The film festival world has experienced some galvanic changes of late. Sundance is leaving Park City, UT for Boulder, CO in 2027, while SXSW will run its film, music, and interactive experiences concurrently beginning in 2026.
Oklahoma City’s deadCenter Film Festival, wrapped up it’s 25th iteration last weekend. And as befits a festival that just celebrated a quarter century of existence, change is inevitable. But deadCenter has thrived where others have struggled by fostering a welcoming atmosphere, constantly upping the quality of its films, and amplifying regional and Indigenous voices.
This was my 5th time covering the festival since 2007. I had to double-check that number, as “a welcoming atmosphere” also means a heroic number of parties. I’ve written about it for FilmThreat.com, the Village Voice, and now the Houston Press. And one thing that definitely stood out this time around was the quality of the movies.
Case in point: The Other People, an unsettling (and often shocking) horror flick directed by Chad McClarnon that also serves as a decent argument against home ownership. Written by Chad and his brother Trey — and based on a dad joke from their childhood — it crafts an entire universe out of real-life horrors. I spoke with Chad and Trey before the film’s Oklahoma premier, and the two talked about channeling their childhood fighting into a creative and “no filter collaboration.”
That spirit also works its way into their co-creators, and quickly culls out those who can’t take the heat. Congrats to cinematographer Jeremy Mackie for making the cut, and for the resulting film. It won the Special Jury Prize: Narrative Feature, and even though Chad said he initially wasn’t looking for a theatrical release, response has been such that an extended “OPCU” might be a real possibility. Trey called The Other People a “stick to your ribs” kind of movie, and it definitely stays with you after the credits roll.
Other highlights included Comedy Short If You Give a Chad a Spot, Finn McCager and Jesse de Rocquigny’s Kubrickian dive into gym etiquette and fragile masculinity (you read that right); Episodic Shorts The Paris 3, chronicling the saga of three teenage Black girls who were imprisoned for standing up for themselves at a white diner in Paris, Kentucky. And Dog Moms, a charming proof of concept about trying to make connections outside your unsupportive family. Writer/director Jess Fee cites HBO’s High Maintenance as an inspiration, and it’s easy to see that combo of humor and vulnerability.
But deadCenter — loath as this Longhorn is to admit it — has always celebrated Oklahoma itself, from Bradley Beesley’s Okie Noodling movies to local boy (and newly crowned deadCenter ICON) Wayne Coyne’s Flaming Lips doc UFOs at the Zoo (2008). More than that, it’s been an unswerving champion for Indigenous stories and voices.
Take She Cried That Day, which follows Christine Means’ attempts to find justice after her sister Dione Thomas is murdered in New Mexico. Director Amanda Erickson says she hopes the doc will heighten awareness and provide a “call to action” for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Crisis, which is a continent-wide crisis. She also hopes to bring together local organizations dealing with the same issue, and singled out deadCenter’s support in using film as a way to spread word about the MMIW movement.
Boasting Errol (The Thin Blue Line) Morris as an executive producer, Best Documentary winner 67 Bombs to Enid tells the story of Marshall Islands immigrants in the rural community of Enid, OK. Subjected to numerous nuclear bomb tests, the Islands have been effectively rendered uninhabitable, and the U.S. (in lieu of an official apology), signed a compact that allows the Marshallese to live and work in the United States. But it stops short of making them citizens, meaning native-born Marshallese can’t vote or secure other federal benefits.
Directors Ty McMahan and Kevin Ford follow — among others — a disabled Islander attempting to get medical coverage, a Marshallese high schooler trying to land a football scholarship, and a local Enid Public Schools rep becoming an unlikely advocate for her new neighbors.
Paige Bethmann’s first-time feature Remaining Native won the award for Best Indigenous Feature and tells the story of Ku Stevens, a 17-year old aspiring collegiate runner who decides to retrace his great-grandfather’s 50-mile escape from an Indian boarding school (a journey he made when he was just eight years old). That this movie is coming in the wake of the Trump Administration announcing that it’s cutting $1.6 million in funding to document systemic abuse at the hands of the U.S. government is an irony lost on no one.
Drowned Land, directed by Colleen Thurston (and Best Oklahoma Documentary winner), finds the filmmaker reckoning with her own past (her Choctaw grandfather worked for the Army Corps of Engineers, which created artificial lakes in Oklahoma that displaced Indigenous people already forced to settle there during the Trail of Tears). At the same time, she documents local efforts to prevent a power company from building a hydroelectric dam on the Kiamichi River.
It’s a local issue that Thurston superimposes across the entire continent, as water scarcity and systemic Indigenous oppression are both depressingly widespread. Thurston was cagey when we spoke before the premiere, but it turns out, in this case at least, that the tribe (Choctaw) is more powerful than oil interests. And if it can happen in Indian country, “where can it not happen?”
Drowned Land DP Charles Elmore helps make the film as visually compelling as its subject matter. Elmore also worked on Reservation Dogs, which Thurston credits for boosting interest in “communities people might not be familiar with” while also playing a big part in changing the face of Oklahoma filmmaking and the way those stories are viewed.
What all the non-fiction filmmakers at deadCenter did bring up was the impact of the current Administration’s slashing of funding for public media, and all expressed concern (to put it mildly) about the ability of future filmmakers to tell the stories of Indigenous peoples. As Erickson said, it’s going to take all of us to support each other and make sure these voices are heard.
deadCenter is on surer footing than other festivals, but changes are inevitable, and some are significant. Longtime executive director Cacky Poarch, one of the “Fab Five” founders who guided the festival out of COVID, is stepping down. Her successor is local Filmmaker’s Ranch owner/Rodeo Cinema co-manager Amy Janes. The fest, which at one point was practically begging for submissions, now finds itself a highly desirable filmmaker destination.
And it’s bigger now; Oklahoma’s largest (and only Oscar-Qualifying film festival), spanning multiple venues across the city. This year was also the first time they’ve had an honest to Sooner shuttle to transport people (a welcome alternative to the ubiquitous Lime suicide machines Scooters) And while the parties are still plentiful, they aren’t quite as gonzo as in years past, when yours truly would wander back to my hotel after the notorious “after-after party” through the deserted streets of OKC like Charlton Heston in The Omega Man.
It’s been a ride, in other words, and one I’ve been truly privileged to watch. Here’s to 25 more.
Links:
Sees Clearly Productions
Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women
Oklahoma Micronesian Community
Native American Boarding Schools (New York Times link)
Where Does Your Water Come From?
UNHRC report: Human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation of indigenous peoples
