deadCenter Film Festival Program

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17th Annual deadCenter Film Festival The 17th annual deadCenter Film Festival kicks off Thursday night with multiple Opening Night screenings at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art and Harkins Theaters: Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman comedy Infinity Baby, SXSW Audience Award winning documentary Dealt, Oklahoma produced drama The Scent of Rain & Lightning, awesome creature feature Gremlin, and two outstanding short film programs.

“It was another super competitive year,” according to Director of Programming Kim

deadcenterfilm.org

Haywood, “Our judges chose from over 1,200 films that submitted from around the world and all over Oklahoma, including several festival favorites from Sundance and SXSW.” 102 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 five

screens at Harkins Theater in Bricktown, the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, and the Myriad Gardens Great Lawn. There is a Video Art installation at IAO Gallery all week and Virtual Reality films playing at 21C Museum Hotel all weekend.

There are two ways to enjoy the festival: buy 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

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only open to passholders, so if you want the full festival adventure, buy an All Access Pass.

All Access passes are available at the IAO Gallery on Film Row beginning today and throughout Friday. Individual movie tickets can be purchased before each screening at the venue once 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 www.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. dcff17

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knock-out narratives

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Infinity Baby

The Hero

A Bad Idea Gone Wrong

Kreep

Director: Bob Byington/80 min • THU: 8:30PM OKC Museum of Art • SAT: 7:30PM OG&E Theater at Harkins

Director: Brett Haley/93 min • FRI: 5:30PM OKC Museum of Art • SUN: 7:00PM MidFirst Bank Theater at Harkins

Director: Jason Headley/82 min • FRI: 9:00PM Tapstone Energy Theater at Harkins • SAT: 5:00PM OG&E Theater at Harkins

Director: Brett Bentman/76 min • SAT: 8:00PM OKC Museum of Art • SUN: 8:30PM StellaNova Theater at Harkins

deadCenter favorites Megan Mullally, Nick Offerman, and director Bob Byington return with another hilarious, thought provoking comedy after winning the festival in 2012 with Somebody Up There Likes Me. Owing to a genetic mix-up involving stem cell research, the recently founded company Infinity Baby provides a service for aspiring parents who never want to leave the baby bubble - infants that do not age.

Infinity Baby stars Kieran Culkin as a serial monogamist unable to commit, Megan Mullally as his impossible to impress mother, Nick Offerman as the wild company founder, and Kevin Corrigan and Martin Starr as his incompetent co-workers.

Legendary actor Sam Elliott plays Lee Hayden, a washed-up Western film icon, who makes a living through voiceovers and spends most nights getting high with his former co-star turned drug dealer played beautifully by Nick Offerman. Upon being struck with a surprise cancer diagnosis, Lee quickly prioritizes, and commits to proving his self-worth through a reprisal of his most iconic role, The Hero, in a sequel to the beloved Western film. Lee also sparks up a new relationship with a stand-up comic played by Laura Prepon. The Hero was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.

Two would-be thieves played by Matt Jones and Will Rogers forge a surprising relationship with an unexpected housesitter, Eleanor Pienta, when they accidentally trap themselves in a house they just broke into. Directed by Jason Headley and produced by deadCenter mainstay Kelly Williams, the film won a Special Jury Prize at South by Southwest for the outstanding ensemble cast.

Supporting actor Johnny Mars directed the documentary feature America’s Parking Lot in 2012, and starred in several outstanding deadCenter films, including Somebody Up There Likes Me and Hellion in 2012; Pit Stop, Computer Chess and Black Metal in 2013, and Hellion (feature) in 2014.

Kreep is a suspenseful crime drama and road movie from writer/director Brett Bentman.

Iconic actor Judd Nelson plays loner Whitman Thaw who meets a young thief named Kreep hiding on his West Texas farm.

Kreep confesses to have stolen a duffel bag full of money and convinces Whit to escort her safely to the Mexico border in exchange for half of the cash. The journey turns violent as they are pursued by ruthless killers and corrupt cops. Kreep is played by actress Lymari Nadal, who starred opposite Denzel Washington in American Gangster and made her deadCenter debut in the religious thriller Light from the Dark Room in 2014.

Mickey Reece’s Alien

Far Western

Gremlin

awesome okies

The Scent of Rain and Lightning

Director: Blake Robbins/102 min • THU: 7:00PM MidFirst Bank Theater at Harkins • SUN: 5:30PM Tapstone Energy Theater at Harkins Writer/Producers Casey Twenter and Jeff Robison return to deadCenter with this suspenseful drama directed by Blake Robbins based on the novel by Nancy Pickard. Twenter and Robinson screened The Jogger at deadCenter in 2013, then released their hit Rudderless directed

by William H. Macy in 2014. In The Scent of Rain and Lightning, Miaka Monroe (It Follows) plays a young woman who learns that her parents’ killer has been released from jail. She is forced to revisit old wounds while discovering the destructive power of hate and the true cost of family secrets fully revealing themselves. Co-starring Maggie Grace (Lost, Taken), who also produces.

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Director: Mickey Reece/70 min • FRI: 8:30PM MidFirst Bank Theater at Harkins • SAT: 6:00PM MidFirst Bank Theater at Harkins

Director: James Payne/82 min • SAT: 7:00PM StellaNova Theater at Harkins • SUN: 12:30PM Tapstone Energy Theater at Harkins

Director: Ryan Bellgardt/89 min • THU: 9:30PM MidFirst Bank Theater at Harkins • SUN: 8:00PM Tapstone Energy Theater at Harkins

Mickey Reece is one of Oklahoma’s most prolific filmmakers, with a spectacular range of genres and stories under his belt. deadCenter is excited to host the world premiere of his latest triumph.

Conveyed through sensual black and white photography, brooding musical compositions and wry humor, Mickey Reece’s Alien is a rumination on spirituality, space, and divine existentialism inspired by the later years of Elvis and Priscilla Presley’s tumultuous marriage. Oklahoma based actors Jacob Ryan Snovel and Cate Jones take on the challenging roles of Elvis and Priscilla Presley and knock it out of the park.

Director James Payne (The Creek Runs Red) and Producer Matt Leach (This May Be the Last Time) come back home to deadCenter with this fascinating documentary about the country music scene in Japan. Amid the ashes of post-WWII Japan, the bittersweet sounds of American traditional country music drifted through the radio airwaves. Although intended for the U.S. occupying forces, a vast ‘ghost audience’ of young Japanese quickly warmed to the soothing, yet foreign, sounds.

Far Western illuminates this lost chapter of music as the musicians’ journey from Japan to the heart of American music culture.

Over seventy years later this American music tradition has been transformed into something distinctly Japanese.

Writer/Director Ryan Bellgardt makes a triumphant return to deadCenter with another thrilling monster movie after blowing audiences away with Army of Frankensteins in 2013. Two years after the murder of his 10-year-old son, Adam Thatcher receives a mysterious box from a relative containing a terrible secret, a creature that will brutally kill everyone he cares about one by one.

The only way to release himself from the curse is to give the box to someone he loves, continuing the never ending circulation of this ancient evil. The leads are played by Kristy K. Boone and Adam Hampton, an actor, writer, and director from Shawnee that screened two narrative features at deadCenter, Rough Cut and The Unusual Calling of Charlie Christmas.

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 the registration lounge at IAO Gallery, 706 West Sheridan Ave, 11 am - 7 pm, through Friday, June 9.

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docs that rock

Gilbert

Directors: Neil Berkeley/94 min • FRI: 8:00PM OKC Museum of Art • SUN: 9:00PM The Social Order theater at Harkins Gibert is a wildly funny and unexpectedly poignant portrait of the life and career of one of comedy’s most iconic figures, Gilbert Gottfried. Gottfried launched his career on Saturday Night Live and appeared in more than 140 films and television shows, from Disney’s Aladdin to Hollywood Squares.

This documentary offers a rare look at this notoriously private person as he balances his ongoing career as a ribald comedian with his role as husband and father.

Gilbert is directed by Oklahoma native Neil Berkeley, an award winning filmmaker who won deadCenter in 2012 with his film Beauty is Embarrassing and screened Harmontown in 2014.

The Work

Director: : Jairus McLeary, Gethin Aldous/87 min • SAT: 2:30PM OG&E Theater at Harkins • SUN: 2:00PM OKC Museum of Art Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at SXSW, The Work offers a powerful and rare look past the cinder block walls, steel doors and the dehumanizing tropes in our culture to reveal a movement of change and redemption that transcends what we think of as rehabilitation.

Set inside Folsom Prison, The Work follows three men from outside as they participate in a group therapy retreat with the prisoners.

Each man takes his turn at delving deep into his past. The raw and revealing process rips them out of their comfort zones and forces them to see themselves and the prisoners in unexpected ways.

Dealt

Director: Luke Korem/85 min • THU: 6:00PM OKC Museum of Art • SAT: 1:00PM MidFirst Bank Theater at Harkins Richard Turner is renowned as one of the world’s greatest card magicians, yet he is completely blind. And, he doesn’t want to talk about it. He wants to be the best without people knowing he is blind. In this uplifting documentary from director Luke Korem, Richard traces his journey from his troubled childhood, when he began losing his vision, to present day as he relentlessly pursues perfection while struggling with the reality that his biggest weakness might also be his greatest strength. Dealt played to standing ovations at the 2017 South by Southwest Film Festival, where it won the Audience Award.

Cassette: A Documentary Mixtape

Director: Zack Taylor/93 min • SAT: 2:00PM StellaNova Theater at Harkins • SUN: 1:00PM StellaNova Theater at Harkins

Where would musicians and music lovers be without the cassette? This feature-length DIY doc tells the story of a once-ubiquitous format through one-on-one interviews with the inventor of the cassette, Lou Ottens. 90 years old and still a stubborn progressive, Ottens views the cassette as a perfect example of obsolescence and feels the same about himself as he lives out a secluded retirement in his native Holland. Rock and roll musicians like Henry Rollins, Thurston Moore, Rob Sheffield, and many others oppose Ottens by making an emotional case for music’s worst format. These colorful vignettes play out like a mixtape, made to remind Ottens that the DIY ethos will never die.

sensational shorts

Butch: Legend of Langston

Director: David Tester, Christopher Hunt/19 min Okie Shorts • FRI: 6:00PM MidFirst Bank Theater at Harkins • SUN: 5:00PM OG&E Theater at Harkins

After winning Best Oklahoma Short Film in 2015, director Christopher Hunt returns to deadCenter alongside co-director David Tester with this fascinating documentary about a man having a big impact on a small community. Easily the most recognizable character of Langston University for over 50 years, Butch is loved by all and known by none. This film sets out to change that. Set in the nation’s westernmost historically black college, Butch: Legend of Langston explores the many myths, stories, and legends of a man who has lived on campus since 1961.

individual tickets

The Pits

Temporary

Director: Mike Hayhurst/3 min Okie Shorts • FRI: 6:00PM MidFirst Bank Theater at Harkins • SUN: 5:00PM OG&E Theater at Harkins

Director: Milena Govich/12 min Love, Sex, & Death Shorts • FRI: 7:00PM StellaNova Theater at Harkins • SAT: 6:30PM Tapstone Energy Theater at Harkins

In a world full of pears, what can an avocado do to fill his pit? A story about longing, love, and finding your other half.

This wonderful, poignant film from director Mike Hayhurst is written and co-produced

by David Bizzaro, an Oklahoma native now living in New York. Bizzaro is a puppeteer, puppet maker, and filmmaker who worked for several years as a visual designer for the Flaming Lips and recently illustrated the children’s book The Not in Here Story, written by Oklahoma author Tracey Zeeck.

Temporary is a comedic drama about a person’s radical choice at the end of a loved one’s life. The film is directed by Milena Govich, an actress who has appeared in several television series, including Finding Carter, Rescue Me, and Law & Order. In this short, Govich stars alongside Oklahoma actor Chris Freihofer, who had a recurring role on Breaking Bad and runs Freihofer Casting and The Actor Factory. Last year, Freihofer was awarded the Oklahoma Film ICON Award from deadCenter.

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

free screenings

Dig It If You Can

Director: Kyle Bell/19 min Okie Not So Short Shorts • FRI: 3:00PM Oklahoma City Museum of Art • SAT: 3:30PM MidFirst Bank Theater at Harkins • SUN: 7:30PM OG&E Theater at Harkins Dig It If You Can is an exciting documentary about Steven Paul Judd, one of the most dynamic and prolific Oklahoma artists making waves in the international art scene.

Judd is a filmmaker who screened Ronnie BoDean starring Wes Studi at deadCenter in 2016, a screenwriter for the television series Zeke and Luther, and a self-taught visual artist whose Native American pop art has given him a massive following. This insightful portrait from director Kyle Bell shows how Judd indigenizes the popular images we see everyday to allow young Native Americans to see themselves in all aspects of life, while at the same time making his own dreams a reality through his passion and zest for life.

deadCenter offers free screenings of its KidsFest Program on Saturday at 11:00am at the OKC Museum of Art and Sunday at 12:00pm at Harkins Bricktown. There is also a free outdoor screening of the rock n roll documentary HYPE! on Saturday at 9:30pm at the Myriad Gardens Grand Lawn.

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filmSCHEDULE 2017 Narrative Features Documentary Features

Shorts Programs Special Events

THU 9 OKLAHOMA CITY MUSEUM OF ART

Please note that the films screened at deadCenter Film Festival are unrated. Any films shown after 6PM might have mature themes and are not appropriate for those under the age of 18.

Panels

FRI 10

SAT 11

SUN 12

6:00pm - Dealt

12:30PM - G-Funk

11:00AM - KidsFest

2:00PM - The Work

8:30pm - Infinity Baby

3:00PM - I Stand: The Guardians of the Water

1:00PM - The Making of Trolls with Mike Mitchell

5:30PM - Dolores

5:30PM - The Hero

1:30PM - Trolls

8:00PM - Gilbert

5:30PM - Dave Made A Maze 8:00PM - Kreep

TAPSTONE ENERGY THEATER AT HARKINS

6:30PM - Comedy Shorts

6:30PM - American Folk

11:00AM - Not So Short Shorts

12:30PM - Far Western

9:00PM - The Dark Side Shorts

9:00PM - A Bad Idea Gone Wrong

1:30PM - A Life Less Ordinary Shorts

3:00PM - American Folk

4:00PM - We’re With Them Shorts

5:30PM - The Scent of Rain & Lightning 8:00PM - Gremlin

6:30PM - Love, Sex & Death Shorts 9:00PM - G-Funk

MidFirst Bank Theater at Harkins

7:00PM - The Scent of Rain & Lightening

6:00PM - Okie in Shorts

1:00PM - Dealt

8:30PM - Mickey Reece’s Alien

3:30PM - Okie Not So Short Shorts

2:00PM - I Stand: The Guardians of the Water

6:00PM - Mickey Reece’s Alien

4:30PM - Unrest

8:30PM - Pure Country: Pure Heart

7:00PM - The Hero

7:00PM - Love, Sex & Death Shorts

11:30AM - Unrest

1:00PM - Cassette: A Documentary Mixtape

9:30PM - Creep Fest Shorts

2:00PM - Cassette: A Documentary Mixtape

3:30PM - Score: A Film Music Documentary

4:30PM - Score: A Film Music Documentary

8:30PM - Kreep

9:30PM - Gremlin

StellaNova theater at harkins

6:00PM - Dave Made A Maze

7:00PM - Far Western

OG&E Theater at Harkins

The Social Order Theater at Harkins

11:00AM - 6:00PM - Virtual Reality Film Experience

21C Museum Hotel The Great Lawn at the Myriad Gardens

12:00PM - Dolores

12:00PM - KidsFest Shorts

2:30PM - The Work

2:30PM - A Life Less Ordinary Shorts

5:00PM - A Bad Idea Gone Wrong

5:00PM - Okie Shorts

7:30PM - Infinity Baby

7:30PM - Okie Not So Short Shorts

12:30PM - The Dark Side Shorts

1:30PM - The Great Escape Shorts

3:00PM - The Great Escape Shorts

4:00PM - Not So Short Shorts

5:30PM - Comedy Shorts

6:30PM - We’re With Them Shorts

8:00PM - Creep Fest Shorts

9:00PM - Gilbert

11:00AM - 6:00PM - Virtual Reality Film Experience

11:00AM - 6:00PM - Virtual Reality Film Experience

9:00PM - Awards Ceremony 9:30PM - Hype!

10:00AM - 10:45AM - Developing Scripts 11:00AM - 11:45AM - Casting Film and Television 12:00PM - 12:45PM - Directing FIlms 2:00PM - 2:45PM - Creating Music for Films

acm@uco

3:00PM - 3:45PM - Acting in Films: Leading Men 4:00PM - 4:45PM - Women in Film and Television

SPECIAL Event

5:00pm - 10:00PM Opening Night Party at OKCMOA Rooftop 10:30pm - 1:30AM Opening Night After Party at Fassler Hall

9:00PM - MIdnight Film Row Frolic, Dunlap Codding

11:00PM to 1:00AM Awards Night Party, Water Stage Plaza at the Myraid Gardens

deadcenterfilm.org | #dcff17

7:00PM to 10:00PM Closing Night After Party, TimeOut Bar