It’s Friday, Aug. 15, 1975, and you’re sitting in an Ottawa theatre, completely oblivious to the fact that you are about to witness cinema history in the making. The Canadian Film Institute (CFI) has just screened The Rocky Horror Picture Show to a North American audience for the very first time, and you have no idea it’s destined to become one of the world’s most legendary cult classics.
Fast-forward exactly 50 years to Friday, Aug. 15, 2025, and the CFI is celebrating that pivotal moment in film history with the premiere of Sane Inside Insanity – The Phenomenon of Rocky Horror at the ByTowne Cinema, a documentary that explores how this campy musical morphed into global phenomenon. It’s also a fitting way to kick off the organization’s 90th anniversary celebrations.
Founded in 1935 by two Ottawa lawyers who wanted to see more than just your typical Hollywood films, the CFI is Canada’s oldest film institution and the second oldest in the world.
What started as a film society for aficionados has evolved into what Tom McSorley, who’s been the CFI’s executive director for almost 20 years, calls “a portal into all of this incredible work that’s being made around the world.”
That portal has been consistently delivering international cinema to Ottawa for nine decades, surviving funding cutbacks, technological changes, and a pandemic. At its peak in the 1960s and 70s, the organization employed 45 people and distributed 16mm films across Canada.
Tom McSorley. Photo provided.
“Ottawa is very underrated,” McSorley says in a phone interview with Apt613. “It’s not Toronto or Montreal, and we don’t have TIFF, but the audiences in this city for film are insatiable.”
He credits Ottawa’s cosmopolitan nature. Its government presence and 131 embassies create an audience that’s genuinely curious about the world.
The CFI currently operates several major festivals, including the Ottawa International Animation Festival, the International Film Festival of Ottawa, and the European Union Film Festival. They also run ongoing series like Café Ex, which showcases Canadian experimental film.
In its 90 years of operations, what McSorley is most proud of isn’t only the tangible leaps and bounds the CFI has made over the years, between the revered festivals and the top filmmaking talent. It’s also the intangible passion that has driven the institute to persevere after all these years.
“I’m proud of the continuity of curiosity of both our team and our audiences,” McSorley says. “That relationship between the institution and the audience is really quite special.”
The documentary screening promises plenty of behind-the-scenes footage from both the original London theatrical production and the film itself, plus interviews with Tim Curry and the rest of the cast. It pulls the curtain back on the journey from theatre show to Hollywood cult classic, exploring how it became the pop culture juggernaut we know today.
The Rocky Horror connection was a happy accident discovered just last year.
“We were going through old files and found these original house programs from 1975,” McSorley says. “It’s pretty hard to believe that Ottawa was the first audience in North America to see that movie.”
The CFI is launching a “$90 for 90 years” fundraising campaign to ensure the organization celebrates its 91st, 92nd, and many more. As an NGO and registered charity, they rely entirely on audience support and donations to survive.
On Aug. 26, the CFI’s official birthday, the Mayor of Ottawa will declare it Canadian Film Institute Day. Not bad for an organization that started with just two lawyers whose passion and appreciation for the world of film has been expanding audiences’ horizons for nine decades.
Sane Inside Insanity – The Phenomenon of Rocky Horror screens Friday, Aug. 15 at 6:30pm at the ByTowne Cinema. The screening is a fundraising event in support of the CFI’s 90th anniversary. Tickets are available online.
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