We are very excited to announce that the Kings of Leon documentary, Talihina Sky, will be the kick-off film for the 2011 deadCENTER Film Festival. The free outdoor screening will be on Wednesday, June 8th, 9:30pm at the 500 block of N. Broadway Avenue.
Check out the trailer below and the full press release after the jump.
Hot on the heels of releasing our 2011 schedule, we are excited to announce that our Opening Night Film will be the acclaimed documentary PAGE ONE: A YEAR INSIDE THE NEW YORK TIMES.
For 14 months, Director Andrew Rossi was given unprecedented access to the New York Times newsroom. The film chronicles the transformation of the media industry during a time of rapid change and uncertainty that has touched every news room in America. PAGE ONE offers an up-close look at the vibrant cross-cubicle debates and collaborations, tenacious jockeying for on-record quotes and skillful page-one pitching that brings one of the world’s most venerable newspapers to fruition each and every day.
The screening happens Thursday June 9th at 8pm at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. Individual tickets are $10 at the door. All-access passes are $100 until June 1st and can be purchased online here.
Well, we’re back from Austin. SXSW was everything we hoped and more. Things got a little hectic so we didn’t provide as many blog updates as we had planned. But fortunately we managed to get together long enough to record a podcast featuring our highlights from the film festival. Check it out below or subscribe on iTunes!
It’s about 4pm on Saturday in balmy Austin, and I’ve managed to wrangle a few electrons into my starved electronic devices.
So far, between the four of us, we’ve seen 5 movies. Last night, Kevin and I caught PressPausePlay, a really well put together and beautiful documentary about what it means to create art in the digital age. It was a great way to start the festival. Afterward, we met up with Lance and Kim at the opening night party, compared notes on our eventful drives down, and ate our weight in delicious sausages from street vendors.
This morning, we powered through the aftermath of parties and sausages to make it out to Senna (myself and Lance), and Better This World (Kevin and Kim).
Lance and I both loved Senna – something that was a given for me, since I’m a big Formula One fan anyway, but that Lance, who had no idea who Ayrton Senna was, enjoyed it as much as I did proves what a well-made documentary it really is. It probably didn’t hurt that we watched it in a room full of F1 fans (including one dressed in racing overalls), who cheered, booed, and laughed at all the right times.
For a super-sugary chaser, Kevin, Kim and I saw Being Elmo. Again, this was a great doc following the life and career of the man who created the little red guy. There was even an appearance by Elmo himself, who answered questions and was generally adorable.
Now, it’s a mad dash for me to make it to WUSS – my first narrative feature so far.
Stay tuned for more updates (including a hungover podcast we recorded this morning).
-Ian
Now that our call for entries is closed and we’re digesting all the great films people have sent us from all over the world, you might think most of our programming work is over. Oh, how wrong you are.
In addition to the always-fun programming day, when we actually sift through all the reviews and impressions of the films we’ve screened through our submission process, we’re still heading out into the world looking for great films. Just like most other festivals, the films we screen at deadCENTER are a mix of submitted films and invited films – films we typically find at other festivals like Sundance or South by Southwest.
Which brings us to the point of this little note. For the first time, all four of us full-time staff members will be traveling together to SXSW. We’ll be watching a ton of movies, attending parties (hey – someone needs to do it), and meeting with filmmakers, journalists and staff members from other festivals so we can bring the best indie films we can to Oklahoma City.
So this is where we need your help. Is there a film at SXSW that you’re excited about, and you’d like to see deadCENTER screen? Is there a party we NEED to attend, other than the very mandatory Red Dirt Reel in the Buffalo Lounge? Let us know in the comments.
And if you’re going to be down in SXSW and want to meet up, ping us on twitter or facebook. If not, don’t worry – you’ll be able to live vicariously through us via my (hopefully frequent) dispatches while we’re there.
Our call for entries ended last night at midnight, and we couldn’t be happier with the response. This year we received one of the highest number of films ever – not an insignificant thing at a time when people are struggling financially.
So this post is aimed especially at those of you who sent in your labor of love. You didn’t drop your film into a vacuum – someone who loves independent film will be watching your movie. In fact, several people who love independent film will see your film. Every year, we have dozens of very enthusiastic, passionate and informed volunteers who want nothing more than to see the next Winter’s Bone before anyone else, and they’re convinced it’s hiding among the hundreds of films we receive for screening.
We’re going to watch films like crazy over the next few months, and more than a few arguments will take place. Some great films won’t make it – it’s just the nature of programming a film festival. To you, the filmmaker, you just didn’t make it into the festival. To us, it was an agonizing decision, and in many cases – okay, at least for the films I champion – an agonizing argument because for a lot of films, there’s at least one person who latches on and won’t let go. And I promise, if they’re in Oklahoma City, they’re in our screening group, and they’re fighting for the films they love.
So again, we know it takes a lot to put something you’ve created out into the world, and we want you to know we’re just as excited to see it as you were to finish it.
Thank you.
Stay tuned to this here internet over the next week. The lovely duo of Kim Haywood and Lance McDaniel will be taking time out from making the rest of us jealous to send dispatches from the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.
I’m not saying that I’m envious of them, but if their journey resembled the video below, it would serve them right. Jerks.
Oklahomie filmmaker Bradley Beesley’s film “Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo” is back and playing at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art beginning this Friday, December 17th through Sunday, December 19th.
From 1940 – 2008, the Oklahoma State Penitentiary held an annual “Prison Rodeo.” Part Wild West show and part spectacle; it was one of the last of its kind – a relic of the American penal system. Prisoners compete on wild-broncs and bucking bulls, risking life-long injuries. In 2006, female inmates were allowed to participate for the first time. Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo goes behind prison walls to follow convict cowgirls on their journey to the 2007 Oklahoma State Penitentiary Rodeo. In a state with the highest female incarceration rate in the country, these women share common experiences such as broken homes, drug abuse and alienation from their children. But the rodeo provides the chance to become a hero if only for one night.
For more information about the screenings, check out http://www.okcmoa.com/films/sweethearts-of-the-prison-rodeo
deadCENTER is here once again to help make your holiday merry and bright. From now until December 31st, 2010, All-Access passes to the 2011 deadCENTER Film Festival are Buy One Get One Free. That’s right! $125 gets you not one, but TWO All-Access passes to what is certain to be THE event of the summer. But you need to hurry. Buy One Get One Free passes are only available through December 31st!
*Gift certificates for two All-Access passes will be mailed to the address provided. Allied Arts OKCity Cards are void with this offer.
Former deadCENTER Program Director, patron saint of Okie filmmaking, and all-around classy chick Melissa Scaramucci will be holding court in Norman next Tuesday, Nov. 30 in a workshop hosted by the Cinematic Artists of Norman.
Melissa will engage in a dialogue with attending filmmakers, drawing from her experience in filmmaking to foster new ideas and creativity. The hour long event begins at 6:30pm; head over to the CAN website for more details.
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