Call for Entries opened May 1, 2018, for the 2019 Oxford Film Festival, which will take place in Oxford, Mississippi, February 6-9, 2019. The 16th edition of the festival will include the return of OFF’s screenplay competition with cash prizes, as well as a reduced submission fee incentive for female filmmakers.
Led by Executive Director Melanie Addington, and additions to the programming lineup, including Hammer to Nail editor Don Lewis (Narrative features), critically acclaimed filmmaker/actor Victoria Negri (Mississippi features and shorts), and actor Donna Kozloskie (Documentary features and shorts), the Oxford FF will screen films, television, and virtual reality projects in all genres, as well as promoting and celebrating Mississippi filmmakers culminating in the presentation of the film festival’s award ceremony.
Through year-round programming, the festival works to encourage filmmaking in Oxford and North Mississippi while growing understanding of cinema through screenings, workshops, and educational programs during the five-day event.
This year, films created by people with disabilities, and/or featuring performers with disabilities receive a 50 percent discount using code ReelOxff. This initiative will be added to the OXFF50 discount for female directed projects (which can be co-directed by a female and male) last year, which led to an increase of the film festival’s alumni database from 28 percent to 31 percent. Addington has pledged that OFF will keep the efforts going as long as it takes to get to 50-50 female to male representation.
The Oxford Film Festival will also be expanding the festival’s LGBTQ category, which will now total five features to be on track with the narrative and documentary competitions, thanks to generous Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences grant to expand LGBTQ stories in the state of Mississippi. In addition, there will be a new student category, which returns to the Oxford Film Festival after a 10-year absence timed to the launch of a new film major at the University of Mississippi. OFF continues to work to strengthen ties to film students and find ways to better highlight their works.
Learn more on this story or how to submit here.
The Oxford Film Festival is now, without dispute, a prominent “voice” in the regional film festival community, as it continues to take real, and lasting, action in order to offer an oasis of culture, a position of advocacy and support on behalf of minorities, women, and the LGBTQ community, as it supports diverse voices in the state of Mississippi.
