Ottawa Canadian Film Festival (OCan)

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OCan24 lineup / Schedule

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Screenings for our 8th annual film festival, OCan24, take place at the Bytowne Cinema, November 7-9, 2024. Subscribe to the OCan Newsletter to vote for your favourite film.

Our Mission

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, our volunteer‑run not‑for‑profit organization works to promote Canadian film as distinctive and vital to our country’s culture and the local economy.

  

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

                               

OCan24 gratefully acknowledges the financial support of the City of Ottawa and Gallivan Wealth Management of RBC Dominion Securities.
Screenings for our 8th annual film festival take place at the Bytowne Cinema, November 7-9, 2024. Subscribe to the OCan Newsletter to vote for your favourite film.

OCan24 Tickets

OCan Newsletter

— Thursday November 7, 2024 at 9 PM —

La folle traversée de Philippe, (Philippe, a lake and a dream) Stéphanie Gagné , (Chicoutimi, QC) [ Documentary ] * 52:00

Nix's Symphony, Karina Loerchner (she/her), (Waterloo, ON) [ Animation | Fantasy ] 06:00

The Steak, Kiarash Dadgar, (Toronto, ON) [ Drama | War ] 08:13

Les mots d'amour (Words of Love), Laetitia Demessence (she/her), (Montreal, QC) [ Poetic | Dance ] 05:30

OCD, Madonna Gonzalez (she/her), (Vancouver, BC) [ Drama ] 01:00

Radio Bingo, Shelby Adams, (Akwesasne, ON) [ Documentary ] 08:05

<Bridge the Gap>, Luca Fiore (he/him), (Ottawa, ON) [ Documentary | Comedy ] 06:37

— Friday November 8, 2024 at 7 PM —

Silent Cries (Kiayunik Tuhanak), Navalik Tologanak (she/her), (Iqaluit, NU) [ Documentary | Biography ] 16:46

Desync, Minerva Navasca (she/her), (Oakville, ON) [ Narrative | Drama ] * 12:00

Gro$ Lot (Jackpot), Sharbel El-Showairy (he/him), (Sainte-Adèle, QC) [ Satirical Comedy ] * 07:55

A Good Day Will Come, Amir Zargara (he/him), (Ottawa, ON) [ Drama | Sport ] *18:35

Treat Day, Lisa Kockeritz (she/her), (Oakville, ON) [ Drama ] 11:59

Safe Space, Matt Pittroff (he/him), (Toronto, ON) [ Narrative | Sci-Fi | Dramedy ] 09:12

Triage, David Rendall (he/him), (Picton, ON) [ Social Realist Drama ] 13:50

Ayam Zaman (The Old Days), Hassib Hani (he/him), (Ottawa, ON) [ Drama | Romance ] * 07:00

— Saturday November 9, 2024 at 9 PM —

Stealing Vows, Bobby Singh Brown, (Toronto, ON) [ Heist Drama | Comedy ] 02:00:00

* presented with English Subtitles

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.

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.