2024 Film Festival Program | June 20-23| Ouray, Colorado
The program for the 2024 Ouray International Film Festival is now live! Our fifth-anniversary lineup contains over 30 films from around the world including Sudan, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, and Sierra Leone. We have 8 world premieres and almost all films will screen in Colorado for the first time. Parties, panel discussions, and outdoor events will compliment a full lineup of short and feature-length films across genres and languages.
OIFF continues the tradition of hosting a series of honored guests to receive key awards and promote the conversation between audiences and filmmakers during the festival. This year, San Francisco-based filmmaker H.P. Mendoza will join as the 2024 Artist-in-Residence. Audiences will remember Mendoza from OIFF 2023 where he screened his feature film The Secret Art of Human Flight starring Academy Award-nominee Paul Raci (who also joined us to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award). Mendoza returns to OIFF to perform live music alongside his experimental visual album Attack, Decay, Release. We are thrilled to share this award-winning film and music experience with our audiences this June. There will be dancing.
We are also excited to announce Professor James Choi as the 2024 Scholar-in-Residence. A professor of cinema at DePaul University, Choi is known around the country as an established mentor of young artists, an award-winning filmmaker, and a producer of films such as Saint Frances which was nominated for two Gotham Awards and the John Cassavetes Award at the Independent Spirit Awards in 2021. Choi will serve as the president of the awards jury and host a panel conversation about the art of producing film.
The lineup of attending filmmakers has never been more robust. Alumni include 2022 Directors Spotlight Winner Ethan Payne. A beloved friend of the festival, Payne will return to OIFF this summer with his first feature film, The Green Flash. The film crosses genres to tell the story of Steve Lamb, an aging pirate reckoning with a life lived in the saltwater communities of Florida. Ethan will be in attendance along with the film's co-director, Jodi Cash, joining us from Barcelona.
Zaire Love (2022 Film in Action Award Winner) will screen her second film at OIFF: Slice, a short documentary focused on the cultures of swimming among Black men in Memphis. Linh Tran (Best Short Film, OIFF 2023) returns in person this year to premiere her latest film, Missing Grandma, shot in Vietnam. A long roster of new filmmakers are slated to attend as well coming from Brooklyn, Los Angeles, Colorado, and beyond.
OIFF will also welcome back Ukrainian filmmaker Maria Pankova (Excellence in International Filmmaking, 2023) to the mountains. Pankova is curating a block of short films devoted to sharing Ukrainian cinema voices in our time. Stand by for more news about these films and other special guests in attendance for this unique program made possible by The Telluride Foundation.
Lastly, come join us for our annual free screening in Fellin Park on Friday night of the festival. This year's outdoor program will include a screening of SAR: Search and Rescue which tells the story of rescue teams in Colorado. After the first film block the following morning (Saturday) at the Wright Opera House, audiences can hear from SAR's director in conversation with local representatives of Ouray Mountain Rescue Team. We are proud to partner with this key community organization as it celebrates 50 years of service in Ouray County.
We strive to make sure cost is never a barrier to attendance. In addition to two levels of festival passes, you can buy a day pass or individual event tickets at ourayfilmfestival.com. Stand by for the official schedule announcement in April if you're looking to plan a single day at the fest.
More announcements to follow! Later this spring, we will release a few final surprise updates including the recipient of the festival's Directors Spotlight Award.