Home to the University of Mississippi, past haunts of William Faulkner, Larry Brown, Barry Hannah and John Grisham, current home of Ace Atkins, Jack Pendarvis, and listed as one of John Vilani's "100 best small arts towns in America," Oxford offers a unique blend of literary and artistic appreciation within the setting of a vibrant college town.
Named a Top 50 Film Festival worth the entry fee over several years from MovieMaker magazine, the 17th Oxford Film Festival, to be held March 18-22, 2020, is a five-day event celebrating the art of independent film. The festival will bring filmmakers and filmgoers from across the globe to celebrate films, panels and parties.
Regional festivals are becoming more and more important in the film landscape, uplifting new, diverse voices in a time where people are viewing films in a group setting less and less. At Oxford, the success lay in the crop of powerful stories from fresh voices, many of which aligned with, and then furthered, our cultural conversation.
Meredith Alloway, Filmmaker Magazine
The word that one hears over and over again at the Oxford Film Festival is “community…” This is a festival that seeks to reflect the community from which it arises, both the local one and the international one connected by filmmaking. It is a homegrown, intimate festival that nonetheless features voices from around the world, harmoniously united through the community of film.
Brian Tallerico, rogerebert.com
Recent years have included visits from Adam Rifkin with THE LAST MOVIE STAR, Cady McClain with SEEING IS BELIEVING, Danny Glover to introduce I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO, Robert Longstreet with THE MISSING GIRL, James Franco and Tim Blake Nelson with THE SOUND AND THE FURY, Academy Award winners and nominees, Oscar nominees, Independent Spirit Award nominees, and favorites on the film festival circuit in addition to local and regional films.
"Regional festivals are becoming more and more important in the film landscape, uplifting new, diverse voices in a time where people are viewing films in a group setting less and less. At Oxford, the success lay in the crop of powerful stories from fresh voices, many of which aligned with, and then furthered, our cultural conversation." - Filmmaker Magazine
Contests:
Short Film Contest Presented by Artist Vodka - $15,000 cash
Short Screenplay Competition - $1000 cash
The jury-selected Hoka award and cash prize is presented to the winning films for the following categories:
- Narrative Feature - $250 and other prizes
- Documentary Feature $250 and other prizes
- Narrative Short - $250
- Documentary Short - $100
- Fest Forward (Animation and Experimental), - $100
- Mississippi short -$250 and other prizes
- Mississippi features - $250 and other prizes
- Mississippi Music Video - $100 and other prizes
- LGBTQ (short and feature) - $100
- Music documentary - $100
Programmers Awards:
Alice Guy-Blaché Emerging Female Filmmaker Award - $1,000 cash
The Lisa Blount Memorial Acting Award
Last year's awards included a $10,000 Panavision camera rental, post-sound and color work, and cash prizes. Shorts winners received post production sound design.
