The 2022 deadCenter Film Festival has released its full lineup of movies for this year’s event and it includes a robust lineup of short films, documentaries, and Oklahoma feature films. This year’s fully in-person festival kicks off on Thursday, June 9th at 6 PM CST with the feature-length documentary, Mama Bears, with other notable schedule highlights from the weekend including the OKC Thunder’s short film, Seeds of Greenwood, the Oklahoma Narrative Features Out of Exile, Chicken House, and Tenkiller, and the closing film on Sunday, June 12th, Butterfly in the Sky.
The Cinematropolis is back again this year to cover the festival’s biggest films through exclusive interviews, reviews, and information on everything you need to know to enjoy the festival!
How To Attend
As part of the shift back to a fully physical event, deadCenter is providing several admission options for attendees to consider. Take a look!
*New* – The Bison Pass – $300
- Gain access to in-person screenings
- NEW Express Admission RSVP capabilities
- The deadCenter @Home Select Virtual Library,
- Access to festival events
deadCenter Pass – $175
- Gain access to in-person screenings
- Access to festival events
deadCenter is also continuing its twenty-year tradition of selling individual tickets for $10 at the screening venue 20 minutes before the showtime.
What To Watch
There are very few ways to do deadCenter wrong. With dozens of movies or short film blocks to choose from, where should you start? We’re here today to give you the rundown of a few of the must-see films at the 2022 deadCenter Film Festival.
Narrative Feature Highlights
Chicken House (Oklahoma Selection)
Written/directed by She’s the Eldest filmmaker and deadCenter alum Cate Jones, Chicken House is “A subversive comedy about three small-town actresses taking in a new mysterious roommate from LA.”
When & Where to Watch:
Out of Exile (Oklahoma Selection)
Directed by Kyle Kauwika Harris and starring a who’s who of Oklahoma performers including deadCenter Icon Ryan Merriman, Adam Hampton, and many others, Out of Exile is described as “After a botched armored car robbery, a recently paroled thief tries to balance his life and mend a troubled family as a determined FBI agent hunts down him and his crew.”
When & Where to Watch:
The Sleeping Negro (US Selection)
“Confronted with a series of racially charged incidents, a young black man must overcome rage,
alienation, and hopelessness in order to find his own humanity.”
When & Where to Watch:
Run Woman Run (Indigenous Selection)
“Run Woman Run is a rite of passage dramedy with an element of magic. Beck, a single mom, lives in Six Nations, Canada where her dream of becoming a Mohawk language teacher has been forgotten about since the death of her mother. Beck hits a new low at the start of the film when she collapses and gets a diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes. She knows something has to change, but she doesn’t know where to start.”
When & Where to Watch:
Landlocked (Pride Programming Selection)
“Nick, a chef on the brink of opening his first restaurant, struggles to put his life back together following the loss of his mother. At his wife’s urging, he reluctantly reaches out to Briana, his estranged, transgender parent. Seeking closure with both parental relationships, he invites Briana to join him on St. Simons Island, Georgia to scatter his mother’s ashes.”
When & Where to Watch:
Raquel 1:1 (Global Selection)
“Raquel is a religious teenager who moves with her father to a small town, in search of a new life. During her first days there, she has a mysterious experience during which she believes she is given an important and controversial mission related to the Bible. Alongside her new friends, a group of evangelical girls from the local church, Raquel dives deep into her spirituality and relives the pain of profound traumas. With support from some and resentment from others, Raquel tries to balance herself in a disturbing spiral of faith, reason, and madness.”
When & Where to Watch:
Documentary Feature Highlights
Mama Bears (Opening Night Film)
“Mama Bears is an exploration of the journeys taken by Sara Cunningham and Kimberly Shappley, two ‘mama bears’—conservative, Christian mothers whose profound love for their LGBTQ+ children has turned them into fierce advocates for the entire queer community—and Tammi Terrell Morris, a young African American lesbian whose struggle for self-acceptance perfectly exemplifies why the mama bears are so vitally important.”
When & Where to Watch:
Getting it Back: The Cymande Story
“In the racially turbulent UK of the early 70s, a group of black musicians came together in South London with a common love of rhythms and a message of peace. Cymande – with the dove as their symbol – combined jazz, funk, soul, and Caribbean grooves to form a unique sound. Despite success in the USA, they faced indifference in their native Britain, becoming disillusioned and disbanding. But the music lived on, as new generations of artists imbibed and reworked their pioneering sounds in fresh ways. From Soul II Soul to De La Soul, MC Solaar to The Fugees, the Dove had spread Cymande’s message far and wide, prompting their return after forty years. This is their story.”
When & Where to Watch:
Butterfly in the Sky (Closing Night Film)
“Butterfly in the Sky tells the story of the beloved PBS children’s series Reading Rainbow, its iconic host LeVar Burton, and the challenges its creators faced in cultivating a love of reading through television.”
When & Where to Watch:
Short Film Highlights
Seeds of Greenwood (Okie Short)
“A century after the Tulsa Race Massacre, the fertile soil of the historic Greenwood District is being nurtured. Seeds of Greenwood follows the development of Thunder Fellows- an afterschool program located in Greenwood that provides Black high school students with opportunities in sports, entertainment, and tech through a curriculum based on data and analytics – in addition to the inspirational journeys of the Fellows themselves.”
When & Where to Watch:
There are so many Short Film blocks, we’re not going to go into detail on every short, but we do recommend you attend one of these blocks during this year’s festival.
Introducing “undeadCenter” from Mickey Reece
“The Demons of Dorothy” – Credit: Credit: Melodrama, Les Films du Poisson
Are you a fan of genre films so obscure that even your most well-versed friends haven’t seen them? Great news! Presenting the inaugural undeadCenter slate, Oklahoma filmmaker Mickey Reece is curating a “Midnight Movie” genre of selections for the first time. This program will live on year after year, supplying the festival with a budding opportunity to further connect industry professionals with festival fanatics.
UndeadCenter selections include:
For more information on the 2022 deadCenter Film Festival, you can head over to deadCenterfilm.org, and make sure to keep your eyes on thecinematropolis.com throughout the festival for exclusive interviews, reviews, and much more!
