Festival Archive
The Ottawa Canadian Film Festival grew out of the Treepot Film Festival, independent filmmaker Jith Paul’s series of public screenings that showcased more than 150 Canadian independent films at movie theatres, universities, colleges, and outdoor venues in downtown Ottawa between 2011 and 2014. Although the Treepot screenings were successful and well-received, Jith felt it was time to take the initiative further. He envisioned a more formal, sustainable structure that could amplify independent filmmakers and bring their work to broader audiences.
That vision became the Ottawa Canadian Film Festival (OCan), founded in 2015 by Jith Paul, Ed Kucerak, and Blair Campbell, with the festival’s first annual screenings held in 2017. Since then, OCan has presented Canadian films of all genres and lengths from filmmakers across the country, offering both in-person and online screenings to reach audiences nationwide.
Each year, the festival audience select one film as the audience favourite and the jury awards the Jury Prize to one film in recognition of excellence in filmmaking.
