TAKE TW What started last year as a 90th birthday bash has become a flagship anchor for Tulsa’s iconic independent theater. The 2nd Annual Circle Cinema Film Festival kicks off July 11 and runs through July 15. It’s the kind of Tulsa movie-going experience that only the Circle can provide. Following last year’s success, Circle Cinema President Clark Wiens and Film Programmer Chuck Foxen realized that Tulsa’s sole independent theater had a unique ability to present indie and local cinema with Oklahoma roots in a whole new way, and that people would show up for it. “Every year we get the opportunity to screen films on the festival circuit,” Foxen said. But not all receive distribution or have an opportunity to fit into Circle’s schedule. “The Circle Cinema Film Festival allows us to program about three months of films into a week-long celebration.” It’s also a chance to showcase local talent. “Every film has a special guest and an Oklahoma connection,” Foxen said. From four world premieres to other acclaimed movies that have debuted at prestigious festivals like Sundance and South by Southwest, Foxen is excited about “a kick-ass lineup” that ranges from feature films to documentaries to shorts, along with a range of after-party blowouts and can’t-miss special events.
THURSDAY, JULY 11 EDGECOMBE (2018) – noon Directed by Crystal Kayiza | Documentary Short | Meet the Filmmaker This documentary examines how the traumatic history of the African American experience continues to haunt, repeat and reinvent itself in rural black communities. Jenks High School film teacher Clifton Rapheal will moderate a discussion with Crystal Kayiza, a Jenks graduate, about the making of her film. A “Kitchen 66 box lunch” will be provided with each ticket purchase. See pg. 30.
CCFF All Access Pass $175. Individual screenings $12 unless otherwise noted. All events are ticketed except for those listed as free. For tickets and more information, visit the Circle website at circlecinema.org.
COMMUNITY SPIRIT BY CHARLES ELMORE
Editor’s note: Charles Elmore is a cinematographer and participated in the production of “Terlton” and “America Heretics.” In 1985, just weeks before Independence Day, on a hot summer day in Pawnee County, the town of Terlton, Oklahoma, was devastated after a deadly explosion at a local fireworks manufacturing plant. 34 years later, filmmaker and Oklahoma native Sterlin Harjo examines a community fading in the margins, still dealing with the loss while keeping an optimistic eye to the future. The film came out of frequent interactions between Harjo and Terlton native Bobby Dean Orcutt. One interaction in particular lead Orcutt to explain the history of his hometown and the tragic events of June 25, 1985, when a fluke explosion reduced the local fireworks factory to rubble. The factory employed many of Terlton’s residents.
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Terlton examines tragedy and triumph in rural Oklahoma Orcutt and Harjo spent a day hanging around the community, and Harjo was hooked. “I like telling stories that I feel no one else would tell,” Harjo said. “If I didn’t tell this story, no one [would].” Harjo treats the subjects of Terlton with grace and humility. Growing up in Holdenville, Harjo feels a special kinship with stories from rural Oklahoma, depicting its inhabitants with respect and dignity. What Terlton strives to show is the tenacity of a community that pulls itself together, choosing to not be defined by tragedy. Years later, the residents opt to reclaim what was a defining part of their community, putting on an annual Fourth of July fireworks celebration. The annual spectacle, which residents of Terlton fundraiser entirely on their own, draws record crowds from all over. Harjo leans into that tenacious spirit. “I didn’t want to approach the story as a tragedy,” he said. Rather he “[I want] to show how the residents of Terlton celebrate, how happy they are, and how friendly they are.”
July 3 – 16, 2019 // THE TULSA VOICE