Just before Canada Day the Ottawa Canadian Film Festival had the opportunity to join Izabel Barsive and local Ottawa film maker and musician Lesley Marshall to talk about life as a filmmaker. Principally the life of a female filmmaker. The discussion was full of insights on the challenges of breaking through on an industry that is dominated by men, both in production and, well, all aspects of the industry. As a filmmaker, Marshall has been in the industry long enough to have lived experienced with the limitations that face female filmmakers. But this has not stopped her.

Her life in the arts started young, and her perseverance to see projects and ideas come off the ground is sure encouragement for any filmmaker. Female filmmaker’s can glean that Marshall is a role model for those who can be left on the fringes of the film, and music industry as well. Having predominantly been involved in music video production, and being in a band herself, she can appreciate the art of a music video and what other story it can tell. She teamed up with Canadian band Partner and took that opportunity to create a video that captured the fun of the song “Play the Field”.

Ottawa film maker and musician Lesley Marshall in conversation with Izabel Barsive

After Horizons was an evening of short films presented by SAW Video in partnership with Cinema Politica featuring works by two SAW Video members: Pixie Cram’s premiere of her new short film ‘Pragmatopia,’ and Matthieu Hallé‘s film experiment ‘Apartment No. 2.’ Also joining them was Andrés Salas, whose film ‘We Might Have Been Heroes’ was produced through Cinema Politica’s recent commissioning program The Next 150: Documentary Futurism.

These varied works examined contemporary concerns through a dystopic lens, each navigating the terrain of a world on the other side of collapse.  Here are a few clips from the discussion moderated by Zoë Mallett that followed the screenings at Knot project space on November 30, 2018.

Pixie Cram, Matthieu Halle and Andres Salas in a panel discussion moderated by Zoë Mallett

A Luta Continua, Friday November 2nd, 2018 with Monique Fuller

Interview with Nathan Hauch about his film ‘the art of the morning’ in the Ottawa Canadian Film Festival and working as a disabled artist.

Nathan Hauch interviewed by Monique Fuller

Bonnie Robinson is the founder of YOW Productions.  A professional writer, producer and director, on this episode she talks about her favourite types of films to make and where she likes to go to see movies in Ottawa.  She also reminds us that making films is most often a collaborative endeavour and has some great tips for aspiring filmmakers looking to plug into the local filmmaker community.

Bonnie Robinson has some great tips for aspiring filmmakers

Cory and Gary Thibert of Wolf Pelt Productions talk about their love of film, the supportive filmmaking community in the city, and the nerve-wracking feeling of watching your film with an audience for the first time.

Brothers Cory and Gary Thibert talk about their love of film

Howard Adler is a filmmaker and curator and founder of Ottawa’s Asinabka Film Festival.  Howard tells us about his first experience with video editing in high school, how he worked with a group of friends to start a new film festival and what makes Ottawa an amazing place for a media artist.

Howard Adler on working with a group of friends to start Ottawa’s Asinabka Film Festival

Filmmaker Rhiana Chinapen’s interest in social justice issues drew her to documentaries and her work planning Ottawa’s One World Film Festival which celebrated its 28th anniversary in 2017.  She recently completed her first film, an exploration of Capoeira (an Afro-Brazilian martial art which she practices) with the assistance of SAW Video Media Arts Centre’s Jumpstart Program.

Rhiana Chinapen on her interest in social justice issues and documentary filmmaking

Roger D. Wilson is an independent film artist based in Ottawa, Ontario. Described as an “experimental film scientist”, his films are infused with thematically-related techniques such as layering images, adding textures and hand processing and printing the film. Roger’s films have screened at festivals across Canada.

Roger D. Wilson describes himself as an “experimental film scientist”

Shannon Lough, Emanuela Campanella, Sarah Turnbull and Fangliang Xu are four students from the School of Journalism and Communication at Carleton University.

They have just completed their first film together, a documentary called “Secret War” about the innovative War Horse project which utilizes horses to help veterans dealing with the traumas of war.  “Secret War” is an Official Selection at this year’s Yorkton Film Festival.

Shannon Lough, Emanuela Campanella, Sarah Turnbull and Fangliang Xu on documentary “Secret War”

Director Stephen Coleman recently stopped by CKCU’s studios to chat with A Luta Continua host Monique Fuller about life as an artist, the motivation and back-story surrounding the creation and distribution of “Project Cold Days” and his latest project, a 10-part web series “Transmuting Suffering“.

Stephen Coleman chats with Monique Fuller about "Project Cold Days" and "Transmuting Suffering"

Tarek Mounib recently stopped by CKCU's studios to chat with A Luta Continua host Monique Fuller about his motivation and back-story surrounding the creation and distribution of "Free Trip to Egypt" and the ensuing #PlegeToListen initiative.

More info: 
Ottawa Canadian Film Festival - www.ocanfilmfest.ca
A LUTA CONTINUA - www.ckcufm.com
Free Trip to Egypt - documentary film - www.freetriptoegypt.com

Tarek Mounib chats with Monique Fuller about his film "Free Trip to Egypt"

Meaghan Brackenbury reports on the Ottawa Canadian Film Festival on CKCU’s Midweek with host Devon Platana. Interviewees include OCanFilmFest co-founder Blair Campbell and filmmakers Ray Savaya and Mariana Phung. (October 30, 2019)

Blair Campbell, Ray Savaya, Mariana Phung interviewed on Midweek on CKCU 93.1

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 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.

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