A Letter from the OFF President

Dear members of our Festival Family,

As you can imagine, the Coronavirus situation created quite a confusing situation for us as festival planners, and I write this note to keep you informed on our current thinking.

Throughout January-June we followed the same procedures we used for the past 20 years: soliciting film and screenplay submissions, seeking informative and interesting special presentations/seminars, exploring potential Lifetime Achievement Award nominees and exploring partnerships with other nonprofit groups—all towards the creation of our ten-day physical festival… always, of course, with an eye on the COVID-19 reporting.

In June the OFF Board came to the conclusion that current pandemic statistics and forward projections dictate we must err on the side of caution. Therefore, we will offer the independent-film-viewing-public a 2020 Ojai Film Festival “virtually.” We are creating the festival out of the 302 films and 50 screenplays we received this year.

This decision impacts both the development and the “look” of our 21st Film Festival. A committee of the board is speaking with digital content providers who offer the infrastructure necessary for the creation of such a festival, and the board is discussing various presentation models we might use.

This is an interesting and exciting time for us as we move into a new format with the possibility of a different and expanded audience. We will still need our incredible volunteers to help bring disparate parts of the program together but the electronic communication format will call for accommodation and innovation.

I’ll keep you informed as the shape of the Festival develops. In the meantime, keep safe and stay healthy.

Jon

Jonathan W, Lambert, Ph.D.
President, Ojai Film Festival
[email protected]