Tickets Now on Sale for Ottawa's Cellar Door Film Festival!

The Canadian horror film Dys- screens at Ottawa's Cellar Door Film Festival
with director Maude Michaud in attendance on Nov. 8.

Trick or treat yourself to something sinister this Halloween season when Ottawa's Cellar Door Film Festival screens a fantastic line-up of horror, sci-fi, and fantasy films Nov. 7-9. Advance tickets are now available for the festival, and CDFF offers film fans an early bird rate of $9 a ticket for online sales (with an additional 5% off if you share via Uniiverse). Tickets are $12 at the door on the day of the event. All screenings take place at Club SAW, the funky cellar of Ottawa's film scene, located in Arts Court at 67 Nicholas St, just a hop, skip, and a jump away from the transit-friendly Rideau Centre.

Readers may see the full line-up with synopses and trailers here and at CDFF's website. The inaugural edition of CDFF features an exciting range of new perspectives on speculative cinema, for each of the four films in the feature presentations of Cellar Door are first features from innovative voices from around the globe. Catch the very first horror film ever to emerge from Bulgaria when Martin Markariev's Roseville screens on opening night (Nov. 7) with the local short Beauty Sleep from director Andrew Robinson. Saturday brings the feature presentation of Dys-, a very exciting and visceral debut from Montreal's Maude Michaud. Anyone advocating to see more female filmmakers behind the camera really needs to see Dys-, and Michaud will be here herself, along with Dys- star Alex Goldrich, when the film screens with the Canadian short We Wanted More on Nov. 8. Equally notable as an emergent voice on the international scene isThanos Kermitsis's The Dragonphoenix Chronicles: Indomitable, which is the first epic fantasy film from Greece, and Till Kleinert's wild queer thriller The Samurai, which recently screened to a great reception at Montreal's Festival du Nouveau Cinema.

The Samurai

As one of the programmers of the festival, I'll vouch for all the films in the line-up. I've been doing some festival interviews lately with our festival director, Gina, talking to writers from Apt. 613 and other local outlets getting the word out on Ottawa's next festival, and everyone keeps asking for one film to recommend from the line-up. I find choosing a favourite from the festival is pretty tricky, so I sometimes use the analogy that singling out one film is a lot like when your parents say they love all their kids equally but you know they really have a favourite... So I love all the films equally, especially our three locals Beauty Sleep, Experiment 467, and The Phoenix (the latter two play in the shorts block), but... you might have to check back closer to the fest for programmers' picks!

Ottawa's Cellar Door Film Festival runs Nov. 7-9 at Club SAW.

Please visit www.cdff.ca for more information on this year's festival.

Tickets are available to purchase here.

All screenings are generously supported by CDFF’s presenting sponsors, The School for Studies in Art andCulture at Carleton University and the SPARTA Film Challenge as well as supporting sponsors the Alumni Association of Carleton University, GNA Heating and Cooling, The Haunted Walk of Ottawa, and Used Ottawa.