deadCenter Film Festival Official Program by Oklahoma Gazette

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16th Annual deadCenter Film Festival The 16th annual deadCenter Film Festival kicks off Thursday night with multiple Opening Night screenings at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art and Harkins Theaters: Sundance favorite Hunt for the Wilderpeople, blues documentary Two Trains Runnin’, Oklahoma sci-fi adventure Electric Nostalgia and two outstanding short film programs. “This was our most competitive year ever,” according to Director of Programming Kim Haywood.” Our judges chose from over 1,200 films that submitted from around the world and all over Oklahoma, including several

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festival favorites from Sundance and SXSW.” One hundred and six films were chosen to screen at deadCenter this week through Sunday. From hilarious comedies and thoughtful dramas to intense documentaries and mind-blowing shorts, deadCenter has scheduled films from every possible genre to please every type of audience. deadCenter will screen films on six screens at Harkins Theater in Bricktown, the Oklahoma City Museum of Art and the Myriad Gardens Great Lawn. This year’s free outdoor films include a Flashback Friday screening

of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial on June 10 and A Song for You: The Austin City Limits Story on June 11, followed by an outdoor dance party. There are two ways to enjoy the festival: an All Access Pass for $150 or individual movie tickets for $10 each. The All Access Pass allows priority admission to all films and free access to all passholder parties and special events. deadCenter’s legendary parties are only open to passholders, so if you want the full festival adventure, buy an All Access Pass. All Access Passes are available at IAO

Getting Social with deadCenter

Gallery on Film Row beginning today and throughout the weekend. Individual movie tickets are sold at each venue after all passholders have been seated. Start planning your deadCenter experience with the schedule and highlights on the following pages. For a full list of films, please visit deadcenterfilm.org.

Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/deadcenter Like us on Facebook: facebook.com/deadcenterfilm Youtube film trailers: youtube.com/user/deadcenterfilm Please see the full film schedule inside.

knock-out narratives

Black Mountain Poets

Hunt for the Wilderpeople

The Land

The Master Cleanse

Director: Jamie Adams/90 min • FRI: 9:00PM Adventure Road Theater at Harkins • SAT: 5:00PM Adventure Road Theater at Harkins

Director: Taika Waititi/101 min • THU: 6:00PM Oklahoma City Museum of Art • SAT: 8:00PM Oklahoma City Museum of Art

Director: Steven Caple Jr./102 min • FRI: 8:00PM Oklahoma City Museum of Art • SUN: 9:15PM Inasmuch Theater at Harkins

Director: Bobby Miller/81 min • SAT: 8:15PM Inasmuch Theater at Harkins • SUN: 8:45PM Adventure Road Theater at Harkins

Super hunky Tom Cullen from Downton Abbey stars as the love interest for nearly everyone in this hilarious, improvised British comedy. But the real stars are Alice Lowe and Dolly Wells, who play professional con artist sisters who assume the identity of internationally renowned poets The Wilding Sisters after stealing their car while on the run from the cops. Competing for a large cash prize at a Poet’s Poetry Society retreat, the sisters are forced to confront not only their relationship but also their place in the world.

Hunt for the WIlderpeople is a hilarious comedy that drew universal praise at Sundance and opened to record-breaking crowds in New Zealand, where it was produced. The film stars legendary kiwi actor Sam Neill as a grouchy bushman and newcomer Julian Dennison as a feisty foster kid forced to forge an alliance to survive the New Zealand wilderness. Director Taika Waititi is well known for his deft comic work on What We Do in the Shadows and has been tapped by Marvel to direct the next Thor movie.

The Land is a searing drama that debuted at Sundance about teenage skateboarders that discover a bag of pills in the back of a stolen car and decide to sell them to pay for their skateboarding competitions. The film stars singer Erika Badu, directed by Steven Caple Jr. and produced by Moore High School graduate Blake Pickens. More than a crime drama, The Land is a beautifully rendered story about friendship, values, and coming of age on the streets of Cleveland.

The Master Cleanse is a humorous, weird, and soulful fantasy that examines how we deal with the things that weigh us down in life, ultimately asking the all-important question: Given the opportunity to literally face your demons, what would you do? The Master Cleanse is the feature film debut from writer/director Bobby Miller and stars Emmy nominee Johnny Galecki (The Big Bang Theory) alongside Oscar winner Anjelica Houston (Prizzi’s Honor) and Emmy nominee Oliver Platt (The West Wing).

District Up!

Electric Nostalgia

Great Plains

Heartland

Director: Dennis Spielman/62 min • FRI: 8:00PM The District House in the Plaza District

Director: Jacob Leighton Burns/91 min • THURS: 9:45PM MidFirst Bank Theater at Harkins • SAT: 2:15PM Adventure Road Theater at Harkins

Director: Blair Hayes/88 min • FRI: 8:45PM E.L. Gaylord Theater at Harkins • SUN: 6:30PM Inasmuch Theater at Harkins

Director: Maura Anderson/96 min • SAT: 5:30PM Inasmuch Theater at Harkins • SUN: 3:45PM Inasmuch Theater at Harkins

Electric Nostalgia is a science fiction drama shot in gorgeous black-and-white about a young woman haunted by visions of a faceless man after she is awakened from the dead in a body that is not her own. Electric Nostalgia is the feature film debut from writer/director/cinematographer Jacob Burns, who produced the film with long-time collaborators and fellow Oklahoma City University graduates Vinnie Hogan and Zach Burns, his partners on the webs series Talkies.

Great Plains is a dramatic thriller about a mother and son running from a violent, abusive step dad. Great Plains is directed by Blair Hayes and co-written and produced by Putnam City North graduate Kristofer McNeeley, a successful actor and a Senior Manager and Executive Producer for MarVista Entertainment. The film stars Tara Buck (True Blood), Beth Grant (No Country for Old Men) and newcomer Spencer Mabrey.

Heartland is a wonderfully tense family drama about an Oklahoma artist who lands back in her mother’s stifling household after her girlfriend dies but finds temporary escape in a reckless weekend affair with her brother’s girlfriend. The film is directed by Maura Anderson and co-written and produced by Oklahoma native Velinda Godfrey, who also plays the lead role. The film also stars Laura Spencer, an Oklahoma actress who now stars on The Big Bang Theory, and Beth Grant, who started her career on Rain Man here in Oklahoma.

awesome okies

The Plaza District, Film Row, Paseo, Western Avenue and H&8th. Each of these Oklahoma City districts might have a unique history and aesthetic, but they also have something in common: over the past few years, they all have experienced a revival with the creation of regular events that bring businesses, neighbors and “outsiders” together. This documentary feature shares stories and advice on district revitalization throughout Oklahoma City from the people who helped create positive change in their communities and want to inspire others to do the same.

essential info

Full schedule and details can be found at deadcenterfilm.org. There, you can read about each of the 100+ films, screening locations, pass-purchase information, the latest deadCenter news and more.

all-access passes

All-Access Passes are only $150. Passes may be purchased at our registration lounge at IAO Gallery, 706 West Sheridan Ave, noon to 6:00pm, through Saturday, June 11.

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docs that rock

Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise Directors: Bob Hercules, Rita Coburn Whack/114 min • FRI: 5:30PM Oklahoma City Museum of Art • SUN: 12:30PM Adventure Road Theater at Harkins Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise is the first documentary about the iconic writer, poet, performer and activist who overcame racism and devastating abuse to become one of our culture’s greatest voices. Rare footage and photos unveil an intimate and often unknown view of her public and personal life with the power of her own words. Interviews with artists like Alfre Woodward and Common and luminaries like President Bill Clinton offer insight into the legacy she leaves behind.

Tower

Two Trains Runnin’

Unlocking the Cage

Director: Keith Maitland/93 min • SAT: 5:30PM Oklahoma City Museum of Art • SUN: 6:00PM Adventure Road Theater at Harkins

Director: Sam Pollard/79 min • THURS: 8:30PM Oklahoma City Museum of Art • SAT: 4:45PM MidFirst Bank Theater at Harkins

Director: Chris Hegedus, DA Pennebaker/91 min • SAT: 2:00PM MidFirst Bank Theater at Harkins • SUN: 12:15PM MidFirst Bank Theater at Harkins

On August 1, 1966, a sniper rode the elevator to the top floor of the University of Texas Tower and opened fire, holding the campus hostage for 96 minutes. Combining archival footage with rotoscopic animation in a dynamic, never-before-seen way, Tower reveals the action-packed untold stories of the witnesses, heroes and survivors of America’s first mass school shooting, when the worst in one man brought out the best in so many others. Tower won the Grand Jury Prize at the 2016 SXSW Film Festival.

Two Trains Runnin’ is an electrifying look at how a quest to rescue blues performers and preserve their music crashed head-on with the violent race riots in Mississippi during Freedom Summer. The film revisits an important moment when America’s cultural and political institutions were dramatically transformed. And it tells the remarkable story of how avid blues fans were able to save the music of their heroes. It includes interviews with Lucinda Williams, Common, Buddy Guy and Gary Clark Jr.

Unlocking the Cage follows animal rights lawyer Steven Wise in his unprecedented challenge to break down the legal wall that separates animals from humans. After 30 years of struggling with ineffective animal welfare laws, Steve and his legal team, the Nonhuman Rights Project, are making history by filing the first lawsuits that seek to transform an animal from a “thing” with no rights to a “person” with legal protections. deadCenter is hosting an Animal WelFair at Myriad Gardens on Saturday morning in support of the film.

sensational shorts

Bunee: The Boy From Constanta

A Kings Betrayal

The Superlative Light

Yes, We’re Open

Director: Bunee Tomlinson/15 min Game Changers Shorts • SAT: 1:45PM E.L. & Thelma Gaylord Theater at Harkins • 9:00PM Morningstar Theater at Harkins

Director: David A Bornstein/8 min Comedy Shorts • THURS: 6:30PM E.L. & Thelma Gaylord Theater at Harkins • SAT: 4:30PM E.L. & Thelma Gaylord Theater at Harkins

Director: Ben Steinbauer/13 min Okie Shorts • FRI: 6:00PM E.L. & Thelma Gaylord Theater at Harkins • SUN: 5:30PM E.L. & Thelma Gaylord Theater at Harkins

Director: Yousef Kazemi/14 min The Ties That Bind Shorts • SAT: 2:30PM Morningstar Theater at Harkins • SUN: 12:00PM E.L. & Thelma Gaylord Theater at Harkins

Bunee: The Boy from Constanta is an autobiographical short documentary from Edmond High School graduate Bunee Tomlinson about growing up in the dreadful Romanian orphanage system before being adopted by an Oklahoma couple and discovering that filmmaking could be the engine for his personal growth. This film was selected to screen at the 2016 American Pavilion Emerging Filmmaker Showcase at Cannes Film Festival. Bunee has screened several shorts at deadCenter, including Safe (2009), Friends (2012) and Hana (2014).

A King’s Betrayal is a beautifully animated, hilarious tale about the final 24 hours in the life of a Pinata, as told from the Pinata’s perspective.

The Superlative Light is a documentary from Edmond native Ben Steinbauer about a homeless photographer who becomes a UT professor of photography. The film is stunning, offering insights about life on the street and the relativity of time. deadCenter will present the film as part of a four-pronged art installation, showing the 2-D movie in Okie Shorts, then hosting the Virtual Reality component at IAO Gallery on Film Row, along with a making of the VR and a photo exhibit of the photographs from the film.

Yes, We’re Open is a beautiful short drama about the unlikely friendship between a convenience store owner and a shy, young girl. The film marks the directorial debut of Yousef Kazemi, a graduate of OCCC and UCO that has been a part of the Oklahoma Film & Music Office since interning in 2005. Kazemi wrote and directed the film as a tribute to his late father, who was an Iranian immigrant to Oklahoma.

individual tickets

$10 and can be purchased at each screening 20 minutes before show time, after pass holders have been seated.

free screenings

deadCenter offers free public screenings on the Great Lawn at the Myriad Gardens. On Friday, June 10 join us for E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial at 9:30pm and on Saturday, June 11 rock out with A Song for You: The Austin City Limits Story at 9:30pm.