Ojai Film Festival Goes LIVE in 2021!

Festival dates: November 4-14, 2021

November 4 – Opening free film in Libbey Park
November 5-8 – Screenings and Festival programs
November 9-14 – All festival films available online VOD

The Ojai Film Festival will present its 22nd consecutive event celebrating independent films from around the world LIVE here in Ojai, November 5-8, 2021.

Last year the Film Festival’s board engaged in a sharp learning curve culminating in the creation of the 2020 Online Virtual Film Festival. Now, after months of studying the projected COVID infection rate data and intense discussions at each meeting, the board decided to plan an in–Ojai, multi-screen event for November 2021.

The COVID pandemic certainly changed our world. Face masks, social distancing, the closure of almost all our public gathering places…sheltering in place for over a year. Small wonder observers of the social order commented widely on the need for us humans, fundamentally social animals, to socially interact. After mastering, to some extent, online electronic communications – Zoom, Facetime, Skype, etc. – we’re ready to see, touch and interact with others. As the COVID numbers drop we continue to inch out of the shadows.

The Festival enjoys an international reputation as an important celebration of independent films. It receives submissions for both its film competition and screenplay competition from over forty countries and each November regularly screens over sixty films and presents “the Libbey” trophy award in ten categories. Jon Lambert, the Festival’s president commented: “We are excited to be able to present our curated films once again to live audiences where they can be discussed and argued about in a festival setting.”

The Festival Runs on Volunteers

Year after year the Festival has relied on over one hundred film-loving volunteers to sell tickets, usher patrons, conduct Q&A’s and host visiting filmmakers. One result of the fourteen-month shutdown has been that our volunteer base diminished. To continue the tradition of this major cultural event we must identify new people. We also need folks with management skills, such as

• a people-oriented person willing to act as the Volunteer Coordinator, and
• an Operations Manager who will keep things running smoothly during the October lead-in and the November festival.

If you want to join the Ojai Film Festival family please contact us. We’re excited about creating a live, theater-based festival this year, so we’ll be able to “See You At The Movies!”