International Film Festival opens March 13

The International Film Festival of Ottawa (IFFO) is set to open on March 13 at the Ottawa Art Gallery with Atom Egoyan’s Seven Veils. Egoyan will attend opening night to introduce his 2023 Canadian drama that stars Amanda Seyfried as a theatre director whose repressed trauma surfaces as she prepares to mount a production of the opera Salome. Following the screening, Egoyan will participate in a short Q&A session.

The Canadian short film Heat Spell, directed by filmmaker Marie-Pier Dupuis, will screen before Egoyan’s feature.

“We are both thrilled and honoured to open the fourth annual IFFO with renowned, Academy Award-nominated Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan’s latest film,” says IFFO executive director Tom McSorley. “Egoyan has a long history with our organization, dating back four decades when we premiered his debut film, Next of Kin (1984), in Ottawa. Moreover, he was our first-ever Canadian Masters guest artist in 2016,” McSorley continues. “Given this history, it’s exciting and apt that his latest film will open IFFO 2024.”

Egoyan’s career breakthrough was Exotica (1994), followed by the critically acclaimed two-time Academy-nominated drama The Sweet Hereafter (1997). In 2009, Egoyan’s erotic thriller Chloe, featuring Seyfried in the title role, led to his commercial success.

The short film Heat Spell explores the dynamic between a mother who needs room to breathe and a child who needs space to exist as the afternoon heat turns oppressive.

Each short film at IFFO screens before a feature film and is paired based on narrative or thematic connections and how the films complement or contrast with each other.

IFFO 2024 runs from March 13 to March 24 and includes 25 feature films from 26 countries and 21 Canadian short films. IFFO passes and screening tickets are available to order in advance through the Festival’s box office at iffo.ca.