Ojai Film Festival Presents New Online Film Series

In this time of self-quarantine the Ojai Film Festival presents frustrated moviegoers with a new online film series. "Festival Highlights" launches Friday, May 22 and continues through June 26 with two to three films released each week. The films then remain available for viewing on the festival's website until July 17.

In its twenty-first year the Ojai Film Festival holds fast to "Enriching the Human Spirit Through Film" as its guiding principle. During this global pandemic people's moods need elevating more than ever. With this gift of independent films the festival offers entertainment to those sheltered safely with their loved ones.

"Like most Americans the majority of our festival patrons are now confined to their homes, with online video as one of the few cultural resources available," Artistic Director Steve Grumette said. "So, we decided to offer, as a free service to our community, online access to some of the films we screened during our 2018 and 2019 film festivals."

Over the six-week series, each Friday the festival plans to release a block of films running approximately two hours and twenty minutes. Selections include festival award-winning films: "Eternal Winter" won BEST NARRATIVE FEATURE in 2019, "Nobody Dies Here" won BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT in 2018, "Vice" won BEST NARRATIVE SHORT in 2018, and "The Lightkeeper" received a NARRATIVE SHORT Honorable Mention in 2018. Interviews with select filmmakers also appear in the series.

The films will be available at https://ojaifilmfestival.com/category/festivalhighlights.

Festival Highlights Schedule:

Friday, May 22
"Angkor Awakens"
"Ay Mariposa"

Friday, May 30
"Aleppo"
"Nobody Dies Here"
"April in Autumn"

Friday, June 5
"The Perfect Firestorm"
"August in Berlin"

Friday, June 12
"The Timepiece"
"Traces"
"Eternal Winter "

Friday, June 19
"Vice"
"The Root of Happiness"
"Evergreen"

Friday, June 26
"The Lightkeeper"
"A Great Ride"
"The Vow From Hiroshima"

The Ojai Film Festival takes pride in presenting a wide array of distinguished motion pictures otherwise inaccessible to its audience. The benefit extends to filmmakers, many of them beginning their careers, by providing them with enthusiastic viewers for their creative efforts.

At this time the 21st Ojai Film Festival remains scheduled for November 5-15. "We hope the COVID-19 Pandemic will have sufficiently subsided by November that our event can proceed as planned," Grumette said. "Should it turn out it's still unsafe to hold a live event in November, we, like many other film festivals, are exploring various options."

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