big-screen theatrical debut.
• Artist Fees (also referred to as Screening Fees) are paid to filmmakers for all films selected to screen at OCan.
• Festival audience select one film as the audience favourite every year.

How can I submit a film to screen at OCanFilmFest?

Filmmakers from across Canada are invited to submit films to OCanFilmFest via FilmFreeway. The Call for Submissions lists all criteria and is usually opened in January each year, with various discount periods posted with the call. The jury watches and evaluates films over the summer and official selections usually announced in October.

Visit our FAQ page for more questions and answers about OCan.

We host annual in-person festival screenings at the Bytowne Cinema in Ottawa in November. The 8th annual festival will take place from November 7-9, 2024.

Other Activities and Events

In addition to our annual screenings, OCan programs a number of events including curated online and in-person screenings and fundraising events in collaboration with local filmmakers and other festivals.

• The OCan Newsletter an email digest of articles, news, events, fundraisers, and links related to Canadian film and filmmakers, arriving in your inbox about once a month.
• We publish film reviews, filmmaking and film promotion tips, and articles related to film and film appreciation on Our companion blog, film613.ca.
• We highlight feature-length and short films previously featured at the festival, now available on YouTube, Vimeo or popular streaming platforms like CBC Gem, and Tubi on the OCan Spotlight page.
• From time to time, the board curates and spotlights locally produced content in a series called OCan Presents.

OCanFilmFest proudly accepts entries on FilmFreeway, the world’s #1 way to enter film festivals and creative contests.