Jordan Campbell named the 2025 Film in Action Recipient
2025 OURAY INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL HONOR’S JORDAN CAMPBELL WITH “FILM IN ACTION” AWARD FOR UKRAINE UNDER FIRE DOCUMENTARY
Each year, our festival honors a filmmaker with the “Film in Action” Award. This prize highlights an artist whose work invites audiences to cultivate justice and compassion through cinema. For its upcoming sixth annual summer festival, OIFF is proud to honor Jordan Campbell with the Film in Action Award. Campbell will be joining the festival in person on Friday, June 20, 2025 to receive the award along with a screening of his recently completed film Ukraine Under Fire: A Film About War & Resilience. The film chronicles aspects of war crimes and Ukraine’s quest for freedom and democracy. If you are looking to attend the screening of Ukraine Under Fire, tickets and passes are now available for purchase. You can purchase an individual day pass for Friday, June 20 to experience Jordan’s film plus other offerings throughout the day.
Campbell and his upcoming presence at OIFF were recently covered by the Denver Post. Campbell succeeds last year’s honoree Alexandria Bombach, director of the award-winning documentary Indigo Girls: It’s Only Life After All which screened on opening night of OIFF 2024. Past recipients of the award also include Peabody Award-Winner Tiffany Hsiung.
“Jordan’s approach to filmmaking resonates with the DNA of our festival,” says festival co-director Jake Abell. “We are thrilled to screen Jordan’s new documentary as part of our own multi-year commitment to Ukrainian stories, artists, and communities.”
For Campbell, being this year’s recipient of the Film in Action Award will mark a return to the Ouray International Film Festival. At last year’s festival, Campbell served on a filmmaker panel focused on Ukrainian Cinema which was supported by the Telluride Foundation. The event included short films by Ukrainian filmmakers who screened their work to a sold-out crowd at the historic Wright Opera House. As part of that program, Campbell screened a six-minute teaser of Ukraine Under Fire.
Jordan’s presence at Ouray in 2024 played a decisive role in bringing Ukraine Under Fire to its recent international premiere in Washington, D.C. Presenting to a crowd that included opening remarks by Ukrainian Ambassador Oksana Markarova, the screening marked the third anniversary of Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine. Also present was Mark Dillen, public affairs director for the Denver-based non-profit organization “Ukrainians of Colorado.” Dillen and Campbell had originally met on stage at the Ouray International Film Festival in 2024. Nearly eight months later, the two reunited in Washington to support Jordan’s completed project and to shine light on Ukraine at a critical moment. Now, Campbell and his completed film will return to Ouray.
“The mountain community of Ouray provides an ideal landscape in which to pause, grow, and reflect on the kind of work that Jordan has created,” says Abell. “It’s our privilege to provide that space and to celebrate Jordan with this prize.”