Digi60 Filmmakers’ Festival will screen the work of more than 50 new and emerging filmmakers at the Arts Court from Dec. 15 to 17. The festival began in 2004 to enhance the local filmmaking industry.
“Our festival holds two distinct focuses: One is to screen films that are locally made by Ottawa filmmakers and the second is to provide them with professional development opportunities,” said Emily Ramsay, chair of the Digi60 board of directors.
The festival screenings will be a mix of community short films, the BIPOC Creators’ Microgrant program and the 60-day challenge where participants have 60 days to create a short film based on a theme.
This year’s challenge theme is “bridge.”
Ramsay said “bridge” is broad enough for filmmakers to interpret in many different ways and captures Digi60’s transitional phase as it expands to year-round programming.
“One of the things we really wanted to do was be a bridge for filmmakers in Ottawa to explore filmmaking as a career,” Ramsay said. “We thought [the theme] fit not only with the transition that Digi60 itself is going through, but what we hope the festival to be for filmmakers, [which] is a bridge into the industry itself.”
Dawwas’ film Watch What You Have is his first professional short film.
“I’ve created other films before, but this is my first genuine professional production,” Dawwas said. “I really wanted to make a film and put myself out there pretty early on in my career.”
Dawwas describes Watch What You Have as a comedy-thriller that explores the metaphorical bridge that connects the main character, Ali, to the unfolding, pawn shop-based events in the film.
Dawwas said he accredits Carleton’s film courses for giving him a theoretical understanding of film to which he applied practical filmmaking techniques. He also participated in a co-op program with Digi60 from September to December 2022.
“I would honestly give more credit to the co-op for really implementing [me] into the Ottawa film scene,” Dawwas said. “One really big thing that Digi60 does very well is gathering the Ottawa film community and getting people to know each other.”
Carleton cognitive science alumnus David Scrieciu said Digi60 is a great place to experiment with film and network with industry professionals.
“If you want to start making films, Digi60 is definitely a great place to do so,” he said. “There’s a big screening, everybody comes and watches all these films and you get audience feedback, [so] you see how people react.”
Scrieciu is a six-time participant in the 60-day challenge. During his time at Carleton, he was also the president of the Carleton film society.
His film this year, An Autumn Day, is loosely inspired by a high school reunion he attended where he caught up with old friends. Influenced by films such as Past Lives and Before Sunrise, An Autumn Day is about two old friends reconnecting.
“The way I view ‘bridge’ is like the relationships between people’s lives, through friendship,” Scrieciu said.
“We had verbal acknowledgment of bridge, we had physical acknowledgment of bridge, we had metaphorical bridging between one thing or another. We also had [actors] playing a game of bridge, writing down that it’s a bridge [and] we had the bridge of a song,” Ramsay said.
Ramsay also said an equity lens is prioritized in all of Digi60’s programming, providing a platform for underrepresented or marginalized filmmakers.
“We’re really trying to figure out how we can create those opportunities so that we can attract people to think … it’s not just a space for what’s been traditionally welcomed in the industry, which is white men,” she said.
Ramsay added programs such as International Women’s Day and mini-festivals for trans and non-binary filmmakers add diverse voices to storytelling.
With his first year under his belt, Dawwas said he’s excited for people to see his film and to network with producers and other filmmakers in the industry.
“We not only want to welcome the first time filmmaker who’s never picked up a camera before and they’re shooting on their phone to someone who’s very experienced, we want to be a space for everybody,” Ramsay said.
Watch What You Have and An Autumn Day will both air at Digi60. Tickets are available online.
Featured image provided by Rafael Maia/Digi60 Filmmakers’ Festival.
