Apartment613

Bike. Created by Adam Saikaley. First place winner of the OIFF music video challenge.

Post by Tiffani Murray.

The success of the first annual Ottawa International Film Festival proves to Executive Director Nina Bains that “there was a niche in Ottawa that needed to be filled” - and fill it they did. Thursday’s fantastic kick-off party at Foundation, Friday’s music video challenge at the Lieutenant’s Pump, and the weekend’s screenings at the Mayfair Theatre were well-attended (including a surprising cameo from Lex Luthor Mayor Larry O’Brien in the OIFF’s promotional video).

Photo courtesy of S.L.M. from the Apartment613 Flickr group

Post by Mark De Abreu

The Ottawa International Film Festival is coming this weekend and apt613 will be covering the action. Ottawa-area filmmakers and musicians have worked together to create music videos for the festival’s inaugural competition. Come out to the Lieutenant’s Pump this Friday at 6:30 pm to see the results of this local creative fusion.

Photo courtesy of Jairus on flickr

Post by Mark De Abreu.

Ottawa’s local cinemas are serving up a wide variety of films this week, sure to please any palate.

All this month, the Mayfair is screening an eclectic series of war films. Ip Man, a film about Bruce Lee’s kung fu master set in the Second Sino-Japanese War, plays at 9:00pm on Friday, August 13th and Saturday, August 14th. There’s also a matinee of The Great Escape at 2:30 pm on Saturday and Sunday. To top things off, check out Max Manus, a film based on the true story of a celebrated resistance fighter in Nazi-occupied Norway, which plays at the Bytowne on Friday at 4:15 pm, Saturday at 2:15 pm and Sunday at 8:30 pm.

The Bytowne is saluting famous Japanese director Akira Kurosawa this month, starting with The Hidden Fortress today at 9:15 pm and Wednesday at 4:00 pm. This 1958 samurai classic became a major influence for George Lucas’s Star Wars.

Sci-fi fans should be sure to check out Splice at the Mayfair this Wednesday or Thursday at 9:15 pm. This is the latest film by Cube director Vincenzo Natali, who has recently been tapped to write and direct the much-anticipated film adaptation of William Gibson’s 1984 landmark cyberpunk novel, Neuromancer.

London graffiti artist and prankster Banksy presents to us Exit Through the Gift Shop, a film about street art and the blurring of the lines between art, artist and audience. Check it out at 7:00 pm this Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Mayfair.

Finally, don’t miss the Mayfair’s screening of The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, a documentary about Steve Wiebe and his quest to dethrone reigning Donkey Kong high score champion Billy Mitchell. This curious look at the vintage video game subculture plays Sunday, August 15th at 9:00 pm.