The Ojai Film Festival celebrates twenty years of bringing film to Ojai. This year the festival pays tribute to vintage Hollywood with Lifetime Achievement Awards honoring actors Pat Boone and Eva Marie Saint. Continuing a longstanding tradition, this annual festival spotlights ecology with FOCUS EARTH - a full day dedicated to environmental films and eco-shorts. The film Living In The Future's Past, a beautifully photographed environmental documentary, directed by Susan Kucera and narrated/produced by Jeff Bridges, headlines this event. A reception and Q&A with the director follows the film screening on November 10, at 4 pm.
Opening weekend features a throwback tribute to the days of big studios and contract players. Pat Boone will attend the screening of his 1962 movie State Fair on Saturday November 2, at 7 pm, followed by a reception at 9 pm. On Sunday, November 3, at 4 pm, veteran director/producer Hawk Koch will screen his 1973 classic movie The Way We Were, starring Robert Redford and Barbra Streisand, with a Q&A and signing for his new book after the movie. Capping off this Retro Hollywood weekend, Lifetime Achievement Award honoree Eva Marie Saint will screen her Academy Award nominated 1959 film North by Northwest on Sunday, November 3, at 7 pm, followed by a reception in the Ojai Art Center Gallery.
Sunday morning's Awards Brunch on November 3 at 10 am honors Lifetime Achievement recipients, and awards filmmakers of the top films screened at the festival, as well as best screenplay. For the first time the festival added a Gold Coast Award for the winning local film to the program this year. Local Ojai artist and legendary Mad Magazine illustrator Sergio Aragones will present the newly christened Sergio Aragones Award for Best Animation.
After the brunch, professional actors perform a Live Table Read of the winning screenplay at 1 pm. This year's winner is a quirky journey of discovery titled A Place Called Knock, written by Colleen Craig of Los Osos, CA. It's the dramatic/comedic story of a young widow who accompanies her dying Mexican half-brother -- a Buddhist monk -- on a trip to their ancestral homeland of Ireland where they uncover family secrets long hidden. Actor-director Will Wallace will helm the live read.
"We added a screenplay competition to the festival in order to celebrate the very starting point of the creative process - the story," Bruce Novotny, Screenplay Competition chairman, said. "The quality of the screenplays submitted, from all over the world, has been outstanding, and the live read of our most recent winning script was a big crowd favorite."
The Gold Coast Film Series on November 4, 1 to 10 pm, features films and shorts from local filmmakers in the Ventura, Santa Barbara and Los Angeles counties.
Women in Film presents their Legacy Series on Saturday, November 9 at 4 pm, highlighting the career and legacy of women in film. This year they will present a retrospective on the career of the late, great, Penny Marshall.
Other festival highlights include seminars on Film Distribution, Business & Legal, Cinematography and a High School Student Filmmakers Program.
A nonprofit labor of love run by film veterans and local volunteers, this international festival continues its tradition of a gifting Ojai with a free film on opening night in Ojai's Libbey Bowl. The kickoff of the twentieth annual festival falls on Halloween this year, and will screen a sing-a-long version of Tim Burton's cult classic The Nightmare Before Christmas.
A Halloween Fun Faire and Pre-Show dubbed "Carnivale!" precedes the movie. This masquerade themed event features live music from the Ojai Mardi Gras Quartet, led by Ojai's Patricia Avis, with special performances by Radio Tequila's Tequila Mockingbird, Ojai folk hero Rain Perry plus surprise guests. Local poet and "Carma Bum" Doug Knott and Punk Princess Iris Berry, Co-Founder of Punk Hostage Press will give a spoken word performance. Paulina Productions and Hamsa Dance bring out their professional belly dancing troupe in full costume to mesmerize and illuminate the masquerade experience of Carnivale! Admission to the Faire is free of charge and includes fun for all ages with face painting, pumpkin art, fortunetelling, and a wheel of fortune to win prizes and free tickets to the film festival.
A second free community screening offers The Red Turtle on Wednesday, November 6.
Ranked one of the top 100 Best Reviewed Festivals on FilmFreeway, the Ojai Film Festival's past roster of participants comprises films that went on to win Academy Awards, nominations and other prestigious prizes.
"Our festival provides a valuable service to filmmakers," Steve Grumette, Artistic Director for the festival, said. "We give them access to a highly appreciative audience that includes film industry professionals who can help guide their careers. We're particularly proud of the fact that over a dozen films first shown at the Ojai Film Festival went on to win great honors elsewhere, including Academy Awards and Nominations."
Past entries represented over 46 countries, and categories include short or long narrative films, short or long documentary films, animations, and screenplays. Winning filmmakers accept several prizes, trophies, best-of category honors, and a Panavision camera rental package prize worth $60,000 USD for Best Student Film. Previous Lifetime achievement honorees include Ed Asner and Malcolm McDowell, among others.
Located in the picturesque Ojai Valley, a visitor destination recently featured in Condé Nast Traveler, Sunset, Men's Journal, The New Yorker, The New York Times and The Washington Post. Just fifteen miles from the Pacific Ocean, Ojai is about an hour's drive to Los Angeles or Santa Barbara. From directors to screenwriters, producers, animators, actors and students to Hollywood veterans, Academy members and industry insiders - the Ojai Film Festival brings them all together to enjoy film and culture in Ojai, starting October 31 and running through November 10, 2019. For more information:
https://ojaifilmfestival.com
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