Judging the Ojai Film Festival 2014

Ojai Film Festival 2014

The theme of our Ojai Film Festival is “Enriching the Human Spirit Through Film” and that is why for fourteen years, I have been a final judge for this particular film festival. No gratuitous violence or sex graces the screens at this festival.

Each year we open with a free premiere screening of a family film such as March of the Penguins a few years ago. This year it was Love Thy Nature with colorful landscapes and animals from all over the world and our connection with the earth. Screened in Libby Bowl on a giant outdoor screen, all ages gathered to travel through film to places they would never have otherwise seen.

Sunday when I was asked to announce the narrative short and narrative feature winners and hand out the Ojai Oscars, I spoke first of how important regional film festivals all over the world are today. These festivals launch new talent and stories reflecting what is happening in the world – not only in Hollywood Studios.  The story subjects this year ranged from the struggle for gay marriage (Limited Partnership) to civil war in Syria(Not Anymore: A Story of Revolution) and Ethnic Cleansing in Burma: The Story of the Rohingya) to Shining Night: A Portrait of Composer Morten Lauridsen which after some of the world’s woes made us soar to some mystical world beyond suffering and pain. Somehow Love and Art trump even the most terrifying acts of war and violence and human savagery. Thank heavens it does! And thank heavens, I am a small part of a film festival that promotes such a theme.

Here are the winners in the category I judged for 2014:

Narrative Shorts:

Into the Silent Sea from Sweden and U.S. – Best Student Film

Two strangers, a Russian cosmonaut and an Italian radio engineer, connect in a world where governments disregard the life of a cosmonaut due to politics.

Scapegoat from U.S. director Khadif Sanders. – – Honorable Mention

A unique story of the all too common theme of racism and mistaken assumptions.

One Armed Man from U.S. director Tim Guinee based on a story by Horton Foote and exec produced by Philip Seymour Hoffman ( The actor, Charles Haid, accepted the award) – First Prize

Story of greed and disregard for the workers is shown in a Texas cotton gin during the Depression in the 1930’s.

Narrative Features:

I Feel Like Disco from German director Axel Ranisch – Honorable Mention

A coming of age tale told with humor and pathos of a father and gay son who come together when their peace-keeping wife and mother is dying. In the end, love endures.

Life Inside Out from U.S. director Jill D’Agnenica — First Prize

A universal story of an overburdened wife and mother struggling to make ends meet while connecting with her troubled teenage son, through a shared love of music and songwriting. There are more ways than one to love.