Ojai Valley News Blog

Ojai residents Mary Steenburgen and Ted Danson take time out after presenting the 2009 Ojai Film Society Steenburgen Film Studies Award to Brooks Institute student Sean Broadbent for his film, “Une Vie Merveilleuse.” Photo by Scott Wintermute

By Nancy Gross
The Ojai Film Society honored its 2009 Steenburgen Film Studies Scholarship winner on Sunday, and honoree and Brooks Institute student Sean Broadbent’s short film “Une Vie Merveilleuse” screened. The filmmaker and film will also be showcased at the Film Society’s 20th anniversary party Saturday.

Mary Steenburgen presented the award to Broadbent. OFS President Ron Phillips and Vice President George Sandoval spoke. Phillips said, “It’s a delightful film.” Sandoval said that the mission statement of the OFS is “to bring great films to the Ojai Valley, and to help student filmmakers.” When the OFS commends a student filmmaker, they also recognize an Ojai resident who is part of the film community and who contributes to Ojai’s film culture.

Scholarships have been given since 1997, and the first award went to Rosie Castro in the names of Gregory Nava and Ana Thomas. In 2004 the award was given in Sergio Aragonés’ name to Alicia Cattoni, who recently released her film, “Faith in Iran.”

Steenburgen said, “Thank you to the Ojai Film Society. I’m so proud to be part of this community. It is where I raised my children.” Steenburgen remembered how, after living away from Ojai for 10 years, she had dinner with friends in Ojai and “couldn’t stop crying, I missed being in Ojai so much.”

Steenburgen moved back and is pleased to say that her husband, Ted Danson, is as happy as she is living here. Danson currently shooting a show for HBO titled “Bored to Death” in New York.

“People care very deeply about this community and about the arts,” Steenburgen said, and added that as the mother of a young film studies major at American Film Institute, she understands the challenges with budgeting for student films and is glad the $4,500 scholarship will help Broadbent with future endeavors.

Brooks instructor Paul Margolis wrote, “The short film Broadbent wrote, directed and produced in class featured tremendously appealing characters, a well-crafted story line, and most important, a deeper theme that made it emotionally compelling in a way that few student films are. It is a testament to Sean’s passion and seriousness about film that he actually found a cheap fare to Paris, flew there for a weekend and shot footage which he then cleverly edited into scenes filmed locally.”

Broadbent is from Texas. He began college at Lamar University, while concurrently finishing high school. He lived in Ojai for a year and currently lives in Ventura. Broadbent has not passed up opportunities to immerse himself in the film world, and worked as an usher in last year’s Ojai Film Festival.

The OFS has opened the yearly scholarship opportunity exclusively to Brooks’ students for the past three years.

Broadbent spoke candidly to the crowd that filled the Ojai Theatre: “We’re very lucky about the film. It’s kind of a work in progress and a little bit about what this is truly about. It is about the heart. The heart of this film is about love. The heart of love is about forgiveness.”

Broadbent, though choked up as he spoke, said after the event that the film is not autobiographical. Nevertheless the emotion of the film rang sincere with some viewers who spoke to the filmmaker in the lobby.

Ojai resident Linda Phillips said, “I just was able to discover what I really think is a rising young talent. The film told a complete and true story.”

After remarking how this narrative was achieved without any dialogue, Broadbent said, “That was a demand of the class, and it was pretty hard to deal with. You have to rely on subtleties. The first script, I had a different perspective. The idea to do it through the little girl’s eyes is what made it come together.”

The story is about a couple about to split up over demands and challenges that are alluded to more than spelled out. Their young daughter finds their wedding album that contains their memories from a trip to Paris. She begins to try to heal her parents’ widening rift by drawing their attention to the things that once joined them.

Saturday’s OFS gala begins at 5:30 p.m. at the Ojai Art Center. Paid reservations of $50 per person are required. Board member Andi Bloom is busy obtaining items for the silent auction. Il Giardino will cater dinner. The OFS is a volunteer organization with an esteemed history that has at times aided in the organization and fund raising for the Ojai Film Festival and the Ojai Music Festival. The OFS has given out over $40,000 in scholarships.