Interview: Kelly Neall, Managing Director at IFFO
Spark Forward is a series of essays about film and filmmaking. It is part of Treepot Spark, a collection of initiatives aimed at igniting creativity and collaboration among creatives.
The 2026 edition of the International Film Festival of Ottawa took place from March 11 to 22, showcasing the best of contemporary Canadian and international cinema from prestigious film festivals around the world.
We had the honour of volunteering at IFFO and we interviewed Kelly Neall, managing director for the festival to learn more about the event, the challenges of organizing it, and what it means for the local film community.
“We started the International Film Festival of Ottawa in March 2019, right before the pandemic hit. We had a full festival planned, with filmmaker Spike Lee coming, and then we heard about the pandemic and had to cancel the entire festival.”
Kelly mentioned that the organizers started the festival because Ottawa didn’t have a festival with high-profile films from around the world at the time.
The festival ran online for a couple of years during the shutdown and came back strong, launching something called the Screen Summit to help the local film production industry grown through professional development and networking.
“We also host a full-day conference on film archiving and restoration and the festival now runs over two weeks for the general public to enjoy.”
As Managing Director of the festival, Kelly is in charge of all the fundraising and keeping everything on track, logistics, grant writing, human resources and all the fun things that help a festival to run smoothly.
“The festival definitely gets a lot of attention and promotion. For films, for instance, we showed the feature film MILE END KICKS, and because of that, many people picked up on the film, and it generated a lot of hype before it opened widely in theatres. It provides strong content for the media and for social media, as people love covering it when we have special guests.”
Kelly emphasized how IFFO provides a great way to spread the word about different films, especially Canadian films and Canadian talent, giving media outlets content that in turn helps to promote the Canadian screen industry.
Unlike some other festivals that issue a call for entries to select films, IFFO is not a competitive festival.
“We are a curated festival. Tom, Tish, and our programming team watch films from festivals around the world and select the best to screen over the two weeks of the festival. We also choose a short Canadian film to screen before each feature.”
Starting a festival is challenging because it doesn’t rely solely on box office revenue, but also on sponsorships and grants, and IFFO has been building steadily over the past few years.
“This year we’ve had the highest attendance ever, and each year it gets a little better. We’re trying to grow it gradually. We’re not trying to be TIFF or anything like that, we’re a fun festival for people in Ottawa.”
Matthew Grieve
Reporter, Film Reviewer
Matthew Grieve is a journalism graduate from Algonquin College. He’s passionate about life and all its little wonders and is always chasing his next adventure. His ambition keeps him going, and he enjoys meeting new people, sharing stories, and watching movies. One day, he hopes to open a cozy bed and breakfast where he can welcome guests and swap stories with them.
Follow Matthew on Instagram and LinkedIn.
Follow Matthew on Instagram and LinkedIn.
Alejandro Gonzales
Reporter, Film Reviewer
One of Alejandro’s first memories of watching a film was walking into a SilverCity Cinemas in 2008 to see The Dark Knight and getting scared by the Batman and Joker Interrogation scene. Apart from film, he is a Radio broadcasting graduate from Algonquin College. Sometimes, he yearns for summer to come around because he loves the hot summer heat.
Follow Alejandro on Instagram and LinkedIn.
Follow Alejandro on Instagram and LinkedIn.
