OXFORD • Whether it’s an in-person screening or a virtual panel discussion, the 2021 Oxford Film Festival is prepared to reconnect audiences and film fans.
The festival’s 18th season, a hybrid of virtual and live formats, opens next week. It starts with in-person screenings March 24-28 at the Oxford Commons area in two specially designed open-air circus tents, Malco Outdoor Cinema and a special drive-in at the Oxford High School. From April 1-30, Virtual Cinema screenings will be offered via Eventive globally.
The festival previously announced an impressive lineup of in-person and virtual panels and parties to both bring everyone back together safely, as well as continue to open up the popular film festival to a state-wide, national, and international audience virtually. The festival went to an all-online format last year after COVID-19 arrived and then continued with drive-in theater showings in Oxford.
This year’s schedule will showcase 158 films, including 33 features, 115 short films, 19 music videos, and 11 projected art works. Five scripts will be selected for an audience vote to win $1,000 and a mentorship by producer John Norris (“Ma,” “Get On Up”).
“We want to be very clear about the aggressive steps we are taking in order to make our film festival safe so our patrons can begin to get back to enjoying the movie going experience in the company of other people again,” said Executive Director Melanie Addington. “Therefore, we are being very careful with a measured approach utilizing the open-air theater we have designed specifically for this purpose – with safety always first, so we all can enjoy one of the best groups of films we have ever had this year. We have spent the past year safely providing films via drive-in and will include that experience in this year’s festival. We will monitor COVID and weather concerns and will make changes as needed closer to the event.”
The festival recently announced the Opening Night and Closing Night selections for the film festival. Megan Petersen and Hannah Black’s previously announced family road trip drama “Drought” will serve as the film festival’s opening night selection, with a double feature offering of Nicholas Bruckman’s powerful documentary “Not Going Quietly,” and Tate Taylor’s comedy “Breaking News in Yuba County.”
The festival will also offer in-person filmmaker panels including a Living History Panel focused on archival filmmaking, a Community Film Table Read with filmmaker Chasity Nicole, and a live performance by Oxford’s acting royalty Johnny and Susan McPhail.
Passholder parties include a game night celebrating the film “Murder, Bury, Win,” a record spin party built around the film “Vinyl Nation,” a cosmic bowling party, and a “Weed & Wine” party celebrating that film.
Virtual events include table reads of this year’s competing screenplays, Seed & Spark’s Art of the Pitch, utilizing film for social and political activism, first-person accounts of making films during the pandemic, and a discussion with documentarian Alex Glustrom (Mossville) which will be co-sponsored by the Oxford Film Festival and the Center for the Study of Southern Culture.
Tickets are now on sale for both physical and virtual screenings.
To buy passes or tickets or find more information about the festival schedule, visit https://www.oxfordfilmfest.com.
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March 18, 2021 at 04:00PM
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