The Ottawa Film Festival (OFF) is a two day event with screenings and workshops designed to provide opportunities for both local and international filmmakers to showcase their work. At OFF you'll find a fun loving intimate atmosphere that sees filmmakers leave with plenty of new connections, experiences and friends.

OFF enjoys watching each and every film submitted and encourage experimental, visionary, unique, and emerging filmmakers to also submit their films. We're always looking for that diamond in the rough film with captivating storytelling, beautiful character development, and cinematography that pushes boundaries.

OFF is excited for its upcoming 2025 Film Festival after a successful inaugural event that showcased some of the best short and feature films from across the globe.

2025 Terms & Conditions

1. All films must be submitted in English or with English subtitles (if in a different language).
2. All films must have been made in or after July 1st, 2024.
3. All films should not have and will not be made publicly available until November 2025.
4. Short films must not exceed 30 minutes. Feature Films must be 80 minutes or more.
5. Filmmakers are responsible for sorting out the copyright on their own materials.
6. By submitting to us, you give us consent and right to screen your film in front of a live audience, and, under special circumstances, online screening.
7. We may promote clips from your film on social media, based on the press kits you provide us with, or existing stills on your FilmFreeway account.
8. We retain the right to change the date and venue of the festival under special circumstances. All filmmakers will be informed about any changes through email and our online platforms.
9. We place no restrictions on your work in terms of premiere status, however encourage premieres.
10. We do not accept partial screeners, trailers, or screener links that require access other than password protected links.
11. Any technical issues with the submitted films are 100% the responsibility of the filmmakers. If, at the time of judging, your video file doesn’t work or doesn’t have English subtitles (if in a language other than English), it will be automatically rejected, without a refund. Please contact the festival team ASAP if there are any issues with the submission process, and a solution will be found.
12. We reserve the right to alter deadlines on this platform.
13. By submitting to us you agree to our terms and conditions and to receiving marketing newsletters and discounts about film festivals in the form of emails. We will never sell your information to third parties.
14. All submissions are non-refundable.
15. We reserve the right to update our terms and conditions.

Overall Rating
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  • Parker Croft

    Being part of the Ottawa Film Festival was an amazing experience. Although we couldn’t attend due to scheduling conflicts, we were really impressed by the festival’s exceptional support and dedication to both the films and filmmakers.

    September 2024
  • leonard farlinger

    What a great screening we had. Fabulous Q and A. Amazing audience. Hard to believe this was their first year. Thank you so much for showing our film, Kipkemboi.

    September 2024
  • Pierre Brouillette-Hamelin

    We’re very proud to have had our film A CRAB IN THE POOL screened at the 2024 edition of the Ottawa Film Festival, a young festival with an already strong, varied programming. We wish we could have attended in person, and hopefully we will with our next project!

    October 2024
  • yassine el idrissi

    Good festival, I wish to the festival a long life.

    October 2024
  • Was a pleasure showing up to this festival for its inaugural year. The festival curated a collection of very strong films to showcase from domestic ones to international gems. I look forward to potentially another year of great films showcased by the Ottawa Film Festival.

    October 2024