About Best of Ottawa
Each year, The Ottawa International Animation Festival curates a selection of short films, both award winners and audience favorites, for our Best of Ottawa Program. The Best of Ottawa Program highlights achievements in the art of animation and represents the myriad of styles, techniques, and perspectives that animation is uniquely capable of realizing.
Organize a screening at your school, theatre, or community space! Best of Ottawa works on a tiered pricing model to make it more feasible for small arts organizations while still ensuring that filmmakers are paid.
Small Organizations: $100 CAD
Medium to Large Organizations: $300 CAD
Both in-person and virtual screenings can be arranged, however not all films are available for virtual screenings. A DCP screening file can be provided for an additional transfer fee.
Questions? Send us an email
Best of Ottawa 2025 Program
| Title | Duration |
| OIAF 2025 Signal Film | 00:45 |
| Fusion | 03:18 |
| Poor Marciano | 07:27 |
| Evacuations | 07:07 |
| The Girl Who Cried Pearls | 17:35 |
| Green Lung | 03:13 |
| Desi Oon | 08:02 |
| The Graffiti (Rakugaki) | 12:33 |
| S The Wolf | 10:30 |
| Il burattino e la balena | 08:11 |
| TOTAL PROGRAM RUNTIME | 01:01:06 |
OIAF 2025 Signal Film
Torill Kove
00:45 | Canada
Torill Kove’s Signal Film features a grumpy owl sitting atop a phenakistoscope, a 19th-century animation device. Small less-burdened owls take flight around it.
Fusion
Richard Reeves
03:18 | Canada
XPPen Craft Award for Best Animation Technique
Investigating the interplay and love affair between sound and image. An abstract experimental animation experience produced by drawing both sounds and pictures directly onto 35mm film.
Poor Marciano
Alex Rey
07:27 | Spain
Helene Tanguay Award for Humor
The name you are given at birth can mark your destiny. Marciano knows a lot about that, who only wants a friend to sing with… But the universe always conspires to make your dreams come true.
Evacuations
Lili Carré
07:07 | USA
Craft Award for Best Sound Design
Painted formless figures haunt recent photos of empty public spaces, expressing a helpless, frantic energy felt in our current moment. They become displaced from their locations, as their environments dissolve and their printed record evaporates.
Green Lung
Simon Hamlyn
03:13 | United Kingdom
Best Non-Narritve Short Animation
In the cradle of the Industrial Revolution, workers turn towards nature to heal from the conditions of the mill. A hand-printed film about Britain’s first public park.
Desi Oon
Suresh Eriyat
08:02 | Canada
Best Commissioned Animation
The film explores the deep connection between Deccani wool, the land, and its people, highlighting its cultural, spiritual, and ecological significance. It delves into the resilience of the Deccani sheep, the traditions of shepherding, and the sacred.
The Graffiti (Rakugagi)
Ryo Orikasa
12:33 | Czech Republic, Slovakia, Ukraine
Best Narrative Short Animation
The moment the first gleam of sunlight trickled in gently stirring the folds of a shallow sleep—that was when the graffiti appeared . . .
S The Wolf
Sameh Alaa
10:30 | Egypt, France
Craft Award for Best Script, Wacom Public Prize
A man recounts his capillary peregrinations from adolescence until now – from the barber’s trauma to his first love to the loss of his hair and eventually of the most important person in his life.
Il burattino e la balena
Roberto Catani
08:11 | France, Italy
Grand Prize for Short Animation
Story of a puppet who doesn’t become a child.
