Sergio Aragones will present the newly christened Sergio Aragones Award.
Opening weekend features a throwback tribute to the days of big studios and contract players.
The Ojai Film Festival celebrates twenty years of bringing film to Ojai. This year the festival runs October 31 through November 10 and pays tribute to vintage Hollywood with Lifetime Achievement Awards honoring actors Pat Boone and Eva Marie Saint.
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 following.
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. 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,” said Bruce Novotny, Screenplay Competition chairman
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.
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.
Admission to the Faire is free 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. https://ojaifilmfestival.com
