Category: Film Festivals

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Oneota Film Festival: Spring has Arrived in Decorah, IA

Introduction

Oneota Film Festival, locally known as OFF, is unofficially the first sign of spring in Decorah, Iowa.

It is never to early to start making plans to attend OFF. The dates for the 2024 festival are February 29 – March 3, 2024.

If you can’t wait for Spring to roll around, OFF offers events prior to the festival in surrounding towns. Check their website, www.oneotafilmfestival.org for dates, times, and locations. Pre-festival events are held in surrounding communities and unique venues, like the historic theater in Cresco and Waukon or the microbrewery in Calmar.

The 2024 festival introduces film enthusiasts to over 45 documentaries that will be shown in six of Decorah’s unique venues. All six venues are all located in the town’s rich historic downtown district, and each venue has a historic background.

What Is A Documentary?

Documentaries are thought-provoking films that force you to think outside the box about subject matters you may have never thought about before. Documentaries generate a range of emotions, sadness, laughter, surprise, excitement, relief, and panic among others. Documentaries force you to ask questions. Documentaries encourage you to learn more and want more.

Wikipedia defines a documentary film as “a non-fictional motion picture intended to “document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record”.

Free

Thanks to generous sponsors, OFF is a free event. As a free event, there is no excuse not to attend. Even though the festival is free, it costs to put four day event on. Please consider becoming a member to support the festival. A bonus of becoming a member is that you will be invited to VIP events throughout the year, and you get to vote for your favorite film in the People’s Choice category at the festival.

Leadership

The 2024 festival is the 14 year of the Oneota Film Festival. President Nancy Sojka leads a board of directors comprised of eleven amazing hard-working volunteers. The festival employs a part-time creative director, Elise Skelenger, the organization’s only paid employee.

Volunteers

OFF also recruit a number of volunteers to assist throughout the event, which is the another way to see the films. If you are interested in volunteering, go to https://www.oneotafilmfestival.org/volunteer. Volunteers position needed are, room managers, readers, room greeters, set-up and take-down, and greeters at the festival headquarters.

OFF volunteer introducing a film..

The Judges

The wide and in-depth section of films at OFF will not disappoint. There is something for everyone, which I have found to be true at the other festivals I have attended. The selection of films shown demonstrates that the judges knows their audience and they know what makes a good documentary. Imagine watching 100 or more films from September to December and having to select the films that will be shown. Judges are an important component of a successful film festival.

The descriptions of the films will help you decided which ones to see. The films are shown at least twice so attendees are able to watch all the films.

Venues

ArtHaus, one of six venues.
T-Bock’s, one of six venues showing films.
Convergence Cider Works, one of six venues.
Driftless Yoga Center, one of six venues.
All Vets Club, Post 1977, another OFF venue.
Hotel Winneshiek, film venue and headquarters..

In the past, the festival was held at Luther College, a beautiful venue with top IT technology and talented technicians, but due to scheduling conflicts, the OFF board moved the festival downtown in 2022. Now the dates of the festival are consistent, which helps visitors schedule their trip in advance. The festival is held the first full weekend in March. The films are shown at some of Decorah’s most popular historic venues that have all been given a new life.

The venues include Arthaus, Hotel Winneshiek, Convergence CiderWorks, T-Bock’s Bar and Grill, Driftless Yoga Center located on the third floor of Impact Coffee, and the VFW.

Every location is unique and offers a different flavor which adds to the enjoyment of the film festival. Attendees may have a favorite venue and only attend the films at that venue or they enjoy visiting each venue to watch their favorite documentaries. Take your pick!

It is recommended that you arrive early to get front-row seating, which may be in the back of the room, like churchgoers, or the front of the room, so you can see.

Headquarters

If you have any questions, make sure to stop at the festival’s headquarters, located in the lobby of Hotel Winneshiek, 104 E. Water Street. There will be volunteers eager and ready to answer your questions.

Friends and Family

New Friends
Old Friends
Old Friends
Old Friends

OFF is a time to hang out with old friends, meet new friends, and spend time with family; thus adding a special touch to the festival.

Snacks and Drinks

If popcorn is served at a film festival, that is a plus. Over the years, OFF has served flavored popcorn from Decorah’s own Pinter’s Gardens and Pumpkins. Some venues sell food and drinks for your enjoyment, thus, saving precious time while introducing you to delicious tasting food and drink. At Hotel Winneshiek, festival attendees are able to purchase adult beverages and take them upstairs to the Steyer Opera House. Tip: The margaritas are made just the way a margarita should be.

Orange juice is key to any good margarita.

Meet the Film Director(s)

Student film director, Noah Potvin. He was an 8th grade student in Decorah, Iowa when he created the short, Star Trek: Frontier in Diversity, that was shown at the 2024 festival.
Drake student and film director, Michael Veninga.
Directors at the 2024 OFF.

Make sure to hang around after the films to talk with the film director(s), whether they are onsite or attending the festival virtually. Many festivals also offer a reception where attendees can chat one-on-one with the directors, providing opportunities to ask questions, get the film’s backstory, and meet the film directors, producers, and sometimes even members of the cast.

Create Your Own Itinerary

It is important to plan your itinerary before the festival. In 2024 there are over 40 films being shown over four days at OFF. It is a sure bet that if you do not lay out a schedule you will be disappointed. Some of them are shown more than once and in different locations, so plan ahead and carry your itinerary with you.

Attendees can find OFF’s schedule on oneotafilmfestival.org prior to the festival.

OFF History

Headquarters

2024 Documentaries and Directors

Following is the list of films that will be shown this year.

Aris Demetrios: Sculpture from the Heart – Directed by Josh Aronson; Balika – Directed by Altor Sanchez Smith and Lander Ibarretxe; Between the Notes: The Helene Grimaud Documentary; Blue Sunshine – Directed by Samyuktha Vijayan; Burial – Directed by Jerzy Czachowski; Chasing Greatness: Wrestling Life – Directed by Danny Wilcox Frazier; Claire Facing North – Directed by Lynn Tjerrnan Lukkas; Culture Talk on the Radio – Directed by Errkaa; Dishonour – Directed by Terrence Turner; Down the Mekong: Voyage of Discovery – Directed by David Richard Ellingson; Dwight in Denmark – Directed by Beth Hoven and Jon Rotto; Essential Essence – Directed by Patrick Boberg; Everything Fun you Could Possibly Do in Aledo, Illinois – Directed by Bethany Berg; Friendly Faces – Directed by Keaton Fuller; Greener Pastures – Directed by Samuel-Ali Mirpoorian; Greybeard, The Man, The Myth, The Mississippi – Directed by Zak Rivers and Wilderness Mindset, Alex Maier and Amy Robin; Gun to the Head – Directed by Christian Michael Veninga and Mithi Sivaprakash; Hangman – Directed by Megan Brotherton; Happy Hour – Directed by Gene Halverson; Hello, Bookstore – Directed by A.B. Zax; Invisible Landscapes – Directed by Ivo Bystrican; Labor of Love – Directed by Sam Fathallah; Learning to Dance – Directed by Cat Ashworth; Once Love – Directed by Mike Stinnett; Panther Politician: Part 2 – Directed by S. Torriano Berry; Parsons – Directed by Dick DeAngelis; Places to be Wild – Directed by Kelly Rundle; Reagan/Quigley ’85 – Directed by Elijah Kimmel; Shift: The Ragbrai Documentary – Directed by Kelsey Kremer and Courtney Crowder; Standing Strong: Elizabeth Catlett – Directed by Kevin J. Kelley; Startime – Directed by Rich West; The Countryman – Directed by Andy Kastelic; The Dead Track – Directed by Antonio Maciocco; The Errand – Directed by Amanda Renee Knox: Tina – Directed by Laura Sweeney; To the Moon and Back – Directed by Charlie Posey; Wine, Women, and Dementia – Directed by Kitty Norton; You Are What You Act – Directed by Albert Nerenberg; Zakkiyyah Najeebah Duman O’Neal – A Glass Breakfast Interview – Directed by Ian Carstens.

A selection of NE Iowa Area High School speech student films will be shown. The films created by students in grades 6-8, addressed the National History Day contest theme for 2023. The following four were presented in the regional competition at the NE Iowa Community College last March: Star Trek: Frontier in Diversity directed by Noah Potvin, Julia Child: A Frontier in the Kitchen directed by Nina Sessions and Kaelyn Kuhn, Jackie Robinson: The Frontier of African-Americans in Professional Baseball directed by Bennett Coppola and Jalen Klees, and Pasteurization: Reshaping the Dairy Industry directed by Rex LaFrentz and Kalin Harman.

2024 Walter Ordway Best Of The Fest Award Winnerd

If you are still not sure which docs to watch, keep an eye out for the judges’ awards. Awards are generally announced a week or two before the festival.

The Walter Ordway Best of the Fest OFF award winners are: Documentary Feature Shift; Honorable Mention Documentary Feature – Greener Pastures; Narrative Feature – Blueshine; Honorable Mention Narrative Feature – Claire Facing North; Honorable Mention Narrative Feature Everything Fun You Could Possible Do in Aledo, Illinois; Student Narrative – To the Moon and Back; Experimental – Culture Talk on the Radio; Documentary Short – Dwight in Denmark; Honorable Mention Documentary Short – Aris Demetrios Sculpture from the Heart; Narrative Short – Dishonour; Narrative Short – Il Binario Morto; Honorable Mention Narrative Short – The Countryman; Honorable Mention Narrative Short – Hangman;

Up-To-Date Information

Facebook is the perfect resource for keeping up-to-date on all things related to the OFF film festival. Follow along on the OFF festival’s Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/oneotafilmfest.

There is also a lot of information on film festival websites that will assist you in planning your visit.

Future Dates of the Oneota Film Festival

I love it when events post the dates years in advance. Let’s make it easy for people to attend our events.

  • March 6-9, 2025
  • March 5-8, 2026
  • March 4-7, 2027
  • March 2-5, 2028
  • March 1-4, 2029
  • February 28 – March 3, 2023

Midwest Film Festivals

Now that you are hooked on film festivals, here are other film festivals that are recommended by my fellow travel bloggers and myself. Follow the suggestions listed above for any film festival you attend, and you are guaranteed to enjoy your experience.

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