International Film Festival of Ottawa

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, 2025.

This year’s Festival provides cinephiles with an eclectic mix of films that have won awards and made waves in the international film circuit over the past year. In IFFO’s Official Selection, programmers curate over 25 Canadian and international feature films and select a new Canadian short film to accompany each feature screening. Films are curated by the IFFO programming team of Tom McSorley, Tish Black, Devin Hartley, Zach Porter, and Kelly Neall. Other programs in the Festival include the established CFI series Canadian Masters, getting in-depth discussions with some of Canada’s greatest and most prolific filmmakers, and IFFO series The Gaze, which brings the audience into the discussion about diverse representation on screen.

An event dedicated to strengthening and inspiring Ottawa’s growing screen-based industries, IFFO’s Screen Summit addresses topics relevant to all film industry professionals. Join thought leaders for an insightful and inspirational series of panels and gain access to key industry representatives and the talent and skills of the local production community. This industry event consists of informative workshops, artist talks and presentations that strengthen the skill set of emerging and established film industry professionals in Canada’s capital.

A key part of IFFO’s celebration of Canadian and world cinema is its one-day annual conference, SAVE AS, dedicated to examining issues of preservation, restoration, distribution, and exhibition of the always-endangered world cinema heritage. The conference includes expert panel discussions, case studies of restored cinema classics, and special public screenings of those restored classic films. IFFO is committed to cinema’s past, present, and future.

Celebrating its fifth edition in 2025, IFFO has firmly established itself in Ottawa’s cultural calendar, becoming an essential event for film lovers in Canada’s Capital Region.