Ojai Documentary Film Festival Debuts October 26-30 at Historic Playhouse

The inaugural Ojai Documentary Film Festival will run October 26-30 at the historic Ojai Playhouse in Southern California, IndieWire exclusively announced.

The five-day event will screen a wide-ranging slate of nonfiction films and series, including Alex Gibney's "Musk" (HBO), Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin's "Everest: The Other Side" (National Geographic), "Once Upon a Time in Harlem" by William Greaves and David Greaves (Neon), Quinn Wilson's "Jean-Michel" (Netflix), "You Can See Everything" by Nathan Fielder and Lance Oppenheim (A24), John Wilson's "The History of Concrete," "Soul Patrol" by JM Harper (Kino Lorber), "Barbara Forever" by Brydie O'Connor (Strand Releasing), Ross McElwee's "Remake" (Music Box), and "The Story of Documentary film," Chapters 1-3, by Mark Cousins.

The program also includes "Nuisance Bear" by Jack Weisman and Gaby Osio Vanden (MUBI), winner of the Sundance Grand Jury Prize, with the filmmakers appearing in person. Robb Moss will present "The Bend in the River" (Netflix) and sit for a conversation with Lauren Greenfield, while Luke Lorentzen's "Boatbuilders" and Tamra Davis's "The Best Summer" will screen with the filmmakers present.

The festival stems from a collaboration between Eric Goode and Jeremy McBride — owners of Hotel El Roblar and the filmmakers behind the Emmy-nominated docuseries "Tiger King" and "Chimp Crazy," as well as the recent HBO documentary "Monsters of God" — and David Berger, who acquired and relaunched the Ojai Playhouse, now a frequent awards-season destination.

"The best documentaries introduce you to a world you didn't know existed, and usually the truth turns out to be stranger than anything you could make up," Goode said in a statement. "Those films often are collaborative to make, and the people behind them rarely get to sit in a room with their audience. Ojai has always attracted eccentrics, artists and independent thinkers, and with David's Playhouse and Hotel El Roblar working together, we can bring those filmmakers here and let people meet them up close."

Berger framed the festival as the fulfillment of the theater's restoration. "An independent theater is only as strong as its programming and the community that shows up for it," he said. "When we restored the Playhouse, we wanted it to be a mix of past, present and future. There's nothing like sitting in a dark room with your neighbors, sharing the same story at the same moment. That collective experience is why we brought this theater back, and when Eric and Jeremy came to us with this festival idea, it felt like exactly what the Playhouse was built for."

McBride emphasized the festival's experiential ambitions. "David brought back the collective experience of going to the movies in Ojai, and we wanted to build on it," he said. "The idea is to take the best documentary work of the year and share it in a thoughtful, experiential way. We believe event-driven programming is the future of cinema, extending each film beyond the screen, with food and drink and live music. We think of Hotel El Roblar and the Playhouse as one, so the night carries from dinner to the bar to your seat in the theater."

The festival will celebrate nonfiction "in all its forms, spanning vérité, hybrid, experimental and the wholly unclassifiable, from contemporary releases to influential works of the past," according to the announcement.

A series of revival screenings will pair landmark documentaries with their makers. Lauren Greenfield will present "The Queen of Versailles" and sign her new photography book, "The Queen of Versailles: An American Allegory." Joan Churchill will present "Punishment Park," and Matt Wolf will introduce "Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell."

"Arthur Russell didn't follow the rules of genre or the conventional model of being an artist, and that's the spirit of this wonderful festival. I can't think of a better place to share his story with a new audience," Wolf said as part of the announcement.

Beyond screenings, the festival will host conversations on the legal and financial realities of nonfiction filmmaking. "See You in Court: Documentaries Under Fire," moderated by Wade Gentz, Head of U.S. Litigation at Netflix, brings together attorneys Michael C. Donaldson, Diana Palacios and Russell Smith to discuss defamation, fair use following Warhol, and recording without permission. "The New Financial Playbook," moderated by Kim Masters, features producer Ted Hope in a conversation about how independent documentaries are financed, produced and sold today.

The festival also has a local and educational component: high school students from across the Ojai Valley will attend screenings and talks throughout the week, engaging directly with working filmmakers and industry professionals.

Veteran documentary producer Emily Osborne and filmmaker Keith Ochwat, founder of Show&Tell, are collaborating on the event. Additional filmmakers, special guests, and daytime and after-hours programming will be announced in the coming weeks.

The full schedule and ticket information are available on the festival's website. If the inaugural edition delivers on its premise — new premieres, revival rarities and filmmakers in the room — Ojai will add a documentary anchor to a Southern California festival calendar that currently lacks one.