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| Local award-winner Jackie Boy screens OIFF. |
Other OIFF titles include the Ottawa premiere of the Hot Docs hit The Sandwich Nazi, a Canadian doc about a male escort turned sandwich man (not that kind of sandwich); the American short Night of the Slasher; the award-winning music video Chops: Turn I Up; and the festival circuit hit Wildlike starring Bruce Greenwood. Alongside some local, Canadian, and American films, OIFF includes films from Ethiopia, Norway, Finland, Chile, South Korea, and Iraq. This year’s fest also shifts some attention to panels and parties to change things up and introduce networking and industry components.
Unfortunately, competing commitments mean that I can't cover OIFF in the same capacity has I have in previous years, and I've only just finished TIFF coverage this week and have just been inundated with other coverage, but I'll happily vouch for two of the selections so far and will have more reviews coming for select films!
This year’s OIFF film line-up includes:
Ballet Boys
Dir. Kenneth Elvabakk | Norway |
Documentary
Synopsis: Ballet Boys
takes you through disappointments, victories, forging of friendship, first
loves, doubt, faith, growing apart from each other, finding your own way and
own ambitions, all mixed with the beautiful expression of ballet.
Jackie Boy
Dir. Cody Campanale | Canada -
Ottawa | Drama
Synopsis: Jackie Boy is a gritty character drama about loyalty,
self-loathing and revenge. Jack, a self-destructive womanizer, substitutes his
emotional insecurities with drinks, drugs and one-night stands. It’s only after
meeting the fiery-spirited Jasmine that he decides to change his ways, but
Jasmine has a hidden agenda, to lure Jack into a revenge plot orchestrated by
one of his former lovers. Jack is determined to open up to Jasmine, but little
does he know she has something different in mind.
-->Check back soon for a review!
Kuryama no Wa
Dir. Morgana McKenzie | Canada –
Ottawa | Thriller
Synopsis: When Hallowe'en
is hijacked by a Japanese doomsday cult, a girl and her siblings are forced to
flee into the harsh conditions of winter.
My Enemy, My Brother
Dir. Ann Shin | Canada |
Documentary Short
Synopsis: My Enemy, My Brotheris the real life story about two former
enemies who become blood brothers for life: Zahed Haftlang was an Iranian boy
who ran away from home to join the army. Najah Aboud was a 19-year old Iraqi
who had been conscripted to fight in the war, leaving behind his wife and son.
Night of the Slasher
Dir. Shant Hamassian | USA |
horror/thriller
Synopsis: A teenage girl
must commit horror movie sins such as drink alcohol, do drugs, and have sex to
lure a killer and finish him off.
Observance
Dir. Joseph Sims-Dennett | Australia|
horror
Synopsis: In the grip of grief following the death of his young son, his marriage
on the rocks and nearing bankruptcy, Parker reluctantly returns to work
as a private investigator. Embarking on an unusual assignment to observe
a woman from an abandoned apartment, Parker witnesses bizarre
happenings surrounding her, unaware that the derelict building that he
surveys her from has birthed a dark presence which slowly threatens to
consume him.
-Check back for a review!
The Sandwich Nazi
Dir. Lewis Bennett | Canada |
Documentary
Synopsis: Deli owner
Salam Kahil is an art collector, a former male escort, an amateur musician, and
a sandwich maker to the homeless in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside, but his true
passion is talking about blow jobs.
Turn it Up
Dir. Choz Belen, Steve Nguyen | USA | Music Video
Synopsis: Turn it Up is
an animated music video featuring Tiger JK and Yoon Mi-rae with the soundtrack
produced by Scott “CHOPS” Jung off of the Strength In Numbers album.
A young Tiger (Steve Nguyen) does everything in his power to
pursue a young Tasha (Christina Lee).
We All Go the Same
Dir. Morgana McKenzie | Canada – Ottawa | Music Video
Synopsis: In the timeless world of fairy tales, villains and
victims are visited by a vengeful fairy who offers to shift the balance of
power.
Wildlike
Dir. Frank Hall Green | USA | Thriller
Synopsis: Mackenzie, a troubled but daring teenage girl, is
sent by her struggling mother to live with her uncle in Juneau, Alaska.
Although Uncle seems like a supportive caretaker and friend, the relationship
turns and Mackenzie is forced to run. Trying to make her way back to Seattle
alone to find her absent mother, Mackenzie only winds up deeper in the Alaskan
interior. Lost and with no one else to turn to, she shadows a loner backpacker,
Bartlett, an unlikely father figure with scars of his own. Together, they cross
the wilderness and discover sanctuary in the last frontier.
Review: "Maybe it's the magnetic pull of the Alaskan landscape or the subtly endearing coming of age story at its heart, but this film really sneaks up on you." (Read the full 4-star review here.)
Review: "Maybe it's the magnetic pull of the Alaskan landscape or the subtly endearing coming of age story at its heart, but this film really sneaks up on you." (Read the full 4-star review here.)
Wildlike Trailer
1 from Frank Hall Green
on Vimeo.
See the full line-up below:
Our #OIFF2015 Film Line Up is here!Congratulations to all of the participating filmmakers from Ethiopia, Norway,...
Posted by The Ottawa International Film Festival on Saturday, August 15, 2015
The 2015 Ottawa International Film Festival runs Oct. 16-18.
Please visit www.oiff.ca
for more info.