Oneota Film Festival to be held on March 7-9

Focusing on the theme “Stories in Community,” tales shared by families, friends, world travelers and neighbors are only a few of the stories told in the more than 60 films to be screened at the 10th annual Oneota Film Festival. The event, co-sponsored by Luther College, is set for Thursday through Saturday, March 7-9, 2019, on the Luther campus and in downtown Decorah.

Festival-goers are asked to pre-register at: https://www.oneotafilmfestival.org/register. The festival is open to the public with no cost to register.

Inspired by Luther alumnus Walter Ordway, a world traveler and filmmaker, the Oneota Film Festival board has arranged a weekend of eclectic, artistic films intended to delight a diverse audience. The festival has grown from highlighting documentary films with a sustainability theme to now including films from students and professionals with topics ranging from horror to romantic comedy to animations.

The festival begins at the Elks Lodge in Decorah, at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, March 7, with a family screening of “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” with free pizza and popcorn, followed by a Mr. Roger’s look-a-like contest. There will be a second showing of the movie at 7:30 p.m. with free popcorn.

The closing ceremony begins at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 9, at T-Bock’s Upstairs, where filmmakers and festival attendees can gather to watch the final film of the festival, “Mountain,” an adventure film which combines awe-inspiring orchestral music with man’s relationship with natural wonders.

On Friday night, OFF will celebrate International Women’s’ Day at 7 p.m. in Valders 206 with a screening of “Off Her Shoulders.” Additional women-helmed films, which comprise more than half of the films at this year’s festival, will screen throughout the weekend.

On Saturday, OFF will highlight films created by Iowan directors on a variety of topics in a variety of genres. “This Day Forward,” a feature film directed by Brian Ide, is about the true story of a mother struggling to keep her faith and family intact after her husband is diagnosed with stage three brain cancer.

The mission of the Oneota Film Festival is to build and sustain a community of film lovers through screenings and discussion. They strive to inform, inspire and engage viewers and filmmakers in compelling issues of our time. Discovering and including films from anywhere, created by independent filmmakers and not readily available through commercial networks, OFF brings independent filmmakers to discuss their work with audiences. OFF also works to involve Decorah area and especially Iowa residents, students and first-time filmmakers to nominate films for inclusion or to submit their own films.

More information and a full schedule of events is at www.oneotafilmfestival.org.

A national liberal arts college with an enrollment of 2,005, Luther offers an academic curriculum that leads to the Bachelor of Arts degree in more than 60 majors and pre-professional programs. For more information about Luther visit the college’s website: http://www.luther.edu.