Ottawa Film Festival To Focus On Local Scene

CBC NEWS

Last Updated: Thursday, August 19^th, 2010 | 1:27 pm

The organizers behind the first Ottawa International Film Festival opening this weekend are hoping to draw the eyes of the world on what they say is a thriving local film scene.

Lacking the glossy Hollywood sheen of the Toronto International Film Festival or the international cachet of the venerable Montreal World Film Festival, the new festival is striking out as a showcase for independent filmmakers, says executive director Nina Bains.

“We’re not trying to be Hollywood. That’s not what this is about. Ottawa has a really cool scene that just needs to be brought out,” said Bains.

Ottawa has long been a destination for film buffs from around the world thanks to its annual animation festival. But local filmmakers working outside of animation haven’t had the same showcase for their work.

“Finally Ottawa has a place to showcase local filmmakers and films from around the world,” said Stephanie Swedlove, an Ottawa native currently living in Vancouver who co-produced the short film, Nuit Blanche, which is showing at the festival.

“I think Ottawa is a big enough city to have its own festival,” said Swedlove.

Bains said the festival provides a forum for local filmmakers to screen their work without being a member of a film or video organization. But she’s also hoping the festival can be a launching pad and said her group is working with Toronto’s Movieola, a channel that screens shorts, to bring some of the films to the small screen.

The festival was born out of a moviemaking challenge called boxcART Bains helped launch last year.

“We just had this vision of doing this party in our backyard and slowly turned into this. And it hasn’t even been a year yet,” she said.

This year’s event features a new challenge: 21 teams will screen their music videos at the Lieutenant’s Pump pub on Elgin Street on Friday night.

The organizers have also lined up two nights of screenings at the Mayfair Theatre, with local and international films and some films from Toronto’s International Film Festival, which begins on September 9^th.

The festival opens Thursday with a kickoff party and then runs for three days from August 20^th–22^nd.

With files from the CBC’s Kate Porter

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