Best in Show: Free Film Screening @ Libbey Bowl

BEST IN SHOW | FRIDAY, JULY 24 | DOORS 6:30

2000 | Run Time: 1 hr 29 min | MOCKUMENTARY | PG-13

Directed by: Christopher Guest

The tension is palpable, the excitement is mounting and the heady scent of competition is in the air as hundreds of eager contestants from across America prepare to take part in what is undoubtedly one of the greatest events of their lives -- the Mayflower Dog Show. The canine contestants and their owners are as wondrously diverse as the great country that has bred them.

Best in Show is a 2000 American mockumentary comedy film co-written by Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy and directed by Guest. The film follows five entrants in a prestigious dog show as they travel to and compete at the show, and stars Guest and Levy alongside Jennifer Coolidge, John Michael Higgins, Michael Hitchcock, Jane Lynch, Michael McKean, Catherine O-Hara, and Parker Posey. Much of the dialogue was improvised.

Best in Show was the inspiration for the broadcast of the National Dog Show, which has aired each Thanksgiving on NBC since 2002.

“... a comic jigsaw puzzle is crammed with deliriously funny little bits.” – Stephen Holden, The New York Times

“They say the owner comes to look like his dog; this is a mockumentary which comes to resemble a sleek fox terrier, a nimble, agile little film: quick-witted, intelligent, responsive to the director's whistles and beckonings. Wherever the film's collar is, it deserves to have a large rosette pinned on it.” – Peter Bradshaw, The Guardian

“… in essence a showcase for a series of improvisations on distinctly American types and their neuroses, strung together by a theme at once ripe for skewering and convenient for plotting.” – Eddie Cockrell, Variety

THE DETAILS

• This event is FREE to attend. You can check-in at any entrance to the Bowl.
• Doors open at 6:30PM
• Plan to arrive early. Pack snacks, bring layers and a blanket (especially if you want to sit on the grass!)
• Libbey Bowl has eleven wheelchair accessible seats. To learn more, visit ojai.ca.gov/CivicAlerts
• We encourage walking, biking, and carpooling. Bike racks are available onsite.
• If driving, street parking is available. Please follow local street signs.
• Forgot to RSVP? No problem, come and check-in with our team when you get there.

SUPPORT US

Love attending movies for FREE? to the Ojai Film Society.

2026 SUMMER SERIES: WILD IS THE NIGHT…

Join us weekly through July and the second half of August for FREE at Libbey Bowl.

• Thursday, July 2 | Hunt for the Wilderpeople
• Firday, July 10 | Selena y Los Dinos
• Firday, July 17 | Cookie Queens
• Firday, July 24 | Best in Show
• Thursday, August 20 | Arrival
• Thursday, August 27 | Jurassic Park

ABOUT OFS

REEL CULTURE. REAL COMMUNITY.

Founded in 1988, the mission of the Ojai Film Society (OFS) is to present quality independent, foreign, documentary, and classic films to the Ojai Valley, outdoors, in community for FREE. We are a 501c3 non-profit that proudly reaches over 3,000+ attendees annually through our FREE Summer Series at Libbey Bowl, making us one of the largest free event series in the Valley. Learn more at ojaifilmsociety.org.

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS