Letter to Filmmakers

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e-mail:
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or write:
Ojai Film Festival
P.O. Box 1029
Ojai, CA 93024

©Ojai Film Festival 2006

Entries Letter to Filmmakers

A Letter from the Artistic Director:

Dear Friends,

Welcome to the Sixth Annual Ojai Film Festival.

When I look back over the five years since I joined forces with a handful of other wide-eyed lovers of film who dared to imagine that Ojai might actually be able to create its own Film Festival, I am both astonished and deeply gratified by how far we've come in turning that vision into a reality.

Through the tireless efforts of more than a hundred dedicated volunteers, what began as a hopeful dream has evolved into a cultural event that is well on its way to becoming one of the pillars of the Southern California arts scene.

From the beginning, the Ojai Film Festival has had a two-fold goal: To provide filmmakers, many of whom are just beginning their careers, with a supportive and enthusiastic audience for their creative efforts, and to bring to Festival attendees a wide array of distinguished motion pictures which might otherwise be inaccessible to them.

In a few short years, we have attracted the attention of filmmakers all over the world, and the many letters I receive from them clearly demonstrate that we have already earned an enviable reputation for quality and integrity. Our growing prestige on the film festival circuit is reflected in the ever-increasing quality of the films submitted to us each year.

We are particularly proud of the fact that we showed three films that were recipients of Academy Award nominations for Best Documentary Short, and awarded prizes to two of them! We also presented one of the four films recently nominated for Best Documentary Feature and gave it our own Best Documentary Feature award.

From its inception, the theme of our Festival has been "Enriching the Human Spirit Through Film." While any great work of art might be said to enrich the spirit, we try to focus on films that explore the human condition and broaden our understanding of our place in the world; films that teach us about ourselves and encourage us to exert a constructive influence on our planet and its people.

It is with great pleasure that I invite you once again to join with us in celebrating the art of film in the uniquely inviting environment of the Ojai Valley.

Steve Grumette
Artistic Director

Steve has worked in the motion picture industry for more than thirty years as director, cameraman and editor. His collaborative project, "The Magic Machines," won an Academy Award for "Best Live Action Short Subject". While working as a consultant on "War Games," he pioneered the use of live computer imagery in motion pictures and subsequently created computer effects for more than a dozen major Hollywood films. Steve and his wife, Elizabeth, were among the original members of the Ojai Film Society, and since 1992, Steve has served as its Program Director. In 1999, he was selected by the National Foundation for the Advancement in the Arts to be a film and video panelist in their annual scholarship competition. Steve pioneered the idea of a film festival in Ojai, and his dream was realized when he became Artistic Director of Ojai Film Festival.

For information contact the Ojai Film Festival at:
(805) 640-1947 or info@ojaifilmfestival.com
or
mail correspondence to :
Ojai Film Festival
P.O. Box 1029, Ojai, CA 93024
©Ojai Film Festival 2005