This year, over 300 films were submitted to the festival. The selection team has chosen 74 features, shorts, documentaries and animated films from over 22 countries around the world, which will play both in the Ojai Art Center and virtually via the Eventive.org festival hosting platform.
NEW FESTIVAL CATEGORIES
For the first time ever, the festival has added a YouTube Award for Best Content Creator. The category this year is focused on YouTube travel channels.
The festival has also created a new mini-festival within the umbrella of the full festival event that reflects the Festival’s theme “Enriching the Human Spirit through Film.” This focus will explore the breadth and scope of “diversity” and the “intersectionality” of social activities addressing contemporary problems.
Steve Grumette, Artistic Director of the Ojai Film Festival, commented: “Every year for the past decade, we’ve noticed that the overall quality of the films submitted to the festival has been continually increasing, and even with COVID still raging around the world, I believe that this year’s crop of submissions is the best yet!”
FESTIVAL – KEY HIGHLIGHTS
Nov 5th to Nov 14th
Screening 78 Films in person at the Ojai Art Center and virtually via ojaifilmfestival.org from the comfort of your home.
Thursday, November 4
7 PM Free Opening Night screening of Up starring Ed Asner, recipient of our 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award. Actor Gregory Harrison, Asner’s long-time friend, will speak about Ed and introduce the film. – Libbey Bowl
Friday, November 5
10 AM AC Theater Yes – People – 9 min, In the Dark of the Valley — 101 min
10 AM AC Gallery Hunger Ward – 40 min, Father of the Cyborgs – 70 min
1 PM AC Theater Formless Form – 2 min, Sfumato – 30 min, Passages – 77 min
1 PM AC Gallery Colrun – 5 min, Umbrella – 8 min, At the Ready – 96 min
4 PM AC Theater Voodoo Macbeth – 108 min
4 PM AC Gallery Fladland – Two as One – 7 min, Parallel Parking – 15 min, The Conductor – 90 min
7 PM AC Raymund Room YouTube Filmmaker Panel
7 PM AC Theater Streets of Lagos – 12 min, Forlorn – 20 min, Landless – 77 min
7 PM AC Gallery The Beauty – 4 min, Walnut Tree – 106 min
10 AM AC Theater The Infinite – 2 min, Existential Therapy – 10 min, Botox – 97 min
10 AM AC Gallery FreeBird – 5 min, Julietit – 15 min, The Book Keepers – 89 min
1 PM AC Theater The Girl Who Played Make Believe with Me – 5 min, The Wound – 12 min,The Badger– 94 min
1 PM AC Gallery Finding Justice – 19 min, Connected off the Grid – 20 min, Ten Questions for Henry Ford – 57 min
4 PM AC Raymund Room Diversity & Inclusion Program
4 PM AC Theater Tall Tales – 112 min
4 PM AC Gallery Beefies – 10 min, The Offer – 13 min, Frenemies – 86 min
7 PM AC Theater Jasmin Road – 120 min
9 PM AC Gallery Festival Party
10 AM AC Courtyard Brunch, 11 AM Ojai Film Festival Award Presentation
1 PM AC Theater Crab – 11 min, As We Are – 25 min, Where There Once Was Water – 74 min
1 PM AC Gallery The Recess – 12 min, Faranak – 16 min, Reflection: A Walk with Water – 80 min
4 PM AC Raymund Room Winning Screenplay Table Read
4 PM AC Theater Am I a Wolf? – 8 min, Undercut – 14 min, Tahi: The Human Journey – 86 min
4 PM AC Gallery Stereotype – 11 min, Life, Again – 18 min, Missing in Brooks County – 81 min
7 PM AC Courtyard I Was There – A Reporter’s Story followed by Q&A with Author/journalist Ivor Davis and Director/Filmmaker John Zilles
7 PM AC Theater Voice Above Water – 11 min, Lion on the Mat – 17 min, Los Angeles – 82 min
7 PM AC Gallery All the World is Sleeping – 111 min
10 AM AC Theater Eyes Wide Open – 6 min, The Verdict – 103 min
10 AM AC Gallery I Was There – 11 min, The Forgotten Place – 12 min, Storm Lake – 85 min
1 PM AC Theater Gold Coast Block #1: Rabbit Out of a Hat – 2 min, Dance Card’s Full – 18 min, Isn’t That Just My Life – 18 min, Mochitsuki – 5 min, The Kitchenistas – 56 min
1 PM AC Gallery Ghost Town – 18 min, My Dear Corpses – 35 min, Mommy or Daddy – 53 min
4 PM AC Theater Gold Coast Block #2: Sorry I Lied – 17 min, Tree of Life – 9 min, Dancing with Shadows – 14 min, Firestorm 77 – 54 min
4 PM AC Gallery For Closure – 9 min, Liza Anonymous – 12 min, Wandering: A Rohingya Story – 88 min
7 PM AC Theater Gold Coast Block #3: Bandwidth – 5 mi, Santa Barbara Weed Country – 11 min, Forever Voters – 7 min, The Revolution Generation – 80 min
7 PM AC Gallery The Blue Bed – 14 min, Souvenir Souvenir – 15 min, This is Where I Meet You – 81 min
All Film Available ON DEMAND November 9-14
7 PM AC Theater Special Film Presentation Larry Flynt for President
7 PM AC Theater Oscar-winning director Chloé Zhao screens her film The Rider followed by a Q&A and reception
The festival will continue to add additional in-person seminars and events that are being planned for the final weekend of the Festival, on Nov 12, 13, and 14.
To purchase tickets please visit https://ojaifilmfestival.com/
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ABOUT OJAI FILM FESTIVAL
The Ojai Film Festival is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) California corporation dedicated to supporting the art of the motion picture through the presentation of an annual multi-day festival in which films submitted by filmmakers throughout the world are publicly exhibited at several venues in and around the City of Ojai, California.
The Ojai Film Festival fulfills its goal of serving the art of film:
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By providing filmmakers, many of them beginning their careers, with a supportive and enthusiastic audience for their creative efforts and giving them access to film industry professionals who offer guidance and other forms of career assistance.
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By bringing to its audience of both local residents and visitors from all over southern California, a wide array of distinguished motion pictures otherwise inaccessible to them.
Learn more about the festival at: OjaiFilmFestival.com
Press Contact
Danielle McCormick
415.233.5974
Colleen O’Mara