Do you ever find yourself wondering where you can watch local Canadian films in Ottawa? Well, wonder no longer! The Ottawa Canadian Film Festival (OCan) is back for its seventh year at the Bytowne Cinema, playing comedy, drama, animation, and various short films from Nov. 2-4.
The festival is a not-for-profit organization that celebrates Canadian film and is run and composed by artists themselves. Eighteen Canadian films will be featured, and while the festival’s only stipulation for artists is that they are Canadian, this year, five Ottawa filmmakers made their way into the OCan.
Jith Paul, filmmaker and co-founder of the festival, sat down with Apt613 to speak more about the event and the importance of supporting local filmmakers.
OCan began as a part of other festivals, but Paul says the interest audiences had in those smaller venues motivated them to launch their first theatrical screening in 2017.
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“For example, we did a short film festival at the Ottawa Champions—at the time—baseball team, where we showed silent films on the scoreboard in between innings,” he says.
Since then, they’ve been hosting physical screenings every year, with the exception of two years due to the pandemic. Last year was their first year back in physical theatres, which Paul says was a huge success. He also added that one of the most important aspects of this film festival is that it showcases the local film community to wider audiences in a more accessible way.
“We wanted to give people a viable alternative for Canadian film where you could just go to a normal cinema, which is why we decided to do screenings at the Bytowne,” says Paul. “You’re seeing these films like you would see a Hollywood film—it’s not a special screening at a café or something like that. It’s just like any other movie.”
Paul says there’s a higher percentage of local films this year in particular; programming is based on the number of films they receive and the jury’s selections. Not only will movie-goers experience five films by Ottawa artists, but seeing them at a festival like this one offers some interesting perks.
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“The difference between seeing a normal film and seeing a festival is that there’s a good chance that a lot of the directors of the films will be in the audience,” he says. “So we usually host a very short Q&A after every film where audience members can shout out questions that pop up during the screening.”
Paul hopes audiences take away the fact that a lot of great content is produced locally and that the connection between filmmakers and audiences will strengthen how the general public views filmmaking, broadening the opportunities for local Canadian talent.
“I’m really proud that a lot of the films we featured have gone on to go onto CBC Gem—last year’s feature film I believe is on Air Canada, which is kind of nice,” he says. “I’m hoping that [audiences] can show their support for these filmmakers who, for the most part, are working on passion projects or self-funded projects.”
Don’t miss the Ottawa Canadian Film Festival from Nov. 2-4 at the Bytowne. For a list of the full lineup and information on ticket purchases, visit ocanfilmfest.ca.
