Ojai Film Festival shines spotlight on local films

Correction: An earlier version of this story misspelled the title of the film "Tumbleweeds."

Harry Medved has a passion for local film history.

Medved, who moved to Oak Park more than a decade ago, grew up in Los Angeles and remembers his father taking the family to Ojai to check out condors, hike along Sespe Creek and stay at the Ojai Valley Inn.

“As a kid, you always heard Ojai is Shangri-La, as seen in the movie 'Lost Horizon' in 1937. We all kind of grew up with that notion,” Medved said.

On Sunday, Medved will discuss films made in Ventura County at the Raymund Room of the Ojai Art Center. The event is part of the Ojai Film Festival, which runs through Monday.

Medved is a co-author of "Hollywood Escapes: The Moviegoer's Guide to Exploring Southern California's Great Outdoors."

Moving to Oak Park about 13 years ago encouraged Medved to take a closer look at the film history of his new home.

“I was very interested in discovering more history about Ventura County, my new county, and discovering along with some friends there was a movie ranch outside of my home in Oak Park that no one had documented,” Medved said. “That was kind of exciting to find out.”

He’ll discuss films like “Of Mice and Men” and “Tumbleweeds,” both shot in Oak Park, “Pat & Mike” and “Easy A” both shot in Ojai, and “Little Miss Sunshine” and “The Aviator” shot in Ventura.

“I’d love to get stories from locals about films we might have missed,” Medved said.

Jonathan Lambert, Ojai Film Festival board president, said around 1,800 people are expected for the festival held at various locations in Ojai.

Organizers do not select films that are sadistic or full of gratuitous violence or sex, he said.

“The motto of the festival is enriching the human spirit through film,” Lambert said. “It was created in 2000 when the festival started, and we still adhere to that.”

The ongoing actors' strike to seek better pay and benefits has affected the festival in that some people could not promote their work, Lambert said.

“We would love to have them … but if it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t happen,” he said.

Ojai resident Christopher Hills Eaton will receive the Bill Paxton Award and show his short animated film “Driftwood” at 7 p.m. Monday at the Ojai Art Center.

Virtual film festival tickets, to watch the movies online, will also soon be sold. The virtual festival takes place from Nov. 7-19.

Tickets range from $175 for a VIP pass to $15 for a single entry ticket. For more information, visit ojaifilmfestival.com.

Wes Woods II covers West County for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at wesley.woodsii@vcstar.com, 805-437-0262 or @JournoWes.

This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: Ojai Film Festival shines spotlight on local films