ENTERTAINMENT | By Kathleen Kaiser

Winners Announced at 19th Annual Ojai Film Festival Including two Foreign Entries

Ojai Film Festival Awards Top Films in Documentary, Animation, and Feature plus Screenplay at Gala Outdoor Ceremony

(Ojai, CA – November 7, 2018)  Following a hot brunch in the warm autumn, the 19th Ojai Film Festival winners were announced. An audience of over 100 people were in attendance to greet those filmmakers available to personally receive their awards. With entries from 33 countries, not all of the filmmakers were at the Festival. Winners included: Nobody Dies Here by Simon Panay; Satan & Adam by V. Scott Balcerek; Vice by Kieron Barry; Octav by Serge Ioan Celebidachi; and, Fisherwoman and Tuk Tuk by Suresh Eriyat. A list of all winners and honorable mentions is below.

Along with the winners of the Festival competition, other awards given away were the Best Student Film award for Gloria Talks Funny by Kendall Goldberg who also received a $60,000 camera package from Lori Killam of Panavision, a festival sponsor. The film that best captured the Festival’s theme: Enriching the human spirit through film, was given to From Baghdad to the Bay and filmmaker Erin Palmquist. This was the third year for the Screenplay competition which was won for Matadora by Lisa Cole, Rick Najera, and Mark Monroe. In addition, the Lifetime Achievement Awards for Cinematography and Acting were presented to Ellen Kuras, ASC and actor Malcolm McDowell.

“We were very pleased with the community turnout for this ceremony,” said Festival president Jonathan Lambert. “Attendance numbers are up this year and there is an excitement throughout the Festival. The quality of the films, the diversity of content and story lines, increases every year. We now look forward to our 20th anniversary next year.”
The festival runs through November 11. Full schedule of screenings with trailers is at OjaiFilmFestival.com. Tickets are available online or at the door.

The Ojai Film Festival runs through November 11. Learn more about special events and screenings at OjaiFilmFestival.com.

CALENDAR INFORMATION Ojai Film Festival Runs through November 11, 2018 Ojai Art Center Theater 113 S Montgomery Street Ojai, CA 93023 Tickets available for purchase online in advance or at the Art Center during event. More information at: www.OjaiFilmFestival.com About the Ojai Film Festival… In its 19th year, the Ojai Film Festival screens about seventy films during its 10-day run.  Featuring a range of quality films from around the world, the Festival will be held November 1-11, 2018 in Ojai, a picturesque village nestled in the California Mountains about 75 miles northwest of Hollywood. The Ojai Film Festival nurtures its reputation for screening quality works, including documentaries, features, animations, narrative shorts, and student films.  More information on the Festival’s notable achievements can be found on www.OjaiFilmFestival.com. Ojai Film Festival is a California 501(c)(3) nonprofit.