For 17 years, the Oxford Film Festival awarded the Hoka, which was named for the cotton warehouse turned art house cinema run by “Oxford’s cultural ambassador,” Ron “Ronzo” Shapiro. This year, the name of the award was changed to the Ronzo, in honor of the longtime OFF supporter who passed away in April, 2019.
Oxford Film Festival 2021 announced its slate of winners on Sunday night, after a long weekend of outdoor film screenings, interrupted occasionally by the severe weather that blew through the Mid South. The first ever Best Narrative Feature Ronzo went to Women Is Losers, the feminist coming-of-age story by first-time writer-director Lissette Feliciano. Best Documentary Feature went to In A Different Key, directors Caren Zucker and John Donovan’s adaptation of the bestselling book on autism. Best Mississippi Feature went to Bastard’s Crossing, director Travis Mills’ Western produced during COVID lockdown.
The winner in the LBGTIA category was Dramarama, a ’90s teen coming-out comedy by director Jonathan Wysocki. The Best Music Documentary Ronzo went to Bleeding Audio by director Chelsea Christer.
In the shorts, “The Recess,” directed by Navid Nikkhah Azad, a story of a young girl in a conservative Muslim society who dresses as a boy to attend a soccer game, won Best Narrative. “Snowy,” co-directors Alex Wolf Lewis and Kaitlyn Schwalje’s quest to bring happiness to a neglected pet turtle, brought home the Best Documentary Short Ronzo. Manual Marmier’s “Kiko’s Saints” was named Best LBGTIA short. In the music videos, Lemon Demon’s “Touch Tone Telephone” won Best overall, and the Mississippi award went to The Vacant’s “American Automatic.”
The Oxford Film Festival continues virtually through the month of April, with all of the winners, along with more than 100 other films, streaming online. The virtual portion of the fest will kick off on Friday, April 2nd, with the 35th anniversary screening of Labyrinth, the epic fairy tale by Mississippi native and Muppet creator Jim Henson, starring David Bowie. You can find tickets to the screening and information about online passes at the Oxford Film Festival website, ox-film.com.
