Ottawa’s Youth Infringement Festival (YIF) gives youth ages 16 to 25 a platform to write, direct, act, stage manage, and design under the guidance of professional mentors. The festival is run entirely by young people, from the ushers to the actors to the board of directors. The festival took place over two weeks, from March 27 to April 3, and featured six original plays.
IFFO’s closing night featured one of the most eclectic, challenging and moving works of the whole festival.
Taking a brief interlude from screening brand-new international films, IFFO turned its attention to an important piece of Canadian cinema history near the end of the festival’s run – a 4K restoration of the early queer film by David Secter, Winter Kept us Warm (1965).
The Ottawa Art Gallery screened Rêver en néon and Café des cauchemars on March 21, 2025 as part of the International Film Festival of Ottawa, which ended on March 23.
The snow is melting, which can only mean one thing: summer festival season is right around the corner! Bluesfest and Jazzfest have announced their full season lineups, so here’s a little about what you can expect from the latter.
Something must be in the water in Naples—the single Italian city has a long history of young filmmakers coming out of the gate with fully formed artistic sensibilities and remarkably refined work. This phenomenon can be traced from old masters like Vittorio De Sica to contemporary artists like Paolo Sorrentino and Mario Martone.
Borrowing the central conceit from the Italian classic Bicycle Thieves, Lebanese filmmaker Mira Shaib creates an eclectic and endearing tribute to her home city of Beirut in her feature debut, Arzé.
To A Land Unknown, Palestinian filmmaker Mahdi Fleifel’s first narrative feature, could at first be mistaken for another of the documentaries for which he is known. The film’s grittiness and uncompromising, in-your-face realism, not to mention the story’s parallels with Fleifel’s life, could so easily be reality that it takes a moment to realize it is not.
Grand Tour is one of the highest-profile films playing at IFFO this year thanks to the notable names involved. The Portuguese filmmaker Miguel Gomes has been a mainstay on the festival circuit since his 2012 breakout hit, Tabu.
The Wintertime Music Festival celebrates local musical talent at their inaugural festival hosted by the Gladstone Theatre.
The International Film Festival of Ottawa (IFFO) brings the world’s best cinema to Canada’s Capital. The Festival’s fifth edition takes place in downtown Ottawa from March 12 to 23, at the theatres in the Ottawa Art Gallery and Bytowne Cinema.
Pique returns to Arts Court this weekend for this year’s spring edition, including an added day of programming with an International Women’s Day focus.
Back for the 31st edition, Ottawa Bluesfest unveiled their diverse and exciting lineup for 2025 at midnight. Headliners span across the genres, from punk-rockers Green Day to Ireland’s Hozier to one of dance music’s finest in Kaytranada.
Who would have thought an old iPhone could re-open so many wounds?
“I want to be good.” Téton Tardif is a fantastic show that asks us to consider how we teach our daughters to value themselves, and I felt it in my bones.
