The virtual portion of the 2021 Oxford Film Festival comes to a close today amid news of big changes for the organization. The Audience Awards were chosen by polling the patrons at the in-person festival at the end of March and those watching the virtual festival at home. The winner of the Overall Best Feature, which includes Best Mississippi Film and Best Documentary, is Look Away, by director Patrick O’Conner. The film, which deals with the five-year fight to remove Confederate symbols from the Mississippi state flag, earlier won an Honorable Mention from the jury for “adept handing of a complicated topic.” Director Olivia Peace won the audiences’ hearts for Best Narrative Feature for her film Tahara. Amy French’s “Swim to Steven,” which shared a bill with Tahara, was chosen as Best Short Film.
The audience’s pick for Best Music Documentary is Keyboard Fantasies: The Beverly Glenn-Copeland Story by director Posy Dixon. Eric Pumpfrey’s short “Luv U Cuz” was the audience favorite in the animation category. Ronzo winner “Touch Tone Telephone” repeated as Best Music Video for director Chris Spargo, as did Dramarama, which swept the LBGTQIA+ category for director Jonathan Wysocki. The screenplay competition, which includes a $1,000 prize and mentorship by producer John Norris, was won by Beanie Barns for “Nascent State.”
Longtime Oxford Film Festival director Melanie Addington recently announced she was leaving Mississippi to accept a position as executive director for the Tallgrass Film Festival in Wichita, Kansas. Her replacement will be Jim Brunzell, who was named interim executive director. Brunzell is the former director of the Sound Unseen festival in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the All Genders, Lifestyles, and Identities Festival in Austin, Texas. Another new addition to the Oxford festival staff is Justina Walford, founder of the Women Texas Film Festival, who will take over programming duties.
And finally, The Oxford Film Festival, along with Indie Memphis, was just named to Moviemaker Magazine’s coveted 50 Film Festivals Worth The Entry Fee list, capping an eventful and successful year.
