5th annual Oceanside International Film Festival blasts off

The annual Oceanside International Film Festival has a lot to offer, its 2015 schedule and list of venues have now been posted on its website. North County San Diego’s biggest film festival's popularity is attributed to the following success formula since its very foundation in 2009: “Vacation-Feel  / Kickback Attitude (near San Diego) + Profound Film Culture (close to Los Angeles) = Artistic Freedom. Yes, this is Oceanside!” And local, out-of-state, and international filmmakers have an opportunity to showcase their films in front of OIFF-2015 audiences, submerge into its atmosphere, and experience the artistic freedom professed by the festival.

The eight-day event will run Aug 9 to 16, 2015, in the same format and at the same venues as last year, screenings and celebrations taking place at two oldest theaters in town, Star Theatre and Sunshine Brooks Theatre. In 2014 the festival showed 70 films on the big screen. This year’s schedule includes such highlights as a screening of Guest Feature Film "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" with its creator present, “Deconstructing a Film Score” workshop by Emmy-winning film composer, and special appearances by celebrities.

GUEST FILMS
Red Carpet Welcome & Opening Evening on August 9th will commence August 9th with red carpet arrival of film industries stars and reception of filmmakers at Star Theatre downtown Oceanside. This is a perfect picture opportunity in front of the OIFF Official Backdrop with refreshments & generous appetizers to the live background music in the lobby of a historic theater. Food and first drink included with passes, craft beer - courtesy of Stone Brewing Co, Ballast Point Brewing & Spirits, and Manzanita Brewing Company.

The opening program includes screening of two films. First, “Into The Silent Sea” (from Arsta, Sweden), winner of both OIFF-2014 Jury’s Award for Best Student Film – College and OIFF-2014 Jury’s Award for Best Picture (OIFF’s highest award, meet & Q&A with the filmmaker after the screening). Then a screening of Guest Feature Film “Attack of the Killer Tomatoes”, a 1978 comedy horror film directed, produced, edited, music-scored, and co-written by John DeBello and starring David Miller. This classic film, which involves tomatoes revolting against humanity, has achieved a cult status in modern cinema. It has been filmed entirely in San Diego county, including Oceanside. Q&A with John DeBello will take place after the screening.

SPECIAL AWARDS
Lifetime Achievement Award
Closing Awards Gala on August 16th, aside from live entertainment, refreshments, and appetizers, will have presentation of about 15 awards (for winning films) to be given to filmmakers in each category from the OIFF Jury, and in each category for Audience Choice Awards, with screening of clips from winning films. The ceremony includes presentation of Lifetime Achievement Award for contribution in film and television industry to John DeBello, creator of Attack of the Killer Tomatoes! (1978), Return of the Killer Tomatoes! (1988), Killer Tomatoes Strike Back! (1991), and Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (TV series 1990–1991, one of the earliest animated series to extensively use computer animation).

After finalizing the franchise of Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, De Bello became president & creative director of Loma Media, one of the most highly successful and advanced communication & marketing/advertisement companies in operation. His credits have included Super Bowl & U.S. Open commercials as well as the first North American advertisement for the HD Television. “Killer Tomatoes was indeed filmed partly in Oceanside, although I’m fairly certain the tomato field in the film is now a housing development. Such is progress.”, wrote DeBello.

OIFF-2015 Jury’s Award for Best Student Film – High School Category
This particular category award from OIFF-2015 Jury will be accompanied with a special prize from Oceanside-based MediaTech Institute, a local recording arts and digital film school for anyone preparing for a creative career in the media arts. The winner will receive a certificate for 9 hours of free recording time in their Green Screen Studio, a $1000 value.  MediaTech’s state-of-the-art facility features equipment from major manufacturers. Apart from this recording opportunity, course offerings of MediaTech include a Recording Arts Program, and a Digital Film and Video Arts Program.

The audio engineering and digital film courses are designed to help each student develop the skills needed to realize their dreams. Consisting of two control rooms, a green screen theater, and four recording areas, all connected to a central patch room, the Oceanside campus provides the ultimate in flexible connectivity. Oceanside International Film Festival values its partnership with MediaTech Institute, as it has used their facility as a superb OIFF screening venue, and its parent organization Oceanside Cultural Arts Foundation has awarded scholarships for graduating high school students for this school.

Oceanside Spotlight Award
Another special prize at OIFF this year is for the winner of OIFF’s “Oceanside Spotlight” contest. The winner will receive one full business day complimentary use of the video recording stage, including a giant green screen, a $500 value, from Vista-based North County Media Center. The Center serves San Diego County and Orange County California with video / film studio rental, video and audio production, high quality equipment rental, and full production services. North County Media Center’s studio features a wide array of sets and backgrounds, including a green screen cyclorama for virtual sets and a white “Infinity Screen”. Besides 900 sq. ft 3-walled cyclorama infinity background, the company also offers a 1750 sq. ft. sound stage, fully equipped dressing/guest facilities, a full array of lighting equipment for all productions such as ARRI and KinoFlo, quiet sound conditions, post-production workstations, audio studio, camera rentals, including RED cameras, all at their 6,000 sq. ft. facility with scene shop.

The annual “Oceanside Spotlight” video contest is a special category by OIFF free of submission fees. To celebrate Oceanside’s image, Oceanside International Film Festival is accepting short films up to 5 minutes that have something directly to do with Oceanside, either documentary, music video, narrative fictional story, historic account, etc. Participants simply go to www.facebook.com/likeOIFF and message their YouTube or Vimeo link to the organizers. Soon after candidates submit their video to www.facebook.com/messages/likeoiff and only after Oceanside Intl Film Festival posts it on its Facebook page and announces “voting starts now!”, anybody can “like” their work. The film with most “likes” on the festival’s Facebook page by 6/16/2015 will be announced the winner, will be publicly shown on big screen during OIFF-2015, and given a special “Oceanside Spotlight” Award with the prize by North County Media Center during the awards ceremony on Aug 16.

The runner ups of this Oceanside-themed Facebook contest also have a shot at becoming Official Selections of OIFF-2015 and be shown on big screen between films of other genre as part of “Oceanside Spotlight” screening spots. Oceanside Spotlight Facebook-based contest is not limited only to Oceanside residents. Anyone can participate. There is no charge for this contest. (If filmmakers have a film longer than 5 min and not about Oceansside, they can still participate in OIFF under regular submission process as detailed at: www.osidefilm.org/submit-films)

EDUCATIONAL WORKSHOPS
“Deconstructing a Film Score” workshop by Emmy-winning film composer Larry Groupé will take place as part of 5th annual Oceanside International Film Festival from 1:00 pm to 2:25 pm, Saturday, August 15, at the Community Rooms of Oceanside Public Library, downtown branch, 330 N Coast Hwy, Oceanside, CA 92054 (across the street from Star Theatre and during the break from Star Theatre screenings). The workshop is a presentation about the artistic and dramatic process of creating original music for motion pictures. It is designed for participants from all musical walks of life looking to augment their knowledge of the field and enhance their compositional skills in the unique art of writing music to picture. It also covers the challenges of both obtaining business opportunities in the entertainment field and then executing the task through a work process. Q&A with the audience will be part of the discussion.

A graduate of the Conservatory of Music at the University of the Pacific, Larry Groupé went on to earn his Masters of Music in Composition at the University of California at San Diego. His work credits are numerous. Larry created the score for Straw Dogs directed by Rod Lurie starring James Marsden, Kate Bosworth and Alexander Skarsgård. He also composed the score for Nothing but the Truth starring Kate Beckinsale, Matt Dillon and Alan Alda. He wrote the score for The Contender starring Joan Allen, Gary Oldman and Jeff Bridges.

The Contender received two Academy® Award nominations. He composed the music for Mike Binder's comedy series, The Mind of the Married Man, on HBO, as well as Man About Town starring Ben Affleck. Larry also enjoyed special recognition for his score of Deterrence, a doomsday thriller starring Kevin Pollack and Timothy Hutton. Larry has two Emmy awards to his credit for best documentary score Jonas Salk: Personally Speaking, and Residue a short subject film about the US early involvement in Cambodia. He was also nominated for a primetime Emmy as composer of best original score for ABC's drama series, Line of Fire. His fourth most recent Emmy® Award nomination is for Best Original Score for the feature film “Under the Boardwalk: The Monopoly Story”. Tickets for “Deconstructing a Film Score” workshop, $10 per person, are now on sale on OIFF’s website.
 
EARLY OFFICIAL SELECTIONS
Although OIFF-2015 still accepts submissions thru June 15, and majority of filmmakers will be notified if their work is selected for festival screening only by July 7, Oceanside Intl Film Festival traditionally makes and announces a handful of its Official Selections early. Among films selected for public viewing on the big screen this year are the following titles.

The Magic Bracelet (in Narrative Short Films category) is an all-star film from Los Angeles. Its script was adapted by Diablo Cody (Academy Award Winner-Juno). It stars Bailee Madison (Just Go With It), Hailee Steinfeld (Ender's Game, Academy Award nominee - True Grit), J.K. Simmons (Academy Award winner – Whiplash, widely known as newspaperman J. Jonah Jameson in the Spiderman series), Jackson Rathbone (Twilight Franchise), James Van Der Beek (Dawson's Creek) and others. This narrative short film fulfills the final wish of Rina Goldberg who passed away of Mitochondrial disease just after her 15th birthday and some of her final words to her mom were, "Promise to take care of my film."

Somos Amigos, which means “We Are Friends” in Spanish, (in Narrative Short Films category) is a film from Madrid, Spain, that seeks to explore the limits between friendship and work... if they exist at all. The film portrays a dehumanization in the business system, where layoffs are cheaper than ever and friendships are not valued. According to its director, this is a “film dealing with today’s reality of unemployment and hopelessness, in a comedy tone, because we all could use a laugh”.

Flat Chested (in Narrative Short Films category) is a short from Chicago, IL, that spreads awareness about breast cancer. After testing positive for the BRCA gene mutation, the film’s female character has a specific plan to say goodbye to her breasts the weekend before her preventative double mastectomy, but her sister comes to town with a list of her own ideas for the two days. This story raises awareness about BRCA gene testing and preventative breast and ovarian cancer measures through the use of dark comedy. It was extremely important to the filmmaker during the month before production, since one of her sisters was diagnosed with stage IV ovarian cancer, and her other sister was diagnosed with breast cancer. The film features Luke Perry from “90210” TV show.

Enhebrado / "Threaded" (in Animations category) is an experimental animation from Colombia which takes place in a dream that gradually turns into a nightmare. It creatively combines the technique of drawn moving pictures and stop motion animation.

Two and a Quarter Minutes (in Student Films category) is a serious dramas with an emotional & sentimental appeal by a 15-year old filmmaker from Huntington Beach, CA. The film shows what goes through one’s mind in the two-and-a-quarter minutes, which is how long it takes on average for someone to drown.

Tick Tock (in Animations category) is a short from Turkey about an old man, who realizes late in his life that the most important thing in life is not the goal one achieves, but rather the road one takes to be there as long as it is done with hope.

The Age of Reason (in Narrative Feature Films) is a film from Santa Clarita, CA, about coming-of-age friends growing up in Southern California. Starring in the film are Tom Sizemore and Lochlyn Munro. Tom Sizemore is well known for appearances in Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man, and Point Break, and for his supporting roles in films such as the dark comedy crime film True Romance (1993), the crime film Natural Born Killers (1994), the crime film Heat (1995), the epic war film Saving Private Ryan (1998), the sci-fi thriller Strange Days (1998), the war film Black Hawk Down (2001), the epic war film Pearl Harbor (2001), and for voicing Sonny Forelli in the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. Lochlyn Munro is known for roles in films most notably Unforgiven, A Night at the Roxbury, Scary Movie, White Chicks, The Tooth Fairy, and Freddy vs. Jason. For television, he is perhaps best known for his recurring role as Jack Sheridan in the supernatural drama Charmed.

Save The Date (in Student Films category) is a film from Poway, CA, in a fantasy / magic genre by a 7-grade middle school student from Poway Unified School District, San Diego. In this film, when a young boy sets his sights on the wrong girl, it takes a true friend and a little time traveling to set him on the right path.

Michael (in Student Films category) from Ramat Gan, Israel, is a serious drama by a student of Tel Aviv University about human nature, dealing with internal drives, morality and violence.

Sugarhiccup (in Narrative Short Films category) is a film from Piedmont, CA, is a satire on our digital world and how we are easily susceptible to blurring the lines between truth and perception that social media often is limited to. This film will be shown during Gay & Lesbian screening block at OIFF, as it protraits a love triangle between three females in Northern California.

Carry On China (in Student Films category) from Beijing, China, is a serious drama by a college student. It tells a story set in Japan-occupied China during World War II. In 1944, when the tide turned against Japan and the war began winding down. To save his daughter, a Chinese father in this film stuffs her into a large bag disguised as food.

Transpose (in Narrative Short Films category) is a sci-fi thriller from Seattle, WA, about three lives, which crash & weave together in one fateful evening with a science-fiction twist.

Grave Shivers (in Narrative Shorts category) from Baton Rouge, LA, is a horror anthology that weaves three tales of monsters, killers, and things that appear at night. The director of the film hopes "you enjoy 13 minutes of horror, dread, and wonder."

The Sad Snowman (in Student Films categpry) is a live action debut made by a middle school student from Irvine, CA, about a snowboarder who notices a lone snowman and a simple act of kindness that makes the impossible possible.

STILL ACCEPTING FILMS
Under regular submission process participants can still submit their films to OIFF before final deadline of June 15, 2015. The categories are: Narrative Feature Films 40 to 120 min, Narrative Short Films under 40 min, Full Length Documentaries 40 to 120 min, Short Documentaries under 40 min, Animation Films up to 120 min, and Student Films* up to 120 min. (Full Length and Short Documentaries may also include sports, live performance, fashion, and music videos. Student Film category is kindergarten through college. Note*: to encourage student participation, second submission for Student Film category from the same student filmmaker is free of submission charge.) Filmmakers will be notified if their work is selected for festival screening (becomes an Official Selection) by July 7, 2015. Instructions for submitting a film can be found on the website.

ABOUT OIFF
Held every August, Oceanside International Film Festival officially kicks off a season of various film festivals, which are conducted annually in San Diego county and most start in the Fall. Established in 2009 by Oceanside Cultural Arts Foundation, OIFF is an opportunity for independent filmmakers to have their work screened and judged. It also gives the film buffs a jump-start chance for viewing local and international films at a place in Southern California known for its rich history, beautiful beaches, and artistic freedom. Film industry guests and audience members alike will appreciate the ocean-infused atmosphere surrounding the city, where the festival is held. All proceeds from this annual festival will be used to provide scholarships to graduating high school seniors (not just from Oceanside but from throughout North County San Diego) pursing artistic and performing arts degrees, and to organize more quality events in this city.

Have you got your tickets for Oceanside Intl Film Festival already? A whole day worth of films is only $15, or $10 for seniors, military, and students including college students. Festival passes for the whole week are available. Call to leave a message at 760-433-3632 or email [email protected] with any questions. See www.osidefilm.org or OIFF Facebook page for more info and admission: www.facebook.com/likeOIFF