OFF Kicks Off 3rd Weekly Virtual Film Fest

The Oxford Film Festival’s 3rd Weekly Virtual Film Fest starts this Friday and continues through the weekend.

This week’s fest showcases include Steve Collins’ quirky deadpan comedy “I’ve Got Issues,” which intertwines a handful of stories of people dealing with self-loathing, loneliness, death, discrimination, injustice, oppression, and the atom bomb – essentially trying to survive the pain of living in this cruel world.

Garin Hovannisian’s “I Am Not Alone” is a documentary about Armenian politician Nikol Pashinyan and his role in the 2018 Armenian Revolution by walking across the country in protest against the corrupt regime in power at that time. A block of short films with the theme of “Hello Gorgeous” features women and girls in moments of finding their voice and standing or place in the world and men negotiating a world in which the male/female dynamic is not what it once was. Oxford Film Festival will also co-present a panel conversation with the University of Mississippi focusing on what’s ahead for film students as they continue to pursue their degrees throughout this pandemic.

“This week’s films, as well as the featured panels, share a universal idea and experience of dealing with a new situation or in some cases – a new world order,” Executive Director Melanie Addington said. “Sometimes the effort to sort things out can be wryly and darkly funny and sometimes it can surprise us and inspire us to reach goals we never previously thought we could attain. And sometimes, just talking about it and hashing things out can do us a world of good.”

SPACESHIP EARTH, MOSSVILLE: WHEN GREAT TREES FALL, SO PRETTY

Oxford Film Festival also announced a new slate of Art House Cinema screenings including Matt Wolf’s documentary SPACESHIP EARTH about the Biodome experiment in the 1990s which premiered at Sundance this year, the New York International Children’s Film Festival (NYICFF) Kid Flicks short film blocks, the environmental documentary MOSSVILLE: WHEN GREAT TREES FALL, which recently was an award winner at EarthxFilm, Emily Cohn’s clever and inventive sex comedy CRSHD, which premiered at Tribeca FF last year, as well as being an Opening Night selection at the Women Texas Film Festival, and Jessie Jeffrey Dunn Rovinelli’s LGBTQ+ drama SO PRETTY.

Information on all of the Oxford Film Festival Art House Cinema films can be found at https://oxfordac.eventive.org/welcome.

OXFORD FILM FESTIVAL 2020 3rd WEEKLY VIRTUAL FILM FEST
Films, events and descriptions:

I’VE GOT ISSUES
Director: Steve Collins
Country: USA, Running Time: 92 min
I’VE GOT ISSUES is a unique comic world inhabited by sensitive souls trying to survive the pain of living in this cruel world. In a dead-pan, deeply empathetic tone, the film asks the big questions: “What are we supposed to do with all the hurt?” “What’s the point?” The film builds an answer out of intertwining stories of characters swallowed in darkness, yet still finding light.

I AM NOT ALONE
Director: Garin Hovannisian
Country: Armenia, Running Time: 93 min
On Easter Day 2018, a man put on a backpack and went live on Facebook to announce that he was beginning a walk across Armenia. His mission: to inspire a velvet revolution — and topple the corrupt regime that enjoys absolute power in his post-soviet nation. With total access to all key players, I AM NOT ALONE tells the miraculous true story of what happens in the next 40 days.

Film Festival Strategy Panel
Panel conversation with top film festival programmers and veterans will lend insight into the tips and tricks filmmakers can utilize to have a successful fest run. Filmmakers will have an opportunity to talk to the curators and tastemakers who select films about what goes into the selection process and what they are doing now that the pandemic has shaken things up.

Moderated by film producer and programmer, Don Lewis (HOLY GHOST PEOPLE), participants will include Brian Murion (Montana FF), Kimberly Browning (Hollywood Shorts), Donna Kosloskie (Oxford FF), Lela Meadow Conner (Film Festival Alliance), Katie McCullough and Ian Bignell (Festival Formula), Rachel Morgan (Sidewalk FF), and Brighid Wheeler (Indie Memphis).

Navigating Your Film Degree Through a Pandemic
University of Mississippi faculty and instructors from several departments discuss the challenges and suggest solutions for film students in the midst of pursuing their film degree during this pandemic.

Narrative Shorts – Hello Gorgeous
TRT: 65 min

BAD ASSISTANT
Director: Kyle Cogan
Country: USA, Running Time: 26 min
Devoted Hollywood assistant, Emilee Rank, is pushed to her limits when her boss, Parker Saint Garrett, requests help moving a dead body

GIRLS GROW UP DRAWING HORSES
Director: Joanie Wind
Country: USA, Running Time: 7 min
A woman explores gender roles, heteronormativity, and the life of her deceased grandmother through horses and other visual metaphors.

LABOR RELATIONS
Director: Karisa Bruin
Country: USA, Running Time: 7 min
In this satire, Emogen goes into labor at work and decides to keep right on working as she delivers a presentation and her baby at the same time.

MY TIME
Director: Giulia Gandini
Country: UK, Running Time: 6 min
A 12-year-old girl has her first period in class. Her skirt is stained red. She is next up to present her final paper in front of all of her peers. Will she find a way out of the “uncomfortable” situation?

SAME TIME NEXT WEEK
Director: Kalah Roberts
Country: USA, Running Time: 8 min
A frenzied first-time mom attends a therapy session with her toddler in tow.

STOOD UP
Director: Cjay Boisclair
Country: Canada, Running Time: 5 min
Charming, loyal, and perpetually single Ben is tired of always being the best friend and wing-man. After deciding to shake things up, he agrees to a blind date. But, when things go awry will fate step in and keep him from forever being friend-zoned?

WHITE GUYS SOLVE SEXISM
Director: Christopher Guerrero
Countries: USA, Running Time: 6 min
Because of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, two men realize that all of their favorite movies are now sexist, leading them down a dark path of discovery.

TICKETS:
Film Festival Strategy Panel
https://watch.eventive.org/2020oxff/play/5ea7729abdd0370029642a03
Live conversation/panel set for May 7 at 12 p.m.

I’VE GOT ISSUES
https://watch.eventive.org/2020oxff/play/5e8f1f580ebd4f00297be173
Live Q&A set for May 8 at 8 p.m. central time

Narrative Shorts – Hello Gorgeous
https://watch.eventive.org/2020oxff/play/5e9536f8109cec0031cdb05b
Live Q&A set for May 9 at 8 p.m. central time

Navigating Your Film Degree Through a Pandemic
https://watch.eventive.org/2020oxff/play/5ea7438e5e9ddf007d74ca44
Live conversation/panel set for May 14 at 4 p.m. central time

I AM NOT ALONE
https://watch.eventive.org/2020oxff/play/5e9526ac59329500290fcdc9
Live Q&A set for May 14 at 8 p.m. central time

Release courtesy of Oxford Film Festival