17th Annual Oxford Film Festival Program

Whether you’re a leisure lover, arts enthusiast, storied soul, foodie or a mixture of it all, your perfect type of getaway awaits in Oxford.

Historic Downtown Square Double Decker Bus Tour

Erin Austen Abbot for Saint Leo Lounge

COME VISIT US for all of your visitor needs!

Visit Oxford Visitors Center | 1013 Jackson Ave. East | 800.758.9177 For a complete list of events happening in Oxford, visit www.VisitOxfordMS.com

The Lyric

Welcome to the 17th annual Oxford Film Festival.

We are pleased you could join us for our yearly celebration of independent film. This year promises to be our best, with a wide variety of films, nightly parties and an exclusive VIP lounge, you are guaranteed an amazing experience.

This years VIP Lounge will be modeled after the Moonlight Cafe at the Hoka theater, in tribute to our long time supporter, mentor and friend Ron Shapiro. Though we lost him in 2019, he is forever with us in spirit.

Please join me in celebrating our 17th with a range of films in every genre, there is something for everyone. We look forward to celebrating films with you.

So many people work tirelessly to make this weekend a success, it’s hard to know who to thank first. Thanks to our filmmakers, screeners and programmers who help curate the films we share. Thank you to our sponsors and volunteers who make the festival unique. But mostly I want to thank you, the audience, for showing up, asking good questions, partying with filmmakers and celebrating independent film. You put the festival into Oxford Film Festival. If I don’t get the opportunity to thank you in person, please know that your support means the world to me and to the Oxford Film Festival. But if you see me, come up and introduce yourself!

I’ll see you at the movies.

Melanie Addington

Sustainibility at OFF 2020 Oxford Film Festival is making an effort to be more sustainable. Done with your program or badge? Drop back off at the Box office. Got a bottle of water? Drop it off at one of our recycling bins around the Malco Commons.

2019 Film Fest Waste • 2500 water single use bottles - not recycled • 10,500 printed paper - not recycled Since 2015, we have: • cut down on paper use • digitized 90% of filing • Bought green materials But in 2020 we want to do better: • Cut down paper waste • All recyclable materials purchased or used after using up materials already purchased • Recycling bins at festival thanks to City of Oxford Recycling • Stopped printing as many programs, ballots, and general paperwork • Encourage recycling of materials from all attendees

2

Roll Credits Seventeenth Annual Oxford Film Festival March 18-22, 2020 Executive Director: Melanie Addington Assistant Director: Kristin Rogers Associate Director: Matt Wymer Oxford Film Festival Board: Shannon Cohn, Lucas Singh, Jack Garner, Sparky Reardon, Donna Ruth Roberts, Hollie Hillard, Greg Brock, Robbie Fisher, Mary Anne Milek, Jack Koban, Anne Quinney, Dr. Ralph Vance, Steven Cae, and Kinney Ferris.

Documentary Feature and Shorts Documentary Programmer: Donna Kozloskie Fest Forward Programmer: Valerie Guinn Polgar LGBTQIA+ Programmer: Brian Whisenant Mississippi Programmer: Victoria Negri Music Video and Documentary Programmer: Newt Rayburn Narrative Feature Programmer: Don Lewis Narrative Shorts Programmer: Jennifer Murchison ScreenPlay Contest Coordinator: Meaghin Burke DCP and Projection Services provided by Selig Polyscope DCP Support: Dev Shapiro Volunteer Coordinator: Sarah Wadford Publicist: John Wildman Panels Coordinator: Beth Roman Transportation Coordinator: Virginia Brick Gift Bags: Wendy McMain Box Office Coordinator: Withrow Newell Assistant Box Office Coordinator: Angel Baker Operations: Mindy Van Kuren Venues Director: Morgan Tucker Lines Coordinator: Toby Douglas Screen Manager Director: Whitley O’Neal Q&A Coordinator: Rory Ledbetter Party Coordinators: Sherlyn Clark, Jaime Adcock Adams, Courtney Hall, Kristin Rogers Green Room Coordinators: Anne Klingen and Stephen Rosamond Documentary Coordinators: Damon Burks and Antonio Tarrell Interns: Sidney Sirdashney, Alyson Carpenter, Caleb Penland Trailer Editor: Mary Knight Staff Photographers: Bill Dabney, Joey Brent, Daneel Ferraira Poster Design: Anne Scott Barrett Printed Program Design: Susan Bauer Lee Copy Editors: Kristin Rogers and Deb Nelson Ad and All Other Design: Stephen Rogers, Blue Clock Designs Ambassadors: Johnny and Susan McPhail Advisory Board: Don Lewis, Erik Jambor, Mark Bell and Mark Rabinowitz

In Memoriam: Ron Shapiro Screening Committee: Amanda Fliflet, Amelia Gilley, Amile Wilson, Amy Pearson, Amye Gousset, Angela S. Brooks, Angella Baker, Ankit Bagchi, Anna Grace Usery, Barbara Harmon, Beth C Roman, Betsy Johnston, Caelyn Ditz, Cher Foley, Christine Webster, Christy Moritz, Claire Byrne, Cris Surbeck, D.T. Bullock, David Caffey Sr, Dawn Bullion, Debra Farmer, Dee Dempsey, Edward Connolly, Elliott Wilson, Emily Davis, Emma Siler, Harlan Weiss, Harrison Bender, Holly Jubera, Jack Koban, Jen Fowlkes, Jennifer Merin, John McCustion, Jonathan Smith, Jutoria Warner, Karsen Bailey, Kate Wright, Kendrell McGravey, Leslee Linn, Lisa Hopkins, Maggie Bushway, Marilyn K Frey, Mary Knight, Melanie Addington, Michelle Harvey, Mindy C Van Kuren, Montana Byrd, Naomi Levin, Noell Wilson, Opiyo Okeyo, Patti Woten, Ray Sizemore, Rich Harmon, Robert D. Allsup, Robert Jordan, Steven Case, Steven Crainich, Sue Gobert, Susan McPhail, Suzanne LaCour, Tammy Hope Finch, Tiffany Albright, Torrean Johnson, Uriel Kuzniecki and Varun Verma.

The Oxford Film Festival is an independent non-profit organization with a 501(c)(3) status. Donations may be tax deductible. Contact us at info@oxfordfilmfest.com or 877-560-3456 or visit us online at oxfordfilmfest.com

March 18-22, 2020

Table of Contents

Welcome to Mississippi and to the 17th Annual Oxford Film Festival! We’re so proud and honored to continue supporting this celebration of cinema while witnessing its tremendous growth year after year. With approximately 200 films programmed, there will be no shortage of subject matter, genres, and styles of filmmaking for your viewing pleasure.

In addition to providing a venue for our Mississippi filmmakers and storytellers, OFF presents bold and engaging independent films from around the globe while introducing those visiting filmmakers to the beauty and mystique of Mississippi. Oxford, Lafayette County, and communities across the state have supported film productions shot on location for over 100 years, and we look forward to supporting the industry long into the future, wherever and however filmmaking may advance in the state.

Our Mississippi Motion Picture Incentive Program continues to build that path into the future. As a cash rebate program, the incentive returns 25-35% on Mississippi production expenditures which includes resident and non-resident payroll. Our $50,000 minimum spend is one of the lowest in the country, and video game production, national commercials, webisodes, shorts, documentaries, television, and features are all eligible. There are also tax reductions on the rental and purchase of specific production equipment.

We’re committed to the continued development and support of the film industry in Mississippi and look forward to assisting with your next production. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact us at 601-359-3297, or visit our website, www. filmMississippi.org We’re so glad you’ve joined us this year and look forward to meeting many of you.

The Mississippi Film Office Nina Parikh Betty Black Bilill Webb Thabi Moyo Kirk Daniel

Welcome/Credit....................................................................... 2 Panels, Live Music, and Projections...................................... 7-8 Awards and Jury..................................................................9-12 FAQ & The Fine Print............................................................... 13 Programmer Notes................................................................. 15 Documentary Features...................................................... 17-18 LGBTQIA Features.............................................................19-20 Mississippi Features...........................................................21-22 Music Documentary Features................................................ 23 Narrative Features............................................................ 25-28 Artist Vodka Shorts Block #1................................................... 31 Grid................................................................................... 32-33 Artist Vodka Shorts Block #2................................................. 34 Artist Vodka Shorts Block #3...................................................37 Documentary Shorts.............................................................. 39 Fest Forward Shorts......................................................... 40-44 LGBTQIA Shorts..................................................................... 45 McPhail Block.........................................................................47 Music Videos & Docs............................................................. 48 Mississippi Shorts..............................................................49-51 Narrative Shorts................................................................ 52-56 Student Shorts........................................................................57 M. TANNEHILL KARA W. GILES SponsorROBYN List......................................................................

58-59 MAYOR EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT TO THE MAYOR Index of Films......................................................................... 60 Special Screenings.................................................................. 61 Female Filmmakers Retreat.............................................. 62-63 LeagueROBYN of Women 64 M. TANNEHILL Voters Event............................................

KARA W. GILES MAYOR

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT TO THE MAYOR

ROBYN M. TANNEHILL

KARA W. GILES

MAYOR

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT TO THE MAYOR

Dear Film Enthusiasts, On behalf of the Board of Aldermen and the citizens of Oxford, welcome to the 2020 Oxford Film Festival. We are delighted to have our own film festival and are proud to celebrate its 17th anniversary this year. We know this year’s films are sure to entertain, educate and generate creative thinking.

The Oxford Film Festival is an asset to this already vibrant and beautiful community. We hope that while you are Dear Filmthe Enthusiasts, enjoying films and festival activities, you will engage with all our town has to offer: good food, great shopping, historical landmarks, and so much more. I recommend your first stop being Visit Oxford, located on the On behalf Board of Aldermen andgothe citizens ofdo.

Oxford, welcome to the 2020 Oxford Film Festival. We Square, to of getthe information on where to and what to are delighted to have our own film festival and are proud to celebrate its 17th anniversary this year. We know Dear Film Enthusiasts, thissincerely year’s films areyou sureenjoy to entertain, educate and generate creative We hope your time in Oxford and that you visitthinking. again.

On behalf of the Board of Aldermen and the citizens of Oxford, welcome to the 2020 Oxford Film Festival. We The Oxford Film Festival is an asset to this already vibrant and beautiful community. We hope that while you are With warm wishes, are delighted to have our own film festival and are proud to celebrate its 17th anniversary this year. We know enjoying the films and festival activities, you will engage with all our town has to offer: good food, great shopthis year’s films are sure to entertain, educate and generate creative thinking. ping, historical landmarks, and so much more. I recommend your first stop being Visit Oxford, located on the Square, to get information on where to go and what to do.

The Oxford Film Festival is an asset to this already vibrant and beautiful community. We hope that while you are enjoying the films and festival activities, you will engage with all our town has to offer: good food, great shopWe sincerely hope you enjoy your time in Oxford and that you visit again. ping, historical landmarks, and so much more. I recommend your first stop being Visit Oxford, located on the Square, to get information on where to go and what to do.

With warm wishes, We sincerely hope you enjoy your time in Oxford and that you visit again.

With warm wishes, 107 COURTHOUSE SQUARE, OXFORD, MS 38655

TEL: (662) 232-2340

FAX: (662) 232-2337

WWW.OXFORDMS.NET

TEL: (662) 232-2340

FAX: (662) 232-2337

WWW.OXFORDMS.NET

3

oxfordfilmfest.com 107 COURTHOUSE SQUARE, OXFORD, MS 38655

CORPORATE

COMMEMORATIVE

PRESCRIPTIVE

NONPROFIT

THE NAUTILUS PUBLISHING COMPANY www.NautilusPublishing.com 426 South Lamar Blvd., Suite 16, Oxford, MS 38655 info@nautiluspublishing.com • 662-513-0159

WE ARE A PROUD SPONSOR OF THE OXFORD FILM FESTIVAL NobodyBeatsACannonDeal.com

Scholar, and other publications. In 2006 she was a finalist for the Nona Balakian Citation for Excellence in Reviewing from the National Book Critics Circle.

WEDNESDAY 5:30 pm

FRIDAY

Short Screenplay Winner Phelandra Live Reading Location: Malco Screen 1

10:00 am - 11:15 am

Join the filmmaker and local actors to hear the winning screenplay.

Phelandra was written by Jonathan Marballi. A wealthy woman hires a tutor to murder her husband’s new obsession, a houseplant.

Mississippi FIlm Alliance Presents “The Big Picture: Producing from Script to Screen” Location: Malco Screen 4

THURSDAY

Sandy Stern is an American film producer, best known for his work on the films Pump Up the Volume, Being John Malkovich, and Saved!. Join Producer Sandy Stern and other guests as they discuss the nature of producing a feature film.

2:00 pm - 4:00 pm League of Women Voters Presents “Win, Lose or Draw Straws and Panel” Location: Overby Center

11:30 am - 12:45 pm

Join the filmmakers of Forever Voters and a family and friends special screening of Win, Lose or Draw Straws as well as panelists Linda Bishop of League of Women Voters, University of Mississippi Journalism Professors Charlie Mitchell and Curtis Wilkie and student Kynnedi Taylor-Henry as they discuss voting rights, history and current elections.

Sponsored by the Mississippi Humanities Council.

Mississippi Film Alliance Presents “The Art of Place: Creating the On-Screen World” Panelists: Julie Kaye Fanton and Mary Goodson Location: Malco Screen 4 Focus on the art and craft of Set Decoration and take a look at the way Set Decorators work to define character and place to help tell the story using surroundings. Includes Collaboration, Research, Design and Dressing a Set.

6:00 pm - 7:00 pm Thacker Mountain Radio Hour Location: Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing Arts

1:00 pm - 2:15 pm

The Thacker Mountain Radio Hour is a weekly live radio show featuring author readings and a wide array of musical performances from the square in Oxford, Mississippi. The live show is broadcast on 92.1 FM Rebel Radio, Thursdays at 6 pm and rebroadcast Saturdays at 7 pm on Mississippi Public Broadcasting and Saturdays at 9 pm on Alabama Public Radio.

Admission is free.

Oxfilm Society Presents “Festival Strategy” Location: Malco Screen 4

Guest Author: The Sun and Her Stars: Salka Viertel and Hitler’s Exiles in the Golden Age of Hollywood The little-known story of screenwriter Salka Viertel, whose salons in 1930s and 40s Hollywood created a refuge for a multitude of famous figures who had escaped the horrors of World War ll. Viertel combined a modern-before-her-time sensibility with the Old-World advantages of a classical European education and fluency in eight languages. A vital presence in the golden age of Hollywood, Salka Viertel is long overdue for her own moment in the spotlight.

Moderated by Don Lewis Panelists include Montana International Film Festival’s Executive Director Brian Murnion, Indie Memphis’ Shorts Programmer Brighid Wheeler, Hollywood Shorts ED Kimberley Browning, Sidewalk Film Festival Programmer Rachel Morgan, Oxford Film Festival Documentary Programmer Donna Kosloskie and Festival Formula’s Katie McCullough and Ian Bignell.

oxfordfilmfest.com

SECRET PLAYGROUND

Donna Rifkind’s reviews appear frequently in the Wall Street Journal and New York Times Book Review. She has also been a contributor to the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Times Literary Supplement, American

Ever wonder how the brain of programmers work? Want to know the tips and tricks to having a successful festival run? Ever wonder why your film was cut from festivals after you put it online? Want to meet the people who decide the curation of your film face to face? Then this is the panel for you.

7

panels & events

Panels are at various locations: the Malco Commons, the Gertrude Ford Center for the Performing Arts, and the Powerhouse Community Arts Center.

See description for time and location. All are free thanks to sponsor support.

SATURDAY Noon - 1:15 pm University of Mississippi Department of Theatre & Film and Sag-Aftra Present “The Naked Truth: Getting to the Heart of Performance” Location: Malco Screen 4 Great visuals. Compelling story. Interesting Visual effects. Although each of these are important in the creation of a great film, the one thing that stands above them all is the actor in the frame. This lecture briefly investigates the director/actor relationship and give useful tips on how directors can elicit the most compelling performances out of their actors. By exploring various directing techniques, including script analysis, rehearsal strategies, and beat-bybeat breakdowns, each director will walk away with a deeper knowledge of what it means to connect with an actor and unlock their creative intuition.

Dan Stearnes and Sarah Hennigan moderate with guest Ya’Ke Smith.

Known for his unflinching and veracious style of storytelling, Smith is a rising voice in independent cinema. His films have received world-wide acclaim, screening and winning awards at over 90 film festivals. The Director’s Guild of America, the Student Academy Awards, HBO, Showtime, and the City of Buffalo, NY, which proclaimed February 23, 2013 as Ya’Ke Smith Day, have honored him. Ya’Ke has been featured on NPR, CNN, HLN, Ebony Online, Indiewire, Filmmaker Magazine and Shadow&Act.

7:45 pm - 9:00 pm Conversation with Angie Thomas Location: Malco Screen 1 Angie Thomas was born, raised, and still resides in Jackson, Mississippi as indicated by her accent. She is a former teen rapper whose greatest accomplishment was an article about her in Right-On Magazine with a picture included. She holds a BFA in Creative Writing from Belhaven University and an unofficial degree in Hip Hop. She can also still rap if needed. She is an inaugural winner of the Walter Dean Myers Grant 2015, awarded by We Need Diverse Books. Her award-winning, acclaimed debut novel, The Hate U Give, is a #1 New York Times bestseller and major motion picture from Fox 2000, starring Amandla Stenberg and directed by George Tillman, Jr. Her second novel, On the Come Up, is on sale now.

SUNDAY 11:45 am - 12:45 pm Panel Discussion: “Media Installation as a Platform for Storytelling” Location: Malco Screen 4 Media installations, especially when displayed in public spaces, are an effective way of communicating with audiences. This panel will include artists and filmmakers who utilize media installations in order to engage with their viewers. Topics such as methods, practices, and the importance of being able to communicate in this format will be discussed.

Other Activities around OFF Saturday, March 21 11:00 am and 1:00 pm Take a tour of Oxford in style, aboard one of our historic double decker buses. The tour provides a trip through the history of Oxford visiting points of interests on the University of Mississippi campus and around town.

• Departing from Visit Oxford (1013 Jackson Ave. East)..

• Tickets are $5 for OXFF attendees and $10 for general public.

• For more information call Visit Oxford at 662-232-2477. #VisitOxfordMS”

Vertical by Misbits March 3 - April 3, 2020 The Powerhouse, 413 S 14th St, Oxford, MS 38655 Reception: March 24, 6–8PM (during the Oxford Art Crawl) This exhibition presents work by past Misbits participating artists as we gather momentum for the future. All the work in this show is created for a wall-based experience that will be anything but flat . . . the featured artists work in installation, sound, photography, experimental film, computation, projection, interactive sculpture and other media and will be translating their practices to a vertical orientation.

Artists in Vertical include: Rebekah Flake, Ashley Gerst, Jen Goya, Hailey Hodge, Valerie Guinn Polgar, Mark Ramos, Eric Valosin, Reiko Yamada and more. For more info visitt misbitsnma.com PROJECT(ion) at OFF is a curated installation of projected art works and looping experimental films exhibited throughout the Malco theater for the duration of the festival. This small exhibition is an extension of the annual PROJECT(ion) event that transforms the architectural spaces of the Oxford square each fall as part of the Oxford Fringe Festival.

All works exhibited as part of PROJECT(ion) at OFF have selected by the curators John Rash and Valerie Guinn Polgar. More information about the artists and individual works will be available on site.

Musical Interludes: Our Musical Guests will be providing live music before certain films. The schedule will be on the printed boards at each theater.

Join us on a Driving Tour of filming locations from Gun in Betty Lou’s Handbag on Saturday, March 21 starting at the Powerhouse after the film. Around 2 pm, see online for specifics.

Moderator: Valerie Guinn Polgar Panelists: Tara Youngborg, Rebekah Flake, and Virginia Lee Montgomery, Andrea Morales and John Rash.

8

March 18-22, 2020

Since its founding, Oxford Film Fest has used the Hoka award as a part of the festival to honor films in selected categories. The name for the Hoka award originated with the Hoka Theater, founded by Ron Shapiro in Oxford in the 1970s, bringing the world of independent film to the small town of Oxford.

The theater was named for Princess Hoka, the Chickasaw woman who, according to the legend, first deeded much of Mississippi, including the area now known as Oxford, to white settlers back in 1832 with the Treaty of Pontotoc. The theater helped the film community blossom in Oxford. The Hoka closed in the late 1990s, but the great legacy it left sparked inspiration for the film festival.

Today the Oxford Film Festival keeps that legacy alive with “The Spirit of the Hoka” award.

Before losing Ron Shapiro in 2019, the festival announced that the Documentary Feature award will now be dubbed “The Ronzo” as his favorite subject of film.

Each year during the Oxford Film Festival, an award called “The Spirit of the Hoka” is awarded to winners in the narrative feature and short, documentary feature and short, Fest Forward and Mississippi narrative, documentary and music video categories.

When it came to the design of the Spirit of the Hoka award, local sculptor Bill Beckwith drew on his research. Although Beckwith stopped designing the sculptures in 2017, the Center for Manufacturing Excellence took up the mantle, thanks to Beckwith providing the image, and has created a 3D printed version of the award each year.

Since the start of the Oxford Film Festival, the Spirit of the Hoka award has been awarded to the best of the festival and the tradition of the Hoka will always live on through this award and festival.

OxFilm Society The OxFilm Society strives to help filmmakers throughout Lafayette County achieve their goals. Joining the OxFilm Society provides filmmakers affordable rental equipment and access to top end post production facilities. OxFilm is a collaborative effort between the Oxford Film Festival and Yoknapatawpha Arts Council.

Memberships start at $40 a year for students to $200 for a lifetime membership with free equipment rentals.

To learn more about the OxFilm Society or help support the effort, visit its website at http://oxfordfilmfest.com/oxfilm-society.

oxfordfilmfest.com

Prizes this year include:

Artist Vodka Best Short Contest • 21 films will compete for audience and jury vote to win $15,000 cash at the festival.

Narrative Feature: • $15,000 camera rental package from Panavision • $250 cash prize Documentary Feature • $15,000 camera rental package from Panavision • $250 cash prize • Documentary editing feedback from Joe Shapiro Narrative Short • $250 Cash prize sponsored by Steven and Gay Case • Three days of audio post production from Taproot Design in Oxford Documentary Short • $250 Cash prize sponsored by Damon Burks • Three days of audio post production from Taproot Audio Design in Oxford Mississippi Short • Cash prize through the Casey Spradling Memorial Award • One-year membership and free equipment rentals from OxFilm Society Mississippi Feature • Cash prize through the Pat Rasberry Emerging Mississippi Filmmaker Award: The Pat Rasberry Emerging Mississippi Filmmaker award is named after our dear friend Pat Rasberry who ran the Tupelo Film Festival and was in charge of the Tupelo Film Commission. While she lost her battle with cancer in 2016, her legacy of supporting Mississippi filmmakers will continue through this award.

• One-year membership and free equipment rentals from OxFilm Society.

Mississippi Music Video • Cash prize of $100 • One-year membership and free equipment rentals from OxFilm Society • 3 days of recording time from Nathan Robbins LGBTQIA Short • Cash Prize of $250 sponsored by Robbie Fisher Productions.

LGBTIA Feature • Cash Prize of $250 sponsored by Damon Burks Best Music Documentary • Cash Prize of $100

9

the Hoka and other awards

The Spirit of the Hoka

Fest Forward Animation & Experimental • Cash Prize of $100 each Student • Cash Prize of $250 sponsored by Michael Johannson

Check out the Merchandise for sale in the Lobby Shirts • Hats • Mugs • And more!

10

March 18-22, 2020

IMANI KHAYYAM

In addition to the Hoka awards, other special awards are given.

New this year is the Angie Thomas Zeitgeist Award, given to a film artist from a diverse background each year who has exhibited a unique and clear voice through their work.

Angie Thomas was born, raised, and still resides in Jackson, Mississippi as indicated by her accent. She is a former teen rapper whose greatest accomplishment was an article about her in Right-On Magazine with a picture included.

She holds a BFA in Creative Writing from Belhaven University and an unofficial degree in Hip Hop. She can also still rap if needed. She is an inaugural winner of the Walter Dean Myers Grant 2015, awarded by We Need Diverse Books. Her awardwinning, acclaimed debut novel, The Hate U Give, is a #1 New York Times bestseller and major motion picture from Fox 2000, starring Amandla Stenberg and directed by George Tillman, Jr. Her second novel, On the Come Up, is on sale now.

Reel South gives $500 and opportunity to screen on PBS networks for one short film from the south.

The Best Script winner will be awarded $1,000 and will be mentored by John Norris. A live reading of the play will also be held.

The Alice Guy-Blaché Filmmaker Award is awarded to a female director. It is named in honor of Alice Guy-Blaché (July 1, 1873 – March 24, 1968), who was the first female pioneer in early French cinema and is revered as the first female director and writer of narrative fiction films. It also includes a $1,000 cash prize by the Louis M. Rabinowitz Foundation and is selected by head programmers and staff and previous winners.

The Lisa Blount Memorial Acting Award is given to the strongest independent performance that shows an actor or an actress willing to take risks for their art. Lisa Blount, an award-winning actress from Arkansas, was nominated for a Golden Globe in 1983 for her breakout role in An Officer and a Gentleman, and received the Best Actress prize at the 2004 Stockholm Film Festival for her lead role in the independent feature film Chrystal. Along with her husband Ray McKinnon and co-producer Walton Goggins, Lisa took home an Academy Award for their live action short The Accountant. Lisa passed away in 2010, not long after agreeing to be a juror for our 2011 festival. It is selected by head programmers and staff.

The UM Department of Modern Languages sponsors $250 for Best Foreign Language Film.

Narrative Jury

MARK RABINOWITZ

JENNIFER MERIN

Jennifer Merin is President of The Alliance of Women Film Journalists and is Editor-in-Chief of AWFJ. org, where she writes the “Cinema Citizen” blog.

She has written for NY Press, About.com, Women’s eNews, written for USA Today, L.A. Times, Christian Science Monitor, US, Ms., Daily News, NY Post, SoHo News, and others. She is a Tisch SOA grad and has acted Off-Broadway and in regional theaters and Tokyo, where she was a member of the famed Tenjo Sajiki theater company and made films. She taught at University of Wisconsin and URI. She has reported for ABC, NBC, CBS Radio Networks and Westwood One. Her syndicated culturally-oriented travel column originated at the Los Angeles Times in 1984.

Documentary and Music Documentary Features Jury BRIAN MURNION

Brian Murnion is a producer and director from eastern Montana. He is the founder and executive director of the MINT Film Festival and the MINT Film Society. Brian is also working on his next narrative and documentary feature films, both slated for 2021. He lives in Billings with his wife and three children, each of whom has middle names inspired by film directors.

oxfordfilmfest.com

Jacqueline Olive is an independent filmmaker and immersive media producer with fifteen years of experience in journalism and film. In April 2019, Jackie was profiled as one of Variety’s “10 Filmmakers To Watch.”

Her debut feature documentary, Always in Season, premiered in competition at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival and was awarded the Special Jury Prize for Moral Urgency. The film is slated to broadcast on the PBS Emmy Award-winning series, Independent Lens, in February 2020. Jackie also co-directed the award-winning, hour-long film Black to Our Roots, which broadcast on PBS World in 2009. Jackie has received artist grants and industry funding from Sundance Institute, Independent Television Service, Ford Foundation, Tribeca Film Fund, Firelight Media, Chicken & Egg Pictures, Southern Documentary Fund, and more. She was recently awarded the Emerging Filmmakers of Color Award from International Documentary Association (IDA) and the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation.

NELSON KIM

FRANK WANG

Create:Louisville founder Mark Rabinowitz has been a journalist, publicist, film festival staffer and producer for over 20 years. He is a co-founder of IndieWire.com and has written extensively on film and TV for CNN.com, Paste Magazine, Screen International, Variety and many others. He served as a programmer and industry liaison at the Hamptons International Film Festival and was the head documentary programmer at the Oxford Film Festival from 201618. He serves on the Louisville Film Commission and has consulted for Metro Louisville on improving and expanding the city’s film and TV sector, including its production and exhibition infrastructure. Create:Louisville is a new nonprofit designed to help nurture a robust inclusive and sustainable moving image economy, culture and community in and around Metro Louisville, focusing on projects by and about women, people of color and economically disadvantaged members of the community.

jury

Rachel Morgan is the creative director for the Sidewalk Film Festival and Sidewalk Film Center & Cinema, as well as an instructor of Media Production and Telecommunication and Film at Lawson State Community College. She was a coinstructor in the Documenting Justice documentary film program at the University of Alabama for 13 years and is a former contributor to Film Threat. She received a BFA from The Savannah College of Art and Design in Film/Video Production and a MA in Film Critical Studies from the University of Alabama where her focus of study was Children and Adolescence in Cinematic Horror. She also co-hosts the cinema-centric podcast, SideTalks, in which she is usually right and her co-host, Corey Craft, is always wrong.

SECRET PLAYGROUND

RACHEL MORGAN

JACQUELINE OLIVE

Nelson Kim wrote and directed the awardwinning feature film Someone Else (2016). The movie was hailed by the LA Weekly as “a tense, unexpectedly moving psychological study of a man’s unraveling.” Nelson teaches film at Wagner College in Staten Island, where he co-directs the Film and Media Studies Program, and writes film criticism for Hammer To Nail, Senses of Cinema, and other websites. He lives in Brooklyn.

Shorts Jury MILAN CHAKRABORTY

Milan Chakraborty is a 15-year veteran of the film industry after a career as an auditor/Certified Public Accountant. He was recently an Executive Producer for the Sam Levinson directed film, Assassination Nation, which premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. He started his career at Warner Bros. (“WB”) and New Line Cinema (“NLC”), where he performed detailed reviews of 10 feature film productions with budgets ranging from $5 - $200 million.

In 2008, Milan left the big studios to focus on independent films, and has since produced 13 features including the 2014 film Where Hope Grows, which won the Heartland Audience Award in 2014, 2013 Sundance competition film The Lifeguard starring Kristen Bell directed by Liz Garcia and My Friend Dahmer directed by Marc Meyers, released in November 2017 and “certified fresh” by ROTTEN TOMATOES.

KIMBERLEY BROWNING

Kimberley is a filmmaker and festival programmer based in Los Angeles. She is the Founder and Festival Director of Hollywood Shorts Film Festival, and is an Associate Short Film Programmer at Tribeca Film Festival. She also serves as the Senior Programmer at the Catalyst Content Festival (formerly ITVFest), and is the Executive Producer of HBO Access, the network’s episodic television writing and directing fellowship program for women and minorities.

11

JOHN BEIFUSS

John Beifuss has been a reporter in Memphis since 1981. He became a film critic for the daily newspaper, The Commercial Appeal, starting in 1996. His work has appeared in such publications as The New York Times, TV Guide, USA Today, American Film, and - most important - Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine. He contributed entries on horror and comedy to The New Encyclopedia of Southern Culture. (University of North Carolina Press). He is the author of the children’s book, Armadillo Ray (Chronicle Books).

LGBTQIA+ Jury BRIGHID WHEELER

Brighid Wheeler has been a willing slave to the film festival world for most of her adult life.

Having run the gamut from volunteer to Head Lesbian In Charge (AKA Festival Coordinator), she currently serves as the Senior Programmer and Director of Operations for the Indie Memphis Film Festival, a role that embraces her love of the short films and her desire to create an amazing festival going experience for all attendees. This is her fourth year serving on the jury for OFF, one of her favorite film festivals

CHELSEA WOODS

Chelsea Woods is a writer-director from Los Angeles, with a passion for connecting the world through the medium of film. A graduate of the University of Chicago, Chelsea began her career in film and television as a production assistant on director Ava DuVernay’s Sundance award-winning film, Middle of Nowhere. In 2018, Chelsea was selected by Jill Soloway to write and direct a short film for a film series that explored Hollywood tropes through a queer lens. The series, Queeroes, was presented by Conde Nast’s queer publication Them., 5050by2020 and Gilead. Under the mentorship of Soloway and Lena Waithe, Chelsea’s film, Central & Broadway, premiered at OutCinema in New York and Outfest in Los Angeles. The film also screened at the 2019 Oxford Film Festival.Chelsea is currently in post-production on A Black Woman Speaks, a short film adaptation of the Beah Richards poem of the same name, and is developing her first feature, Evangeline.

JEAN ANNE LAUER

Jean Anne Lauer has promoted the development and exhibition of independent film and media on the festival circuit since 2004, specializing in Latinx, Iberoamerican, and Indigenous titles. She first discovered her passion for the field when working with the International Pitching Market at the Guanajuato International Film Festival (Gto, Mexico, 2004 through 2013). Since then, Jean joined the team at Cine Las Americas International Film Festival (Austin, Texas, 2008 to present), and at Fantastic Fest (Austin, Texas, 2013 to present). Along with building a professional résumé and working with filmmakers in the US and abroad, Jean completed her Ph.D. in Radio-Television-Film at UT-Austin, and teaches courses in the Dept. of Philosophy, Religion, and Humanities and the Dept. of Radio-Television-Film at Austin Community College. The only thing Jean may be more passionate about than film is her love for her house rabbit companions.

12

Fest Forward and Music Video & Student Jury DIANA REICHENBACH

Diana Reichenbach is an award-winning multimedia artist specializing in immersive and architectural media. She creates immersive experiences inspired by personal, introspective moments that have challenged her perception. Her work has notably been exhibited at the Virgin Airways clubhouse at LAX, Light City Baltimore Festival of Lights, HUBweek: A Festival for the Future, the Director’s Guild in Los Angeles, Burning Man Festival, Bonnaroo: Pageant of the Cosmos presented by Adult Swim, RiverRun Film Festival, DTLA Film Festival, Punta Y Raya Festival, Anima Mundi, Animafest Zagreb, and the Ottawa International Animation Festival. In addition to current independent and professional projects, she is a Professor of Animation at Savannah College of Art and Design.

JOHN RASH

John Rash is a filmmaker, photographer, and video artist who has worked both creatively and as an educator for more than 15 years in both the United States and China. Rash is originally from North Carolina and earned his M.F.A. in Experimental and Documentary Art from Duke University. John currently works as an Instructional Assistant Professor and Producer / Director for the Southern Documentary Project at the University of Mississippi.

SARAH HENNIGAN

A Dallas-born Cherokee filmmaker, Sarah grew up on-set and backstage, and has been involved in the arts ever since. Her directorial work has been seen in festivals such as LA SkinsFest, Māoriland Film Festival, Phoenix Film Festival, and Green Bay Film Festival. She is also passionate about Native representation in popular culture, and telling Native stories on screen. Outside of writing and directing her own content, she focuses on documentary and narrative cinematography, with work recently shown at the Austin Film Festival and seen on PBS. Her most recent short as a Cinematographer, I Am Mackenzie won the SXSW 2019 Texas Shorts Jury Prize. She has taught courses in color correction for Austin Film Society, and undergraduate Editing at the University of Texas Austin. She now works as a freelance filmmaker and Assistant Professor of Film Production at the University of Mississippi.

@oxfordfilmfest Hashtag: #oxff March 18-22, 2020

What is Last Minute/Rush Line?

Did we announce a film selling out? There may still be opportunities to snag a seat. Once seating is complete (10 minutes before the film) we will release any available seats and you can buy at the door or use your VIP pass to snag a last minute seat.

Can I buy just one ticket to one screening?

Yes, they are $10.

Do I have to buy tickets online?

No, you can buy at the box office the day of, if tickets are still available.

Can I pay for a ticket in cash?

Yes, beginning on March 18 we will have a physical box office where you can pay in cash or with a check or credit card. Before that you can visit the Oxford Film Festival office at 9 Industrial Park Drive, Suite 152.

I bought a pass online. How do I get it?

We ask that you pick up your physical pass at our box office during the film festival. Tickets are not printed and only your phone receipt is needed to show the usher. You can also print it out and bring with you.

What do I do with my pass?

Wear it and get access to everything!

I lost my pass. What do I do?

Stop by our box office and let us know so we can help you.

How do I reserve a seat at a film?

Films are first come-first served. We recommend arriving at least 20 minutes before a film to get in line for your preferred seat.

What about passholders?

VIP badges get priority seating and those with advance tickets will be seated first. You do not need tickets in advance but you will be seated after the passholders with tickets. We do still recommend arriving at least 20 minutes before a film to get in the VIP line.

When should I arrive for a screening?

We recommend arriving at least 20 minutes early to get in either the VIP priority line or regular ticket holder line to secure your preferred seat.

Do I have to stand in line?

You don’t have to stand in line unless you have a seat preference and/or want to be the first to get into the theater. However, we release any empty seats 10 minutes before the screening begins. We do have a lobby for people to wait until 20 minutes before the screening. VIP badge holders also have the option to relax in the green room tent.

ADA Assistance?

For any accessibility questions, contact us at (877) 560-3456 or info@oxfordfilmfest.com and we will be sure to help in any way!

I still have questions -- help?

Email us at boxoffice@oxfordfilmfest.com or during the festival visit our information table located at the box office.

Where is the box office?

The box office has multiple locations depending on the day: • March 18 • (12:00-8:00 pm) Malco Commons (206 Commonwealth Blvd) • March 19 • (12:00-4:00 pm) Malco Commons (206 Commonwealth Blvd) • (5:00-9:00 pm) Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing Arts (351 University Avenue) • March 20-22 • (9:00 am - close) Malco Commons (206 Commonwealth Blvd)

Become a VIP or just enjoy the free panels. How you fest is your choice!

If we didn’t answer your question, please stop by our box office at the festival to ask more questions!

The Fine Print Be sure to check the program to make sure you are at the right venue.

All films in the regular schedule contain adult content and are not recommended for children under 18 unless otherwise indicated with a FF (family friendly) in the program listing.

While films are not rated by MPAA, we have asked the filmmakers for their own rating consideration to be included with the film description. Some films have content that can include violence, sexual content and strong language or intense subject matters. Please read the description of the film in advance if you have any concerns or ask us at the information booth.

Views expressed in the screened films are those of the filmmakers, and not necessarily shared by the Oxford Film Festival. Presentation of films does not mean that the festival promotes the behavior contained therein. The filmmaker has agreed that they own the intellectual property within their film.

All times are tentative and subject to change due to the nature of film festivals. Refer to our website, www.oxfordfilmfest.com, our social media, and/or our box office for the latest information.

Seating is not guaranteed unless you purchase an individual ticket for a specific film.

We suggest arriving at least 20 minutes before each film. VIP badges get priority line access.

However, any seats unclaimed 10 minutes before film will be given away. If a film is sold out, we will release any unclaimed seats 10 minutes before a screening.

Seating is allotted based on priority access - 50% of seats given to badge holders and 50% of seats open to ticket holders. If you purchased an individual ticket, a seat is secured but you will be seated after VIP priority seating.

oxfordfilmfest.com

Rating System: All films are marked by a general rating system provided by the filmmakers Please use your discretion when checking films and ask at the information table if any concerns.

• All Ages: no offensive language, violence, etc • Family Friendly: For ages 8+ • Teens and Up: For Ages 13+ • Mature: For 18+

Venues: • Malco Commons (204 Commonwealth Blvd.)

• Oxford Conference Center (102 Ed Perry Blvd.)

• Powerhouse (413 South 14th St.) • Gertrude Ford Center (351 University Ave.) • Nutt Auditorium (542 University Ave) • University Museum (University Ave & S 5th St) • Overby Center (555 Grove Loop)

13

Frequenttly Asked Questions & The Fine Print

How much are tickets for Oxford Film Festival?

• Single Movie Ticket ($10) Good for one movie. We no longer have general single tickets but only sell tickets to each specific film. Your ticket is a secure seat at the film you pre-selected.

• 5 or 10 Pack ($40, $90) Save by buying single tickets in bulk and use them on any films you want to see or buy 10 friends a ticket to one film and save money! This replaces the weekend pass in past years.

• VIP Pass ($175) Priority entrance to all films. Access to all parties and catered VIP green room • Student VIP ($50) Priority entrance to all films. Access to all parties and catered VIP green room • FREE TO ATTEND: As always Panels/Workshops are free to attend sponsored by OxFilm Society and Mississippi Film Alliance

SUPPORT INSPIRE ENRICH

The Mississippi Arts Commission (MAC) is a state agency serving more than two million people through grants and special initiatives that enhance communities, assist artists and arts organizations, promote arts education and celebrate Mississippi’s cultural heritage.

Mississippi Arts Commission 501 N. West Street Woolfolk Building – Suite 1101A Jackson, MS 39201

Established in 1968 by the state legislature, the MAC is the official grants-making and service agency for the arts in Mississippi. Funding for the MAC and its programs is provided by the State of Mississippi, the National Endowment for the Arts, and private sources.

Learn more about supporting MAC at www.arts.ms.gov or (601) 359-6030.

Valerie Guinn Polgar

Cinema, like all art, should be created to make you feel something. Be it empathy, frustration, horror, laughter or confusion, the best books, music and movies should move you in some way. For this year’s Narrative Features Program, we strove for balance with a dash of weirdness and intensity thrown in. Films like I’ve Got Issues and The In-Between are funny, yet awkward. Once Upon a River, Reckoning and Her Name Was Jo feature characters on a journey of self discovery that might shed some light on your life as well. Or just sit back and relax with Freeland in the new Wild West or enjoy some midnight madness with Star Light. The most important advice we can give for this program is, be present and immerse yourself in the experiences onscreen.

And, have some fun!

The Fest Forward Category is comprised of Experimental Film and Animation divided into two viewing blocks. The Experimental Film Block demonstrates contemporary trends (found in both process and content) with themes inspired by human and non-human voices alike, nature, astral travel, and films that border the line between linear and nonlinear worlds. The more narrativedriven Animation block includes animation styles ranging from traditional hand drawn to 3D animation that make larger societal comments, explore themes of childhood and family, and that create atmospheric and vibrant visual experiences. While the two viewing blocks are distinct, the Fest Forward Category collectively combines both contemporary and traditional trends in filmmaking told through experimental means or through the world of animation. This intersection is where the unexpected is realized.

Narrative Features

Jennifer Murchison Narrative Shorts

In this, my third year of programming narrative shorts, I discovered something: it doesn’t get easier!!! You people are killing me!! This year was, by-far, the toughest year for selecting what would be programmed and what would not be.

I am honored to continue in this role. I’ve met and gotten to know some amazing folks through Oxford Film Fest. And hindsight being, well, 20/20 (yuk-yuk-yuk) I have truly enjoyed getting to know them all.

Brian Whisenant LGBTQ

This set of films looks at LGBTQIA+ lives in a way I have rarely seen over the years. These are truly human stories in which the characters happen to be queer. We still have plenty of sex, relationships, dating, coming out, even death, but told through a modern lens.

Donna Kozlowskie Documentaries

The beauty in documentary films is that they tell stories in a rapidly changing world, giving extended screen time to lives that could so easily dissolve into the digital ether. From tales of Armenian political activism (I Am Not Alone) to the birth of the Emoji (Picture Character) to even the legacy of synchronized ice-skating (who knew?!

Life In Synchro), the documentaries showcased at Oxford this year present the awe-inspiring wonder of transformation through time. Each film provides a moment of pause, bringing a theater together for laughs, learning, and—as the films attest to—growing.

Fest Forward

Victoria Negri

Mississippi Films The Mississippi features and shorts this year represent a wide variety of voices from across the state, with films depicting personal journeys, struggles with identity, historic figures, and even science fiction. The impressive lineup pushes boundaries in storytelling, showcasing each filmmaker’s ability to question themselves within the context of the world around them. Each film is distinctive and is a testament to the diversity of the state’s artists and stories.

Newt Rayburn

Music Documentaries & Music Videos Music Documentaries: 2020 is the year of killer music documentaries at Oxford Film Festival.

We received almost fifty submissions into this category and narrowing it down to just three films was extremely, extremely difficult. Sadly, some very worthy documentaries had to be cut.

Fortunately, we were able to make room for four incredible music documentaries this year and none should be missed!

Mississippi Music Videos: Oxford Film Festival is known for having the ultimate showing of music videos with a Mississippi connection. This highly competitive category has drawn talent from every corner of the state and nationwide. This year’s crop of talent is one of the most varied musically on what our state has to offer and we look forward to showing you the “Birthplace of America’s Music.”

Check the online schedule for changes and to see which filmmakers are attending for Q&A’s at www.oxfordfilmfest.com oxfordfilmfest.com

15

programmers notes

Don Lewis

You Focus On The Shot

We’ll Focus On The Rest

Unparalleled Optics.

Optimized Digital and Film Camera Systems.

Inspired Engineering. World Wide Service. www.panavision.com

Life In Synchro

Pailin Wedel, Nina Ijas Germany, 01:15:18, Rating: Family Friendly Saturday, 1:30 pm, Oxford Conference Center; Sunday, 3:45 pm, Malco Screen 4

Angela Pinaglia USA, 54:31, Rating: Family Friendly Saturday, 10:30 am, Malco Screen 3; 5 pm, Powerhouse

A Thai-Buddist couple struggles to find closure after cyropreserving their two-year-old daughter, all while their whiz kid teenage son goes on a journey to discover if science will ever revive her. Mississippi Premiere.

PLAYS WITH:

Tears Teacher Noemie Nakai Japan, 00:10:33, Rating: All Ages Yoshida is a self-proclaimed ‘tears teacher’: he travels across Japan to help people weep. World Premiere.

Life in Synchro takes viewers on a journey of discovery into the world of synchronized ice skating. Regional Premiere.

PLAYS WITH:

Riding A Dream Tommy Bolwell & Mattia Reiniger UK, 00:23:53, Rating: All Ages Riding A Dream is the inspirational documentary that charts the history making journey of 18 year old British Muslim woman Khadijah Mellah.

From humble beginnings at her inner city riding school in East London to victory in the Magnolia Cup horse race at the world famous Glorious Goodwood Festival, Khadijah remarkably won the race with less than four months of training. In the process of this, she became the first person to ride on a British racecourse wearing a hijab.

I Am Not Alone Garin Hovannisian Armenia, 1:33:00, Rating: Family Friendly Saturday, 6:30 pm, Oxford Conference Center; Sunday, 1:15 pm, Malco Screen 4 On Easter Day 2018, a man put on a backpack and went live on Facebook to announce that he was beginning a walk across Armenia. His mission: to inspire a velvet revolution — and topple the corrupt regime that enjoys absolute power in his post-Soviet nation. With total access to all key players, I Am Not Alone tells the miraculous true story of what happens in the next 40 days. Mississippi Premiere.

oxfordfilmfest.com

Our Bodies Our Doctors Jan Haaken USA, 1:17:30, Rating: Teens & Up Friday, 5:15 pm and Saturday, 4 pm, Oxford Conference Center Nearly one-in-four American women have an abortion during their lifetime, yet the doctors who perform this commonplace procedure are rarely talked about or seen. Our Bodies Our Doctors follows these quiet heroes behind the scenes and into the procedure room, showing their strength and compassion for women. It’s a journey into their world, why they do this work, and how they resist the threats, violence and intensified political efforts to criminalize abortion. Mississippi Premiere.

17

documentary features

Hope Frozen

Picture Character Ian Cheney and Martha Shane USA, 1:22:00, Rating: Teens & Up Friday, 5 pm, Malco Screen 3; Saturday, 11 am, Oxford Conference Center Picture Character explores the complex, conflict-prone, and often hilarious world of the creators, lovers, and arbiters of emoji, our world’s newest pictorial language. How do you create a global language on the fly? This film charts the evolution of emoji and investigates what they may reveal about our increasingly technological world. Mississippi Premiere.

The Rabbi Goes West Amy Geller and Gerald Peary USA, 1:18:00, Rating Family Friendly Saturday, 7:30 pm, Powerhouse Presented by the Jewish Federation of Oxford A fish out of water story about a young and charismatic Hasidic Chabad rabbi who moved from Brooklyn, New York to Bozeman, Montana to bring his brand of Judaism to the American west. His mission: to place a Mezuzah, an encased prayer offering, on the doorpost of every Montana Jew. As he travels across this “big sky” landscape, he confronts threats to Jews from neo-Nazis and objections to his proselytizing from members of the Jewish community. Mississippi Premiere.

You Asked for the Facts Mary Blessey USA, 00:54:00, Rating: Family Friendly Friday, 9:30 am, Malco Screen 1; Saturday, 2:30 pm, Powerhouse Four years after the historic enrollment of James Meredith as the first black student at the University of Mississippi, student activists devise a plan to defy Mississippi’s “Speaker Ban” and bring Robert F. Kennedy to the campus to reveal the truth about segregationist governor Ross Barnett. World Premiere.

PLAYS WITH:

R & B Feder Foundation 18

Sadika’s Garden Chad Galloway & Julia Iriarte Canada, 00:29:20, Rating: All Ages A refugee family must overcome a series of impossible obstacles to start their new life in North America. USA Premiere.

March 18-22, 2020

Unspoken Patrick G. Lee USA, 00:17:07, Rating: Teens & Up Through letter-writing, a community discussion, and a drag performance, six queer and trans Asian Americans grapple with their queerness and consider what family acceptance might look like. Regional Premiere.

AND:

A Dim Valley Brandon Colvin USA, 1:32:02, Rating: Teens & Up Friday, 7:30 pm, Malco Screen 4 A curmudgeonly biologist and his slacker graduate assistants muddle their way through a summer research project. Deep in the Appalachian woods, they encounter a trio of mystical backpackers who change their lives in mysterious ways. World Premiere.

Cuban Heel Shoes Julio Mas Alcaraz Spain, 00:17:00, Rating: Teens & Up Paco and Jose are two teenage boys living in a marginal neighbourhood of Madrid, a place hostile to each of their dreams. With serious family problems, and surrounded by an aggressive, macho, homophobic environment, they must lead a double life to hide the beginning of a love relationship and their passion for flamenco dance. Mississippi Premiere.

PLAYS WITH:

The Woodpecker Courtney Bush, Will Carington, Jake Goicoechea USA, 00:07:13, Rating: Teens & Up On his way to Brad’s animal-themed housewarming party, Richard stops at CVS and calls a close friend for advice about his costume. World Premiere.

The Long Shadow Daniel Lafrentz USA, 01:35:00, Rating: Teens & Up Friday, 5 pm, Malco Screen 4 A young Sheriff’s Deputy takes on her Louisiana town’s old-money establishment when the woman she loves – an attorney fighting a rail deal that will displace the poor – is found murdered. Mississippi Premiere.

PLAYS WITH:

Sweet Steel From Baghdad to the Bay Erin Palmquist USA, 1:08:21, Rating: Teens & Up Sunday, 1 pm, Malco Screen 2 From Baghdad to The Bay is a raw and deeply personal look at one man’s harrowing journey to be true to himself amidst extreme adversity. The film follows the epic journey of Ghazwan Alsharif, an Iraqi refugee and former translator for the U.S. military. Wrongfully accused of being a double agent, tortured by the U.S. military and ostracized from family and country, Ghazwan struggles to rebuild his life in the United States while coming out as an openly gay activist. Mississippi Premiere.

oxfordfilmfest.com

Will Goss USA, 00:04:37, Rating: Teens & Up A depressed man puts off an important task. Mississippi Premiere.

Rating System All films are marked by a general rating system provided by the filmmakers Please use your discretion when checking films and ask at the information table if any concerns.

• All Ages: no offensive language, violence, etc • Family Friendly: For ages 8+ • Teens and Up: For Ages 13+ • Mature: For 18+

19

LGBTQIA+ FEATURES

From Baghdad to the Bay PLAYS WITH:

Radio Hour XXL Tuesday Nights 10 PM Radio-Memphis.com

Off Script Every Thursday on Apple Podcasts & Spotify

www.madfatloud.com

Queen of Lapa Theodore Collatos and Carolina Monnerat USA, 1:13:00, Rating: Mature Audiences Friday, 2:30 pm, Malco Screen 4

1223 JACKSON AVE E. SOMETHINGSOUTHERNONLIN E.COM

Larger-than-life actress, cabaret performer, activist, and proud sex professional since the age of eleven, Luana Muniz, arguably one of Brazil’s most recognizable transgender personalities, shapes a new reality for a new generation of transgender sex workers in her hostel by providing a safe working environment in the dangerous neighborhood of Lapa in Rio de Janeiro. Queen of Lapa explores the day-to-day lives, quests for love, housemate rivalries in a turbulent political climate under matriarch Muniz’s watchful and guiding eye. Mississippi Premiere.

PLAYS WITH:

Go Go Boy Oriana Oppice USA, 00:06:06, Rating: Family Friendly

PLAN YOUR VISIT TO

Cedar Oaks!

It’s the late ‘80s and everyone wants to be a WWF wrestler. But when Bobby looks at himself in the mirror, he sees someone a little… different.

By dancing in his bedroom, Bobby transports himself into a fantasy world, where he can be free of the wrestling ring’s ropes, free from society’s expectations of who he should be. As his mother interrupts his dance session, he hops back into reality and back into bed, out of breath but happy.

Regional Premiere.

AND:

2 WEEKS Victoria Negri USA, 00:12:00, Rating: Teens & Up

Open Fridays 11-4 & Sundays 1-4 ~ And for private tours by appointment ~ cedaroaksoxford@gmail.com ~ To rent, call 662-801-4590 ~ Facebook: @cedaroaksguild 601 Murray St. • Oxford, Mississippi

20

Tanya’s sanity is tested as she wakes up to the realization that she does not experience sexual attraction the way the majority of the world does.

Sexualization is thrown at her in everything she does, forcing her to understand that something is different inside of her. As an actor in an industry that perpetuates womxn’s worth based on sex appeal and an immediate circle of friends whoa are “woke” to femxle sexual empowerment, she can no longer lie to herself or to the person she values the most. World Premiere.

March 18-22, 2020

Dear Johnny Reb: An argument against Confederate memorials Philip Scarborough USA, 00:07:45, Rating: All Ages

The Dinner Party

This film is an expression of a thought and a desire by Mississippi filmmaker Philip Scarborough along with 42 fellow Mississippians (NOT ACTORS, real native Mississippians), who have crafted a letter to the Confederate “sentinels” looming over courthouse lawns and public parks across their state. In a heartfelt appeal to these manifestations of his Confederate ancestors’ racism, Scarborough explains why it’s time for them to stand down and go home.

Miles Doleac USA, 1:51:00, Rating: Mature Friday, 9:45 pm, Malco Screen 1 A budding playwright and his wife attend a dinner party hosted by wealthy, cultural elites, who have promised to bankroll the writer’s latest play to Broadway, but, in fact, have darker designs in mind for the couple.

World Premiere.

PLAYS WITH

My Dinner with Werner Maverick Moore USA, 00:17:49, Rating: Teens & Up Based on real events, real people, and real things they actually said, My Dinner with Werner is a wildly bizarre and wacky farce about a 1987 dinner date with a murder plot as the main dish. Mississippi Premiere. In Narrative Shorts Competition.

Far East Deep South Larissa Lam USA, 01:15:25, Rating: Family Friendly Friday, 2:15 pm and Sunday, noon, Malco Screen 1 When Charles Chiu, a Chinese-American man from California, travels to Mississippi to visit the grave of his father who abandoned him 75 years ago, he and his family stumble upon surprising revelations that change their lives. Along the way, they meet a diverse group of local residents and historians, who shed light on the racially complex history of the early Chinese in the segregated South. Their emotional journey also leads them to discover how deep their roots run in America. Please note that this film is family friendly except for a few racial slurs used in historical context. Regional Premiere.

PLAYS WITH:

The Evers Loki Mulholland USA, 1:31:05, Rating: Family Friendly Friday, 4:45 pm and Sunday, 9:30 am, Malco Screen 1 On June 12, 1963, an assassin’s bullet ended the life of Medgar Evers, the Field Secretary of the NAACP in Mississippi. From the Emmy-winning director of The Uncomfortable Truth comes the incredible true story of one family’s unbreakable love and tragic sacrifice in the name of freedom for everyone. The Evers is a powerful testament of love, faith and family in the quest for a better world. Mississippi Premiere.

oxfordfilmfest.com

70 Years of Blackness Christopher Windfield USA, 00:29:51, Rating: Family Friendly Verda Byrd has been living her entire life as a black woman. Only until the age of 70 Verda made a shocking discovery. She was adopted and her biological parents were actually white. World Premiere.

21

mississippi features

The Evers PLAYS WITH:

A Stranger Among The Living It’s Time Frank Waldech USA, 1:30:00, Rating: Family Friendly Wednesday, 7:30 pm, Ford Center, See website for ticketing options Friday, 7:45 pm, Oxford Conference Center, Passholders Only The story of Ole Miss Rebel defensive back Chucky Mullins, who in 1989 became paralyzed after making a tackle against Vanderbilt player Brad Gaines. Chucky and Brad were forever linked by that play and a relationship was born out of tragedy. World Premiere.

Nothin’ No Better Ben and Bo Powell USA, 01:10:00, Rating: Teens & Up Friday, 11:45 am Sunday, 2:30 pm, Malco Screen 1 The people of Rosedale invite you to peek into their lives in this fading Mississippi Delta town. A gently composed portrait of the many personalities that make up a quintessential and iconic American community, still hanging on despite a painful past and an uncertain future. World Premiere.

Christopher Wesley Moore USA, 1:40:47, Rating: Teens & Up Friday, 10 pm, Malco Screen 1 Henry Lyle, a young teacher, avoids a school shooting due to a terrifying premonition. Soon, he discovers his nightmare has just begun as strange phantoms stalk him, trying to complete the job that death started.

Regional Premiere.

SPECIAL FREE SCREENING OF

The Gun in Betty Lou’s Handbag Allan Moyle USA, Filmed in Oxford, 01:29:00, PG-13 Saturday, 12:00 pm, Powerhouse An ignored, small-town librarian confesses to a murder she didn’t commit to get attention.

PLAYS WITH

Revelation Alabama Glenn Payne USA, 00:24:50, Rating: Teens & Up Is Revelation, Alabama a place or a state of mind? In this short-film you will find a recipe for Southern-fried spirituality, with a New-Age twist. It is a film with a powerful, inspirational message. Stories of heartbreak and redemption never go out of style. World Premiere.

22

Oxford Film Festival is making an effort to be more sustainable.

Done with your program or badge?

Drop back off at the Box office.

Got a bottle of water?

Drop it off at one of our recycling bins around the Malco Commons.

March 18-22, 2020

PLAYS WITH:

Botis Seva: Air Divya Pathak United Kingdom, 00:04:41, Rating: All Ages

In Flowers Through Space

Botis Seva: Air is a documentary featuring an exclusive, rare solo dance performance by award winning choreographer Botis Seva. Botis is a rising star in the UK and recently won the prestigious 2019 Olivier Award, Britain’s top theatre honor, for Best New Dance Production.

Dennis Cahlo USA, 1:06:00, Rating: Teens & Up Saturday, noon, Malco Screen 2 The Fibonacci Sequence has long been witnessed in nature and the universe but rarely used in creating an album. In director Dennis Cahlo’s first full length documentary, we follow producer/engineer E Scott Lindner as he uses the sequence to create a very unique album and has some incredible revelations about the universe, creativity, and life along the way.

World Premiere.

PLAYS WITH:

The Offline Playlist Brian C. Miller Richard USA, 49:15, Rating: Family Friendly A first-of-it’s-kind concert that paired New Orleans artists on a Spotify playlist with the fans who were listening to it, live at the hallowed Preservation Hall.

Stories In Rhyme: The Songwriters of The Flora-Bama Lounge Lynn Rabren USA, 01:24:00, Rating: Teens & Up Sunday, 3:30 pm, Malco Screen 2 Compiled from over thirty years’ worth of rare, never-before-seen footage, Stories in Rhyme is a journey through music history. Since 1984, the Gulf of Mexico’s famous Flora-Bama Lounge has played host to a gathering of songwriters from all over the world. From the country legends of old to the latest crop of budding troubadours, these are the voices behind the songs.

This documentary isn’t just an ode to these characters, but to the timeless, unifying power of music itself. Mississippi Premiere.

PLAYS WITH:

How Great Thou Art Brian Oxley USA, 00:11:30 How Great Thou Art — an insight into Elvis Presley’s love of spiritual music. World Premiere.

Rockabul Travis Beard Afghanistan, 1:30:00, Rating: Teens & Up Thursday, 1:30 pm, Nutt Auditorium, Free Screening Rockabul examines the counter culture campaign that the US government waged in Afghanistan, told through the eyes of a young band in the war torn capital of Kabul, where rock music is forbidden. The band, District Unknown put themselves in the firing line to challenge freedom

oxfordfilmfest.com

@oxfordfilmfest Hashtag: #oxff 23

music documentary features

of expression, youth identity and conflict with culture. A glimpse into the underground expat party scene, at odds with the conservative and fundamentalist society in Kabul, Afghanistan. Regional Premiere.

EVENTIVE IS PROUD TO SUPPORT THE OXFORD FILM FESTIVAL.

I’ve Got Issues

Kate McLean USA, 01:26:00, Rating: Teens & Up Friday, 10:00 pm and Saturday, 2:30 pm, Malco Screen 2

Steve Collins USA, 1:32:12, Rating: Teens & Up Friday, 12:15 pm and Saturday, 6 pm, Malco Screen 3

Forced to go legal, an outlaw pot farmer fights to preserve her way of life.

Regional Premiere.

Self-loathing, loneliness, death, discrimination, injustice, oppression, and the atom bomb, I’ve Got Issues is a unique comic world inhabited by sensitive souls trying to survive the pain of living in this cruel world. In a dead-pan, deeply empathetic tone, the film asks the big questions: “What are we supposed to do with all the hurt?” “What’s the point?” The film builds an answer out of intertwining stories of characters swallowed in darkness, yet still finding light. Regional Premiere.

PLAYS WITH

Cherry Stacey Davis USA, 00:12:51, Rating: Teens & Up With her father dying of cancer, Helen has high hopes for the family’s last Easter together. Mississippi Premiere.

Her Name Was Jo Joe Duca USA, 1:43:41, Rating: Family Friendly Friday, 2:45 pm, Malco Screen 3; Saturday, 4:15 pm, Malco Screen 4 Ten year old Jo spends her days along the Shenandoah River with her best friend Selma, fishing, scrapping for metal—surviving. But when her abusive junkie stepdad dies, Jo decides, Selma in tow, to dump the body, steal the car, and, with only the address on an old CD case to go by, sets off across the country in search of her real dad, a legendary folk singer in Los Angeles. World Premiere.

PLAYS WITH:

In A Lifetime

The Evening Hour Braden King USA, 1:55:00 Sunday, 5:30 pm, Malco Screen 1 Cole, a popular, young health aide at a nursing home living in rural Appalachia, makes ends meet by redistributing excess medication from townies to local buyers. Among a community low on opportunities but seemingly awash in pill bottles, he envisions himself as a caretaker, genuinely fond of his suppliers and keeping addicted customers out of the path of the town’s menacing kingpin. The fragile balance of his double life is suddenly threatened when childhood friend Terry Rose returns after years away with plans to capitalize on what he perceives as Cole’s place in the local drug trade. Regional Premiere. Closing Night FIlm.

Frantzy Moreau USA, 00:14:43, Rating: Teens & Up Olly and Ade are two friends who cherish their bond and relationship.

However, one strives to leave the environment by any means while the other grows dependent on the friendship. Mississippi Premiere.

oxfordfilmfest.com

25

Narrative Featurres

Freeland

26

March 18-22, 2020

Mindy Bledsoe USA, 1:17:26, Rating: Teens & Up Friday, 9:30 am and Sunday, 12:15 pm, Malco Screen 3 Two women set out on a road trip with different missions. Mads (Jennifer Stone Wizards of Waverly Place) needs to renew her driver’s license in South Dakota, while Junior needs to visit Portland, Oregon, on a quest for her dead sister. Both women have medical issues that cause friction along the way, but they never let those problems define their identities. Mississippi Premiere.

PLAYS WITH:

Synchronization Anna KasinĚ ska Poland, 00:19:54, Rating: Teens & Up In 2084, when the male sex is near extinction, four women wait for their menstrual cycles to synchronize. They all want to become mothers but there can only be one donor. When the day comes, Donor finally appears at their doorstep. During dinner he suffers an accident and seems to be dead. USA Premiere.

Once Upon A River Haroula Rose USA, 1:32:00, Rating: Teens & Up Saturday, 6:45 pm, Malco Screen 4; Sunday, 9:45 am, Malco Screen 3 Based on the best-selling novel by Bonnie Jo Campbell, Once Upon A River is the story of Native American teenager Margo Crane in 1970s rural Michigan. After enduring a series of traumas and tragedies, Margo (newcomer Kenadi DelaCerna) sets out on an odyssey on the Stark River in search of her estranged mother. On the water, Margo encounters friends, foes, wonders, and dangers; navigating life on her own, she comes to understand her potential, all while healing the wounds of her past. Mississippi Premiere.

PLAYS WITH:

Nowhere Arkansas Robert Linsley USA, 00:10:51, Rating: Mature Nowhere, Arkansas, 1863. A Confederate veteran, haunted by his past, hunts redemption in the form of a famous eagle that belongs to the Union Army. Mississippi Premiere.

The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain David Midell USA, 1:21:17, Rating: Teens & Up Friday, 7:15 pm and Saturday, 1 pm, Malco Screen 3 Based on the true story of the events that led to the death of Kenneth Chamberlain Sr., an elderly African American veteran with bipolar disorder, who was killed during a conflict with police officers who were dispatched to check on him. Regional Premiere.

Plays with:

The Initiation Amir Youssef USA, 00:19:23, Rating: Mature

Pump Up The Volume Allan Moyle USA, 1:42:00, Rating: R Thursday, 7:30 pm, Ford Center, Anniversary Screening and Conversation with Director and Producer Sandy Stern.

Mark runs a pirate radio station and causes an uproar when he speaks his mind and enthralls fellow teens. 30th Anniversary Screening.

In an abandoned place where violence rules, only graffiti walls show compassion. David a homeless man and a silent narrator follows the tags of a Latino Graffiti Writer named Pedro. Regional Premiere.

oxfordfilmfest.com

27

Narrative Featurres

The In-Between

Star Light PLAYS WITH:

Dick Pics! (A Documentary) Hannah McSwiggen and Russell Sheaffer USA, 00:12:18, Rating: Mature

Reckoning

Dick Pics! is a short, stop-motion animated documentary that gathers men from all walks of life and asks them one of the most important questions of the modern era: “What in God’s name compels you to send pictures of your penis to non-consenting others?” Mississippi Premiere.

Ruckus Skye and Lane Skye USA, 1:26:42, Rating: Teens & Up Saturday, 9:30 am, Malco Screen 2; Saturday, 1:45 pm, Malco Screen 4 After the disappearance of her husband, a struggling farmer in an isolated Appalachian community discovers she is a pawn in a blood-soaked revenge plot and the only way out for her and her son could mean destroying a decades-old truce. Mississippi Premiere.

PLAYS WITH:

The Second

Team Marco

Mpumelelo Kheswa South Africa, 00:16:52, Rating: Teens & Up

Julio Vincent Gambuto USA, 1:32:00, Rating: Family Friendly Saturday, 9:30 am, Malco Screen 5 Presented by A Smile 4 U

In the year 1990, the Apartheid regime is ending yet in the province of Natal, two political movements were still at war. In the midst of the political violence, Kwandile, a former freedom fighter, is tasked by the Chief of the village with escorting his pregnant daughter, Nolwandle, to a safe haven when the threat of danger looms too close. Mississippi Premiere.

Screen time alert! Marco, 11, is obsessed with his electronics and hardly leaves the house. But when his grandmother dies and his grandfather moves in, Marco’s life is turned upside-down and he’s forced...to go play outside. “Nonno” (Grandpa) introduces him to bocce — the world’s oldest game — and to the neighborhood crew of old Italian men who play daily at the local court. With sport, laughter and love, “Marcolino,” as his grandfather calls him, finds connection to other people “in real life” and rounds up a team of neighborhood kids to take on his grandfather and his pals. Mississippi Premiere.

PLAYS WITH:

Gabrielle Nicola Rose USA, 00:13:31, Rating: All Ages

Star Light Lee Cummings and Mitchell Altieri USA, 1:29:12, Rating: Teens & Up Thursday, 10 pm, Malco Screen 1 While skateboarding, a kind hearted teenager, Dylan, crashes into a beautiful young woman who secretly turns out to be the World Famous Popstar, Bebe A. Love. Keeping her identity under wraps, Dylan takes Bebe to his best friend’s house for help. While he and his group of friends try to help this mysterious woman, unexplained events begin to occur within the home. And they only intensify when Bebe’s handler, Anton, shows up at their door and demands the teenagers return her immediately. When Dylan refuses fearing for Bebe’s safety, he unleashes a barrage of dire consequences that turns a fun graduation party into a night of living hell. Mississippi Premiere.

28

When 13-year-old Gabrielle signs up for ballet, she encounters bullying from her teacher and friendship in an unexpected place. A story about resilience, friendship, body image, and knowing your worth. Regional Premiere.

ALSO FEATURING:

Loss of Control and Art Snobbery Two films made by kids who attended the 2019 Oxford Film Festival Summer Kid Film Camp movies.

Check out the Merchandise for sale in the Lobby Shirts • Hats • Mugs • And more!

March 18-22, 2020

FordforC enter the Performing Arts Gertrude C.

BEAUTIFUL THE CAROLE KING MUSICAL

PRESIDIO BRASS ...AND ALL THAT BRASS

NATIONAL TOUR March 29, 2020 7:30 PM

PRESIDIO BRASS April 16, 2020 7:30 PM

STOMP

AN AMERICAN IN PARIS

April 21, 2020 7:30 PM

NATIONAL TOUR April 13, 2020 7:30 PM

fordcenter.org • 662-915-7411

Gertrude C. Ford Center for the Performing Arts 351 University Ave., P.O. Box 1848, University MS 38677

THE TWENTY-SEVENTH

Oxford Conference for the Book April 1–3, 2020 Three days of readings, discussions, and events dedicated to books, writing, and reading.

forrednce e dro xfe O cnerefxO n o C derroeffxnO r fo f othC n e rof oC cn t h e rof T W E N T Y- S E V E N T ANNUAL

S -Y T N E HTNEVE A LAUNN

H

HTN

EVE SLAU YTNEW NNA T

All panels, readings, and talks are free and open to the public.

WT

K K O O B O O B B O KO W E D N E S DAY – F R

A –1 LIRP 0202 ,3

,Y A D I R

L U C E R U T

T U O S N R E H

30

ww

c drofxo.w

cnerefno

b eht rof e

moc.koo

F

NDEW – YAD S E

C E N T E R F O

F O R

S Y D U T

nceforthebook.com

www.oxfordconfere

T H E

E H T

, 2 0 2 00 2 0 2 I DAY, A P R I L 1 – 3 ,3–1

S T U D Y

R O F

O F

E C R E T N

S O U T H E R N

E R UR T LE U C U LT U C

moc

LIR

.koo

b eht

K O BO

For more information and a complete schedule, please visit for www.oxfordconferenceforthebook.com eht he

PA , YAD

IRF

N R E H T U O S

t

– YA

D S E Sponsored by the D NDE NES W WED Center for the Study of Southern Culture dro

rof ec nere fnoc

F O

fxo.w

E H T

R O F

FR AY –

R E E R T N E C C E N T

R F O

E T H

I DA

Y U D S T

PR Y, A

O F

March 18-22, 2020

r the

nce fo

nfere

co xford

.o www

ww

Y D U T S

H

dnc r o f x e O r e f n Co T VEN -SE NTY L TWE ANNUA

IL

boo

H E U T S O

Your opinion matters! Audience counts for 50% of the vote to determine the $15K winner.

Go to all 3 blocks and vote.

Wonder Javier Molina • USA • 16 min.

An 11 year-old biracial kid growing up in “the hood” secretly dreams of trick-or-treating as Wonder Woman for Halloween.

Mississippi Premiere.

Animal Russell Sharman • USA • 14 min.

A young boy begins to suspect something... happens to him at night. Concerned he might turn into something wild and untamed, until he meets a girl who might become something even more fearsome. World Premiere.

Short Calf Muscle Victoria Warmerdam • Netherlands • 13 min.

As Advised Quinn Halleck • USA • 19 min.

In an ’80s dystopia world where technology knows you better than you know yourself, a teen, uncomfortable in his own skin, is willing to disguise his personality to be the person he has always wanted to become.

Mississippi Premiere.

Life After Death Noah Glenn • USA • 14 min.

When Vincent is caught digging up his own grave, two security guards discover that he has been falsely declared legally dead. He is invited to a “Living Dead Support Group” where the existing members help him feel less alone by sharing sharing the funny stories of how they wound up legally dead.

Short Calf Muscle is an absurdist black comedy about Anders. And Anders is different. But he doesn’t know that. Yes, he’s also gay, but that’s not the point here. There is also this thing that others see but he doesn’t.

Mississippi Premiere.

The Water Cooler Joe Smiley • USA • 8 min.

Late one evening in a quiet, ordinary office building, a water cooler stages a daring escape. Disguised as an elderly janitor, the water cooler makes its way to the lobby where it attempts to slip through the front door unnoticed. But Kirby—the loudmouthed, bullying security guard on duty—stops the cooler moments before its escape, setting the stage for a dramatic showdown with an unexpected turn of events. Mississippi Premiere.

Helping the LOU Community with Business Startup

OXFORD ENTERPRISE CENTER Office: 662.281.0720 9 Industrial Park Drive • Oxford, MS 38655 holly@northmiss.org • www.northmiss.org

oxfordfilmfest.com

“It’s never too late to have a happy childhood” ~ In Memoriam of Ron Shapiro ~

31

artist vodka shorts block #1

Saturday, 10 am, Malco Screen 1 Block Rating: Teens & Up; Q&A Scheduled

artist vodka shorts block #2

Saturday, 12:15 pm Malco Screen 1 Block Rating: Teens & Up; Q&A scheduled Your opinion matters! Audience counts for 50% of the vote to determine the $15K winner.

Go to all 3 blocks and vote.

In The Blood Regina Banali • USA • 7 min.

In the old West, Sartana rides into town to score some cash, form a gang and settle a score. His ex, Dolores, has been hiding out with an unwitting suitor. She has secrets. They are catching up with her, and she means to skip town but doesn’t make it out in time before having a shootout with Sartana and his gang.

Regional Premiere.

... so it goes Jim Hall • USA • 2 min.

A dictator with an orange for a face becomes the new symbol of fascism in this experimental FilmPoem. The color orange morphs into the ultimate hue of hate and destruction, the flame that ignites the world in a nuclear fireball....so it goes. Regional Premiere.

In the Pink Katharine Stocker • USA • 13 min.

One woman, one bathroom, one big diagnosis. When Marie discovers she has polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) she begins to question her sense of self as a woman. World Premiere.

The Indignation of Michael Busby Nathan Ross Murphy • USA • 21 min.

A daydreaming cubicle worker contemplates another lousy day at the office. Regional Premiere.

Mark “Muleman” Massey Michael Ford • USA • 12 min.

A profile of Bluesman Mark “Muleman” Massey of Senetobia, Mississippi.

After a hard start in life music lead him a new future. He raises mules, sings, plays, and writes music in the North Mississippi Hill Country. Also in competition in Music Documentary Shorts. World Premiere.

Mother’s Day Elizabeth Tabish • USA • 22 min.

California, 1968. Jane has the perfect life: a loving husband, a darling daughter and – hands down – the grooviest home in the neighborhood.

But all that is no match for the painful memories of Jane’s childhood as they emerge on the eve of Mother’s Day. Mississippi Premiere.

Of Memories and Madness Maria Isabel de la Ossa • Australia • 6 min.

The inner voice when navigating a broken heart while memories take you into the brink of madness. Regional Premiere.

The Rougarou Lorraine Caffery • USA • 13 min.

A father tells his daughter a cautionary tale to keep her out of trouble.

Mississippi Premiere.

34

March 18-22, 2020

Celebrating 50 Years of Living Blues!

® ©

Issue #265 • Vol. 51, #1

LEON BLUE

CELEBRATING 50 YEARS!

SMILIN’ BOBBY SMITH

CLARENCE SPADY

LET IT ROLL WITH THE BABY FACE LEROY TRIO

Rollin’ and Tumblin’ The Story of a Song

$6.95 US $6.95 CAN www.livingblues.com

www.rnnstudios.com 662-269-4690

Shannon Lovejoy Bookkeeping, LLC P. O. Box 2983 Oxford, Mississippi 38655 662-832-4414 shannon@shannonlovejoy.com

36

March 18-22, 2020

Your opinion matters! Audience counts for 50% of the vote to determine the $15K winner.

Go to all 3 blocks and vote.

In the Fall Tom Gentle • Scotland • 25 min.

Scotland, 1928. A remote coastal peninsula. A boy watches his parents as they decide whether to send their loyal working horse to the knacker’s yard; he now costs much more to keep than he earns for a family who tread the tightrope between survival and ruin. USA Premiere.

El Astronauta Manuel Trotta • Venezuela/Mexico/US • 19 min.

Beto returns to his remote hometown committed to taking his senile father to a care home in the city. But his father doesn’t want to leave without fulfilling his one last wish: to reach the moon to say goodbye to his beloved late wife. Mississippi Premiere.

The Bear and the Beekeeper Kristina Mileska • Canada • 13 min.

An aging beekeeper tries to keep a pesky predator away from his beehives in order to keep the memory of his loved one alive. USA Premiere.

Blocks Bridget Moloney • USA • 11 min.

An existential comedy about the mother of two young children who begins to spontaneously vomit plastic toy blocks. Mississippi Premiere.

The Comedian

A Line Birds Cannot See Amy Bench • USA • 10 min.

Separated from her mother by smugglers at the border, a determined 12-year-old sets out across a desert with only a plastic sack for protection from the cold, survives starvation on the streets of Ciudad Juarez, and escapes kidnappers to find her mother and a place where they can be safe again. Mississippi Premiere.

We Go Back Glenn Payne • USA • 8 min.

Two well-meaning individuals risk everything to correct the very negative impact of their positive intentions. World Premiere.

Katyayan Shivpuri • India • 24 min.

The Comedian is a film about an ageing comedic actor in the Indian film industry (Bollywood) who has no laughter left in his life. World Premiere.

@oxfordfilmfest Hashtag: #oxff oxfordfilmfest.com

37

artist vodka shorts block #3

Saturday, 2:45 pm, Malco Screen 1 Block Rating: Teens & Up; Q&A Scheduled

Truly Unique Fine Art and Crafts

in a Magnificent Country Setting just Minutes from The Square 662.236.1667 • www.oxfordtreehousegallery.com

Over12 Flavors of Chicken Salad Chicken Salad Chick Oxford - 1305 Merchants Drive Open Monday to Friday 10:30am to 8:00pm Saturday 10:30am to 6:00pm

COMEDY! ACTION! DRAMA! ROMANCE!

CITY COUNCIL MEETINGS! SCHOOL BOARD AGENDA! HIGH SCHOOL VOLLEYBALL STATE CHAMPS!

L A C O L EWS...

N ies r o t s the times. g n i l l te of our

38

March 18-22, 2020

The Dreamer Manjula Varghese • USA • 5 min.

Gabriel Mata came to the US as a child with his mother. He shares with us his story of learning that he was undocumented and the fears that surrounded his status in this country. As a dancer, his art reflects on his status as an undocumented American and a DACA recipient.

Día de la Madre Ashley Brandon and Dennis Hohne • USA • 6 min.

A band of juveniles embark on a 24-hour spree of breaking into houses and causing a ruckus. Regional Premiere, Competing in the Music Short Documentary category.

Root Shocked

Les

A story of generational loss, racial disparity, and the steps taken by one family to force the city of Portland to reckon with its racist history.

Cecilia Brown • USA • 16 min.

Olivia Bernhardt Brogan • UK • 5 min.

A hand-built bird shed at the end of a garden reveals a life-time of devotion and sacrifice. World Premiere.

The Loop Johanis Lyons-Reid and Lorcan Hopper • Australia • 19 min.

The Loop is an absurd journey into disability, authorship and representation. US Premiere.

Lou

Singing for King Yalonda M. James • USA • 6 min.

Members of the Prairie View A&M choir, in Prairie View, Texas, share their experiences performing for Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, in March 1968.

The Timekeeper Sohil Vaidya • India • 5 min.

Ethan Payne • USA • 4 min.

Louisiana Pettway Bendolph tells the story of how she came to embrace her place in the great legacy of “Gee’s Bend Quilt-Makers” who came before her. Mississippi Premiere.

No Distance Between Us Vera Hong • Australia • 12 min.

No Distance Between Us (2018) reveals the Aboriginal spiritual connection to the largest human fossil trackway in the world told through the candid voices of the Traditional Custodians of the Willandra Lakes Region, the Mutthi Mutthi, Barkandji and Ngiyampaa people. Mississippi Premiere.

A man desperately seeks to preserve his life long passion for creating analog clocks in an era of digital totality. Regional Premiere.

Tungrus Rishi Chandna • India • 13 min.

In a cramped apartment in Mumbai, a meat-eating family considers eating their hell-raising pet rooster, so that they can reclaim their normal lives.

Mississippi Premiere.

@oxfordfilmfest Hashtag: #oxff

oxfordfilmfest.com

39

passion projects: doc shorts

People pursuing what they truly love.

Friday, 5:30 pm, Malco Screen 2 Block Rating: Teens & Up; Q&A Scheduled

Fest Forward: Animation

Thursday, 3 pm, University Museum Block Rating: Teens & Up; Q&A scheduled Free Event

The Phantom 52 Geoff Marslett • USA • 7 min.

Loneliness is a trucker who calls out on his CB radio waiting for a reply that never comes; A ghost that haunts the deserted highways; and a whale that sings at a frequency no other whale can even hear. Mississippi Premiere.

Angel’s Trumpet Martinus Klemet • Estonia • 2 min.

The next step in the evolution of hummingbirds. Mississippi Premiere.

Foreign Exchange Corrie Francis Parks • USA • 6 min.

In this tiny world built with money and sand, what you observe, and the meaning you derive from that observation, depends on where you start your journey. Look closely, it’s all in the details. Regional Premiere.

How and Why Don Jose Dissipated Moshe Ben-Avraham • Israel • 13 min.

A delighted bee disturbs the tranquility of vacationers on a quiet pastoral island. USA Premiere.

Iktamuli Anne-Christin Plate • Germany • 6 min.

An autobiographic story about the conflict of a mother and her feelings of love, connection, self-pity and denial for her disabled son. USA Premiere.

King of the House Zige Zhang • USA • 11 min.

A delusional man lives alone in a small dark house, believing that he is the king of the world and his supremacy is secure. However, his sovereignty is shaken by the arrival of a stranger. Mississippi Premiere.

Osirika Black Champagne Jeremiah Williams • USA • 5 min.

Queen Suraya and King Jamari are the leaders of the magical Nemanyo civilization and derive their powers from an ancient lotus flower that was brought to earth from their ancestors thousands of years ago. Mississippi Premiere.

40

Propolis, part 7 Patricia Beckmann Wells • USA • 3 min.

The human race is outnumbered by insects, so what would happen if they bonded together to take over the world? Liz and Beaux are a sister and brother, trapped in a closet as punishment by an alcoholic mother, who want to escape. Mississippi Premiere.

The Space Wall Jason Allen Lee • USA • 11 min.

Amid the collision of light and dark, the bounds of space are revealed. The Space Wall is a visually striking animated journey through cosmic landscapes, accompanied by a deeply atmospheric original score. Mississippi Premiere.

The Spirit Seam Ashley Gerst • USA • 15 min.

The Spirit Seam is a short animated film about a little girl, Pollywog, and her Pap-Paw.

Synchronicity Michelle Brand • UK • 4 min.

People come, people go. Yet everyone is moving in the same direction. We all are sharing something that we are unaware of, creating one big picture we are unable to see. Mississippi Premiere.

Umbilical Danski Tang • China & USA • 7 min.

This piece is an animated documentary exploring how my mother’s abusive relationship with my father shaped my own experiences in a boarding school as a child in China. USA Premiere.

March 18-22, 2020

Haley Barbour Center for Manufacturing Excellence The University of Mississippi

PROUD

MANUFACTURER OF THE

HOKA

The Haley Barbour Center for Manufacturing Excellence (CME) at The University of Mississippi focuses on developing students into manufacturing professionals.

As part of our interdisciplinary in curriculum, students are exposed to the world of modern manufacturing through a “learn by doing” approach. This “one-of-a-kind” program is preparing young professionals to work in a diverse environment, keep companies innovative and profitable, all while delivering a high quality product to the market place.

• CO-OP/INTERNSHIP PROGRAMS • INNOVATIVE CURRICULUM DRIVEN BY INDUSTRY PARTNERS INN • KNOWLEDGEABLE FACULTY AND STAFF • STATE OF THE ART FACILITY • INDUSTRY PROJECTS LEARN MORE AT: WWW.CME.MS

(662) 915-2630 1784 UNIVERSITY CIRCLE UNIVERSITY, MS 38677

SOLA OXFORD PRESENTS

POSSIBLY YOUR NEW FAVORITE RESTAURANT OR, AT THE VERY LEAST, A CONTENDER

rockin' specials, simple cocktails, and fine-ass vittles

OPEN TUES - SAT 3-WHENEVER

SUNDAY BRUNCH 11-2

HAPPY HOUR

3-6 EVERY DAY

Proud Sponsor of The Oxford Film Festival 19 CR 168 • Oxford, MS 38655 • 662.234.0158

SOLAOXFORDMS for the goods

42

March 18-22, 2020

Tingle Monsters Alexandra Serio • USA • 11 min.

An ASMR vlogger with a devoted fan base returns from an extended absence with a livestream that spirals out of control. Mississippi Premiere.

Break Through the Abyss Shiyen Giselle Chien • USA • 6 min.

The phenomenon of digital media affecting the brains of my generation in the way we think, the way we view ourselves, morphing our desires to become the false perfections of others. World Premiere.

A Collection of Attempts In Astral Travel Rachel Nakawatase and Ryan Betschart • USA • 6 min.

In 1990, parapsychologist D. Scott Rogo, an expert in the study of astral projection and an accomplished oboe player, was murdered in his Northridge home. The crime remains unsolved. Regional Premiere.

Cut Copy Sphinx Virginia Lee Montgomery • USA • 4 min.

Cut Copy Sphinx is a surreal, sculptural short art-film about metaphysics, myth, and destruction; syncing philosophy, feminism, and image theory.

Mississippi Premiere.

The Education of a Girl Child Gabriela McNicoll • USA • 3 min.

Experimental film using archival footage to highlight the struggles of mothering a daughter in a society where aggression and violence is cultivated in boys at an early age. Mississippi Premiere.

Girls Grow Up Drawing Horses Joanie Wind • USA • 7 min.

A woman explores gender roles, heteronormativity, and the life of her deceased grandmother through horses and other visual metaphors.

Regional Premiere.

oxfordfilmfest.com

The Gods of Tiny Things Deborah Kelly • Australia • 5 min.

The Gods of Tiny Things thinks poetically and urgently about the current array of threats to life; the shift to the right across the political world, the tolls of colonialism, climate catastrophe, human profligacy; and conversely the dynamic, kaleidoscopic pleasures and desires of life itself, at all scales, in all its teeming, prancing, hectic, clamouring fertility. Mississippi Premiere.

Joints Ricardo Werdesheim, Moran Somer, and Osi Wald • Israel • 11 min.

A chain of alternative evolutionary events leads to one imaginary moment on the beach, questioning the relationship between man and object.

International Premiere.

MUÑE Catalina Jordan Alvarez • USA • 15 min.

Muñe, who has recently emigrated to Tennessee, knows how to fix appliances, and looks for parts in a steel salvage yard. She and the family who own it eventually connect by eating insects together. Regional Premiere.

Out of Tune Aaron With • Mexico • 10 min.

In an advanced society that worships a musical chord, a maintenance worker who tunes sonic shrines is thwarted by teen vandals. Regional Premiere.

43

Fest Forward: Experimental

Sunday, 9:30 am, Malco Screen 4 Block Rating: Teens & Up; Q&A Scheduled

Tides André Silva • USA • 8 min.

Filmed at Masonboro Island, an undeveloped barrier island in southeastern North Carolina, Tides contemplates the liminal space between the modern technological world and that more ecological dimension we label as “nature” or “the environment.” World Premiere.

Turning Linnéa Haviland • UK • 2 min.

Voices in a crowd stir violent emotions, microaggressions bring up past traumas. Then a turning shifts the emotional landscape. World Premiere.

Tx-reverse Martin Reinhart and Virgil Widrich • Austria & Germany • 5 min.

In a way never before shown, tx-reverse shows the collision of reality and cinema and draws its viewers into a vortex in which the familiar order of space and time is suspended.

WWW {The Whale Who Wasn’t} Alessia Cecchet • USA • 10 min.

WWW {the whale who wasn’t} is a tale of conquest and destruction.

Regional Premiere.

You Are Heading for a Land of Sunshine Laura Jean Hocking • USA • 2 min.

A woman just wants to hang out on the beach in peace, but it’s all a lie.

Mississippi Premiere.

A full service photographer located in Oxford, MS. Available for travel. Weddings, seniors, pageants and so much more. No job is too big or too small.

Miss Mississippi 2019, Mary Margaret Hyer

Joey Brent - Oxford, MS - 662-816-8155 - joeybrent@gmail.com

PhotosbyJoeyBrent.com

44

March 18-22, 2020

LGBTQIA+ Shorts

Saturday, 3:30 pm, Malco Screen 3 Block Rating: Mature; Q&A Scheduled

Queering the South through Drag Christina Huff • USA • 14 min.

Drag queens GoDiva Holliday and DeePression Holliday recount their experiences as drag performers in the American South and speak about topics such as family and gender.

Belle Eduardo Cintron • USA • 20 min.

In order to find a place to stay overnight, Belle meets Karina through a dating app, but instead of a night fling, they find support and acceptance to overcome difficult moments in their lives. World Premiere.

Home Girl Poonam Brah • United Kingdom • 12 min.

Roya is a British Muslim woman whose mother has just died. After the funeral she returns to a home much altered – one without her mother.

Roya discovers her relationship with another woman was in fact known about all along.

Jared Dawson is The Church of Lavonia Elberton Adam Forrester • USA • 14 min.

In this portrait film, we meet Jared Dawson, an Atlanta-based drag queen and spiritual leader. The film centers around Jared’s drag queen persona, Lavonia Elberton, and Lavonia’s crucifixion performance for Atlanta’s Curious Queer Encounters. Jared discusses how his family’s conservative values forced him out of his own childhood home, and how he now navigates a new sense of belonging and family within the LGBTQ community of Atlanta. Mississippi Premiere.

On the Ride Jen McGowan • USA • 13 min.

On his morning bike ride, Scott grapples with the memories of a trauma he experienced with his husband Todd. When his route suddenly takes an unexpected turn, Scott finds himself on the doorstep of a stranger intimately connected to the past he can’t shake. Mississippi Premiere.

Touchscreen Arthur Halpern • USA • 15 min.

Brian drifts through life using a computer monitor as his window to the world outside, unable to connect meaningfully with people on the other side of his screen. After an unusual online encounter, he is challenged to step out from behind his computer and shatter long-lived inhibitions to claim the touch of another human being. Mississippi Premiere.

A Normal Girl Aubree Bernier-Clarke • USA • 14 min.

1.5% of people are born with anatomy that doesn’t fit typical definitions of female or male. It is common practice for doctors to perform genital surgeries on intersex infants, often with disastrous results. A Normal Girl brings the widely unknown struggles of intersex people to light, through the story of intersex activist Pidgeon Pagonis.Regional Premiere.

oxfordfilmfest.com

45

SQUARE PIZZA 1101 VAN BUREN AVENUE 662.234.9333

branding media websites search social

Here’s to the storytellers We’re proud to support the 2020 Oxford Film Festival Business | Nonprofit | Government | Startup | Campaign

We can help you reach the audiences that matter most. Get in touch today.

6 62 . 238. 7 8 4 7 | info@re dwindowc om mun ic ations .c om

View Services and New Cli

re dw i n d owc o m m u n

46

March 18-22, 2020

McPhail Block

Wednesday, 6 pm, Malco Screen 1 Block Rating: Teens & Up; Q&A Scheduled

The Golden Years Brian Whisenant • USA • 15 min.

Mabel and Norman have been together so long they know everything there is to know about each other ... or do they?

World Premiere. Oxford FIlm Festival Community Film

All That You Love Will Be Carried Away Thad Lee • USA • 30 min.

A Salesman’s love of bathroom graffiti may save his life on a cold, dark Nebraska night. Based on a short story by Stephen King.

The Rougarou Lorraine Caffery • USA • 13 min.

A father tells his daughter a cautionary tale to keep her out of trouble.

Mississippi Premiere.

Truth Lies Upstream Robb Rokk • USA • 15 min.

Fishing Buddies; One searches for long lost answers, the other bent on revenge.

Having a good time this weekend?

Join us year round at our monthly events! Get tickets online and learn what films will play for all events at www.oxfordfilmfest.com Oxford Film Festival @ Power House April 19 - Best of Oxford Film Festival May 17 October 18 June 21 November 22 July 19 December 20 August 16 January 10, 2021 September 20 February 14, 2021 oxfordfilmfest.com

Oxford Film Fest @ The Hendrix in Water Valley April 14 - Best of Oxford Film Festival May 12 October 13 June 16 November 10 July 14 December 15 August 11 January 12, 2021 September 15 February 9, 2021

47

Mississippi Music Videos & Music Documentaries

Saturday, 7:15 pm, Malco Screen 2 Block Rating: Teens & Up; Q&A Scheduled

AV Katrina Blair • USA • 2 min.

Band: Bandrunna’ Gwaup iMOB Entertainment x Artist Vodka collaboration

40 Years of the Delta Blues Museum

Let’s Have Some Fun

Coop Cooper • USA • 15 min.

Roslynn Clark • USA • 5 min.

The Delta Blues Museum in Clarksdale, Mississippi, celebrates 40 years of showcasing blues music and memorabilia as well as teaching a new generation of blues musicians through their highly successful and worldrenowned after school program.

Mississippians live to dance, party and have a great time. This is no different as the annual reunion and block party draws the partiers for dancing in the streets.

All I Have to Offer You Is Me

Pain Katrina Blair • USA • 3 min.

Dillon M. Hayes • USA • 13 min.

Band: BandRunna Gwaup

Larry Callies was an aspiring country-western singer when he developed a degenerative vocal cord disorder that ended his career. This film follows Larry as he finds voice again. Regional Premiere.

A life story.

Be My Voice Manjula Varghese • USA • 12 min.

Despite a dire diagnosis of bulbar-onset ALS, Bernie Dalton finds a way to fulfill a lifelong dream of making an album.

Fool From Memphis Tony Maynard • USA • 5 min.

Music video for song “Fool from Memphis” shot in Memphis and Pontotoc, Mississippi. Memories of growing up in the mid-south.

I Will Survive Don Smith • USA • 5 min.

Diagnosed with stage four cancer Don Smith undergoes intensive treatments. A year later he sings “I Will Survive” with rewritten lyrics with his doctor playing guitar.

Post 398 David N. Drake • UK and USA • 13 min.

One of the last underground jazz clubs in Harlem struggles to keep going after the death of its founder. World Premiere.

Price of the Blues Coop Cooper • USA • 7 min.

Nashville artist Tullie Brae sings her hit song live at Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale, Mississippi.

Self Portrait x 1000 London Edwards • USA • 5 min.

Self Portrait. A prism and mirrors. Time capsule of youth. An abstract expressionist moving painting.

When We Grow Old Stace and Cassie Shook/J.B. Lawrence • USA • 6 min.

Music Video for the single by Stace & Cassie

48

March 18-22, 2020

Mississippi Documentary Shorts

Friday, 7:15 pm, Malco Screen 1 Block Rating: Teens & Up; Q&A Scheduled

Singing Out Mary Stanton Knight • USA • 9 min.

Oxford-based musicians Morgan Pennington of And the Echo and Mattie Thrasher are living life in the spotlight. In this short doc, they share what it’s like to be openly gay in a small Mississippi town.

The Blacksmith of Oxford Michael Ford, Yellow Cat Productions • USA • 14 min.

Mr. Marion Randolph Hall, Blacksmith since 1910 in Oxford, Mississippi.

His memory as shared by three of his apprentices. World Premiere.

Getting to the Root Je’Monda Roy • USA • 24 min.

Our hairstyles reflect our daily experiences and choices. Whether our afros, curls, sew-ins, dreads, and box braids are accepted in this white society or not, it reflects our identity as black women. It’s more than just hair. Our hairstyles tell stories of resistance and struggle as we navigate through society, and everyday we’re getting to the root of it.

Recovery Inc John Reyer Afamasaga • USA • 30 min.

At the height of the opioid epidemic, clean-cut and well educated Ryan, from a conservative background in Mississippi, got hooked on his pain meds. He was forced into cleaning houses. It was the start of a journey of redemption for Ryan and others. World Premiere.

Stay in the Circle: A Mississippi Campmeeting Jarratt Taylor • USA • 6 min.

Campmeeting began as a religious revival but currently exists more like a family reunion. Older generations found Jesus while younger ones discover their roots. The nature of the event has changed but the Old Methodist campground continues to be a place for everyone to gather. Regardless of age, it has become a place to reflect on the dead and the living. World Premiere.

Sweet Sorghum Jonathan P. Smith • USA • 9 min.

Sorghum molasses is a traditional home-grown sweetener in parts of the South. It’s unique, with a little bitter mixed in with the sweet. The unique flavor isn’t the only reason for growing the sorghum and harvesting, crushing, and boiling it into syrup though. Two sorghum makers give insight into this tradition.

@oxfordfilmfest Hashtag: #oxff oxfordfilmfest.com

49

Mississippi Emerging Filmmaker Shorts

Thursday, 11:30 am, Overby Center Block Rating: Teens & Up; Q&A Scheduled Free Screening

Trumped in Tupelo V. G. Bates • USA • 20 min.

Trumped in Tupelo captures the cult-like vibe of a Trump rally as we ask a “Santa” for Trump, a “Q” follower, and other loyalists, “Why?” As the “horrible media,” we got flipped off by gray-haired women and little girls. Before Trump arrived, the Secret Service pulled us from the crowd for our protection.

World Premiere.

38,600 MPH West Givens • USA • 14 min.

A misunderstood space enthusiast wishes to leave his small hometown behind, but his ambitions damage his closest relationships.

Dear Hubert Creekmore Mary Stanton Knight • USA • 15 min.

How much does a place hold onto a person? How do the memories of a childhood hometown resonate decades later in the works of a writer? Dear Hubert Creekmore explores the connection between the past, our memories of growing up, and how we remember those who came before us.

A Dixie Darling Dinner Michele Mathis • USA • 8 min.

A Dixie Darling Dinner is about a southern matriarch who wants nothing more than to have a perfect Christmas dinner – if only her family would cooperate! This comedy peppered with social and political satire, shows the pitfalls of a perfectionist one-track mind. World Premiere.

How We Vote Here Hanna Miller • USA • 19 min.

As America’s voting infrastructure crumbles, can a scrappy Silicon Valley startup gain the trust of a sleepy town in rural Mississippi in order to test drive the future of voting technology? World Premiere.

Out of Darkness Maggie Bushway • USA • 6 min.

Former addict Bobby Pepper shares his journey of hope and healing through Celebrate Recovery.

Soccer in Cleveland Elisabetta Zengaro and Matteo Zengaro • USA • 4 min.

In a small Mississippi Delta town, a pick-up soccer team serves as an unlikely community builder through social media. The team is made of college students and community members from across the country and the world. Together, they are doing their part to break barriers and grow the popularity of soccer in their town. World Premiere.

Weight to my Weight Maggie Bushway • USA • 4 min.

Addison Bridges is a 19 year old CrossFit coach as well as a junior at Ole Miss. Throughout her teenage years, Bridges struggled with an eating disorder that eventually caused her to have a breakdown. Now she is in a position to coach and influence others who may be going through the same thing.

50

March 18-22, 2020

Lessons From a Moonwalk Brad Ellis • USA • 11 min.

Against the backdrop of the Apollo 16 moon mission, a young girl in Mississippi explores a budding interest in a fellow classmate. World Premiere.

The Brothers Brothers Kyle Taubken • USA • 14 min.

Two brothers, one a small town pastor in a marriage crisis and the other a flashy doctor with questionable morals, come home to help their overbearing mother in the aftermath of their father’s unexpected death.

Mississippi Premiere.

The Defect Coley Bryant • USA • 6 min.

In the near future a mother must deliver unfortunate news to a close family friend.

Delta Blind Spot

PANDA Trent Dickens • USA • 36 min.

PANDA, is a Neo-Noir short film about a man who hides from the world behind a mask. Falling down the rabbit hole, he is thrust into a world of violence, blue acid, a mysterious woman, and an angry shadow. Soon he realizes that the decisions we all make affect everything more than we think.

We Go Back Glenn Payne • USA • 8 min.

Two well-meaning individuals risk everything to correct the very negative impact of their positive intentions. World Premiere.

John W. Bateman • USA • 6 min.

In 1967, three graduate students headed into the Mississippi Delta to teach at a historically black college. The Klan was watching. Inspired by actual events.

Nadja Vincenzo Mistretta • USA • 17 min.

Inspired by the surrealist novel Nadja by Andre Breton, the film begins, as does the novel, with the question, “Who am I?” and then launches into an original story of a young woman who has questions about her birth mother and the mysteries surrounding her life with her father. Regional Premiere.

J

OHNSON’S

FREE DELIVERY & SETUP (WITHIN OUR TRADE AREA)

2128 W. Jackson Ave. ~ Oxford, MS 662.234.7711 www.johnsonsfurnitureonline.com

oxfordfilmfest.com

51

Mississippi Narrative Shorts

Saturday, 5:15 pm, Malco Screen 1 Block Rating: Teens & Up; Q&A Scheduled

American Lens Narrative Shorts

Friday, 8 pm, Malco Screen 2 Block Rating: Mature; Q&A Scheduled

ONE HIT WONDER Seyi River • USA • 15 min.

Adam Spears is a mega successful writer. whose muchanticipated second novel is about to be released. He reads a devastating review of the book by a highly respected critic.

His shock is so great and deep that he is jolted into a parallel universe in which he co-exists with some of his characters from unfinished and discarded stories. Mississippi Premiere.

7AM Wednesday Julie Herlocker • USA • 10 min.

A normally prompt teen shows up late at his therapist’s office totally freaked-out. Can she gain his trust to find out what happened, or is her life in jeopardy? World Premiere.

I’m Not Spock

Coffee Shop Names

Struggling to embrace stardom and his new found identity as Spock, Leonard Nimoy explores alternative artistic outlets, much to his agents chagrin.

Deepak Sethi • USA • 8 min.

Clem McIntosh • USA • 9 min.

Three Indian people imagine their personas as their “coffee shop names,” the names they give baristas because their real names are hard to pronounce. Regional Premiere.

Rehearsal

The Dishwasher

A film crew for an upcoming feature film pushes the boundaries of consent during a courtesy rehearsal for its female lead. Mississippi Premiere.

Nick Hartanto and Sam Roden • USA • 13 min.

A chef at a fine dining restaurant in New York City asks a Mexican dishwasher to find good tortillas.

Courtney Hope Thérond • USA • 8 min.

Shadow in the Room Christian Walker • USA • 8 min.

A woman is haunted by the memory of an ex lover. Mississippi Premiere.

Street Flame Katherine Propper • USA • 12 min.

Following the death of their friend, a crew of skaters and motley street teens imagine their own rituals to commemorate her on their own terms.

Mississippi Premiere.

SUBSCRIBE & SHOP

OxfordAmerican.org

52

March 18-22, 2020

Shield Danielle Eliska Lyle • USA • 18 min.

Rachel embraces the challenges of fostering Zoe in an inspiring story about facing fears, finding inner strength, and learning what makes us beautiful. Mississippi Premiere.

Being Cathleen Dean • USA • 9 min.

With poetic intensity, a man describes a scene that far too many people of color have experienced. The tremble in his voice, the sweat on his brow show us the buried pain as it bubbles to the surface. Being, a deftly shot melodrama, takes us into the mind of the most targeted person in America – the Black man. Regional Premiere.

Black Mirror Kia Pooler • USA • 4 min.

Black Mirror is an experimental film that attempts to explore the identity of black youth in America and what it means. It features mirroring imagery suggesting how black males are a reflection of each other. The film follows two young boys as they wrestle with the labels placed on them.

Regional Premiere.

The Interview Nate Duncan • USA • 15 min.

The Interview is a film about a young man pursuing business success.

During a life-changing interview, he comes face to face with the realization that he has lived a mediocre existence and lost sight of what is most important in life. He suddenly has to explain a lifetime of casual choices that will decide his very future. Regional Premiere.

PK Kankana Chakaraborty • USA Jiselle, a 21-year-old rebellious Pastor’s daughter, discovers that she is pregnant by her long term juvenile boyfriend. She faces many challenges in attempting to reveal the news to her loved ones and fears no one will accept the news or support her decision. Winner of JimWeek.

Soul Man Kyle Taubken • USA • 13 min.

Ben Whitaker, Jr., an aging and mostly washed up singer-songwriter from the 60s/70s era of big soul music, navigates loneliness, failed relationships, and a botched career in modern day Memphis, Tennessee.

Team Marilyn LaToya Morgan • USA • 9 min.

In the green room of a campaign event, a politician must decide what to do when a secret scandal erupts just a few days out from a historic presidential election. Mississippi Premiere.

Man in Hoodie

What if Black Boys Were Butterflies?

Yaz Canli • USA • 18 min.

DaeQuan Alexander Collier • USA • 4 min.

Man in Hoodie tells the story of a young man faced with the challenges of being stereotyped as a black actor, navigating a relationship with an alcoholic, and owning his masculinity. In a moment of rage, when he is pushed to his limit, we glimpse the struggle and strength within him to face and conquer the boundaries society imposes on him. Regional Premiere.

What If Black Boys Were Butterflies? is an experimental short film centered around a conversation between two black men, displaying what Black Boyhood is and what it ultimately could be. Mississippi Premiere.

oxfordfilmfest.com

53

Black Lens Narrative Shorts

Friday, 3 pm, Malco Screen 2 Block Rating: Teens & Up; Q&A Scheduled

FIlm Prize Narrative Shorts

Friday, 10 pm, Malco Screen 4 Block Rating: Teens & Up; Q&A Scheduled

Anniversary James Harlon Palmer • USA • 14 min.

Anniversary is the story of a couple celebrating one year as doting sweethearts. Everything is going swimmingly until Jimmy realizes Ellie believes this milestone leads to the altar, a sacrifice he’s not ready to make. Winner of the Louisiana Film Prize. Mississippi Premiere.

Black Pajamas Hattie Haggard Gobble • USA • 12 min.

A Vietnam veteran encounters one of his triggers when walking up to a large river. As he approaches a woman in red, he is suddenly taken to a new mindset due to his struggle with PTSD. He begins a romantic duet with the woman in red, but tragically cannot see her face.

Mississippi Premiere.

Maven Voyage Rachel Emerson • USA, • 15 min.

Blayne Weaver • USA • 14 min.

Maeve is working toward someone’s life-long goal to be on the first manned mission to Mars, in a slightly unconventional way. Mississippi Premiere.

A lonely man uses his special gift to pursue his dark infatuation with a coworker. Mississippi Premiere.

A Night Out

Leo & Grace

Abby Meyers and Kevin Brooks • USA • 13 min.

Ghosted

Gabriel Savodivker • USA • 15 min.

A woman goes for a night out after a messy breakup. Winner of the Memphis FIlm Prize.

Torn apart by a racial divide, two lovers find each other 30 years later and must do the impossible to stay together – even if it means risking their freedom forever. Regional Premiere.

Smile Y’all Photo Booth ...where to find the photos!

Feel like a movie star in the lobby photo booth provided by Smile Y’all. Take a printed photo home but don’t forget to also check it out on Facebook or share right from the booth!

54

March 18-22, 2020

Four Jennifer Sheridan • UK • 20 min.

A dowager prepares for her birthday party, the celebrations are rudely interrupted by a young couple on the run, and a hotel manager insistent on clearing his mounting debts. A hitman has checked in across the hall, and he’s watching someone.

ALINA Rami Kodeih • USA • 26 min.

As Nazis separate children from their parents in the Warsaw Ghetto, a gang of women risks everything to smuggle their friend’s three-month-old baby to safety. Inspired by true events. Mississippi Premiere.

All Eyes on Me Saber Tatarcheh • Iran • 11 min.

A girl that was born in a religious family decides to tattoo her beliefs as a sentence on her body in an underground tattoo shop; when she arrives she faces an unexpected character.

Cinderella Games Jessica Wright and Morgann Runacre-Temple • UK • 7 min.

Do YOU want to live happily ever after? Find the shoe, outplay your opponents, and beat the clock to claim the prize! A group of contestants battle it out in a competitive game show, each one desperate to prove they are the real Cinderella in order to win their very own Happy Ever After.

Mississippi Premiere.

My Time Giulia Gandini • UK • 6 min.

A 12-year-old girl has her first period in class. Her skirt is stained red. She is up next to present her final paper in front of all her peers. Will she find a way out of the “uncomfortable” situation?

Steve of the Antarctic Clem McIntosh and Edan Lacey • Antarctica • 3 min.

On a solo trek to the South Pole, mountaineer Steve Shields is faced with a wildly unexpected obstacle.

Sweet Solace Nicolas Durand • France • 10 min.

Boïko, a penniless, whimsical street musician, finds some solace when Christelle and Joseph, two blind passersby, make a striking encounter.

Captivated by the series of misunderstandings, BoÏko catapults the two blind fellows into his imaginary world made of movies and music. USA Premiere.

Frank & Mary Paul Williams • UK • 16 min.

An elderly DIY enthusiast reanimates his recently deceased wife in the garden shed. A suburban twist on the classic Frankenstein tale.

Regional Premiere.

oxfordfilmfest.com

55

Global Lens Narrative Shorts

Friday, 10 am, Malco Screen 2 Block Rating: Mature; Q&A Scheduled

Hello, Gorgeous Narrative Shorts

Friday, 12:30 pm, Malco Screen 2 Block Rating: Mature; Q&A Scheduled

Labor Relations Karisa Bruin • USA • 7 min.

In this satire, Emogen goes into labor at work and decides to keep right on working as she delivers a presentation and her baby at the same time. Regional Premiere.

Bad Assistant Kyle Cogan • USA • 26 min.

Devoted Hollywood assistant, Emilee Rank, is pushed to her limits when her boss, Parker Saint Garrett, requests her to help him move a dead body. Mississippi Premiere.

The Baker

Same Time Next Week Kalah Roberts • USA • 8 min.

Austin Everett • USA • 13 min.

A frenzied first time mom attends a therapy session with her toddler in tow. Mississippi Premiere.

She’s a killer baker – an assassin who kills with culinary treats. He’s an adorable goof who catches her eye. It’s a recipe for love... or disaster.

Regional Premiere.

Stood Up

Deuce Alice Felgate • USA and UK • 9 min.

A girl checks into a beautifully remote five-star hotel, but what is she up to? All is revealed in Deuce, a quirky family dramedy about the daughter of a tennis pro. She is her father’s champion and cheerleader. Together they can take on the world. USA Premiere.

Cjay Boisclair • Canada • 5 min.

Dialogue free and universal in its story-telling, Stood Up is a short film filled with memories of happily ever afters and love at first sight.

Charming, loyal and perpetually single Ben is tired of always being the best friend and wing-man. After deciding to shake things up, he agrees to a blind date. But, when things go awry, will fate step in and save him from forever being friend-zoned? Regional Premiere.

White Guys Solve Sexism Christopher Guerrero • USA • 6 min.

Because of the Harvey Weinstein scandal, two men realize that all of their favorite movies are now sexist, leading them down a dark path of discovery.

#1

#1

#1

Melanie Addington High Def 6P 18 March 2019

Time to drop the clapper on 2020 OFF! Gay & Steve Case

56

Oxford Film Festival is making an effort to be more sustainable.

Done with your program or badge?

Drop back off at the Box office.

Got a bottle of water?

Drop it off at one of our recycling bins around the Malco Commons.

March 18-22, 2020

Student Shorts

Saturday, 9:30 am, Malco Screen 4 Block Rating: Mature; Q&A Scheduled

She Who Wasn’t Tamed Saleh Kashefi • Iran • 16 min.

Hanie, a highschool girl tries her best to not to disappoint her parents and her teacher at the poetry competition.

Mississippi Premiere.

The 11th Order Joshua DeFour • USA • 25 min.

The true story of two U.S. Marines who, in a span of six seconds, must stand their ground to stop a suicide truck bomb and protect the lives of the 150 Marines and Iraqi Police behind them. Regional Premiere.

Clove

Improv Addie Kopsidas • USA • 10 min.

Two friends have a short chat about the dangers of smoking cigarettes, but are cigarettes really the problem?

When Amy has an argument with her boyfriend over the phone right before her hobby improv class, she ends up channeling her frustrations about her relationship into the exercise in class, much to the confusion and awe of her classmates. Regional Premiere.

Elephant in the Room

Milk Tea

Chanelle Eidenbenz • USA • 20 min.

Chien-Ni Yang • USA • 13 min.

Irna senses that the relationship with her son Jago is getting more and more hopeless. She seeks refuge in her own world, whose center is Elias, a rubber doll. While Irna holds on to her own reality with all her might, Jago is desperately trying to make his mother understand.

Milk Tea is a drama set in Taiwan about an 11-year-old girl, Hsuan, who is suffocated by her dysfunctional family and decides to lighten the mood at home. However, this only causes her dad to lose control and things get out of hand. Ultimately, Hsuan realizes she can’t fix her family but at least she and her brother have each other.

Lucinda Roberts USA • 2min.

A Girl Called Tuesday Tony King • USA • 10 min.

Daryl wakes up in a mysterious white cave. There are clues to a murder.

Who was killed? Who committed the crime? Is he alone in the cave? Is he out of his mind?

Gotcha!

Deborah Pinkney • USA • 3 min.

Bonnie, a toddler, travels through numerous places looking for what was taken from her. She proceeds to encounter a variety of characters to take back what was stolen from her. Busting into a saloon she comes face to face with the answers she seeks. Regional Premiere.

oxfordfilmfest.com

They Won’t Last Portlynn Tagavi • USA • 16 min.

After attending their friends’ perfect wedding, Christine is forced to consider the future of her own relationship when her hopeless romantic boyfriend Alex proposes. When Christine is unable to say yes, Alex makes it worse by giving her an ultimatum: either get engaged or break up right now. Regional Premiere.

This Old Radio Tyler McDowell • USA • 7 min.

A young girl meets an odd new friend. One magical and one merely a misfit, it is up to you to determine if everything is really as it seems.

57

sponsors

The 2020 Oxford Film Festival would not be possible without the support of our generous sponsors. Please support those who have supported us.

SCREEN PRESENTER Artist Vodka Cannon Motor Company, LLC Charter Road Hospitality Donna Ruth Roberts MaxxSouth Mississippi Arts Commission Panavision Selig Polyscope Visit Oxford Yoknapatawpha Arts Council

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER Center For Manufacturing Excellence Eventive Hill Country Network Malco The Hendrix

DIRECTOR Alliance of Women Directors Daniel’s Taxi & Shuttle Gertrude Castellow Ford Center for the Performing Arts Greg Brock Nautilus Publishing Oxford University Transit Red window Communications Shannon Lovejoy South Arts Visit Mississippi/Mississippi Development Authority Wilson Roberts

PATRON LEVEL Bill Dabney Photography Blue Clock Designs Harry & Lynda Addington Helen Overstreet Joe Shapiro Laura Harper North Mississippi -Enterprise Initiative Oxford Eagle/Newsmedia Paul Lavendar Photos by Joey Brent R&B Charitable Foundation for the Beaux Arts Smile Y’All Photo Booth SoLo (was The Wine Bar) Southern Craft Stewart Farms Taproot Audio Design The Colonel’s Quarters at Castle Hill The INDOOR ADvantage Uno Mas

58

CONTRIBUTOR LEVEL Addy Photography Blind Pig/B’s BBQ Bottletree Bakery Bud and Julie Fanton Bullseye 95.5 Carol Epes Chicken Salad Chick Deep Fried Tees Delta Grind Dick Scruggs Dodo Pizza Hudson and Susan Hickman In Memory of Ron Shapiro Jack and Chris Koban Janice Antonow Joe Ann and Jere Allen Johnson’s Furniture

Kevin and Camille Mitchell Lagniappe Foundation Living Blues Louis M. Rabinowitz Foundation Magnifying Glass Fellowship Magnolia Film Productions Mary Margaret and Wayne Andrews McEwen’s Mississippi Humanities Council Moe’s BBQ Natchez Film Office Nate Robbins Oby’s Oxford American Oxford Chamber of Commerce Oxford Conference Center

Oxford Treehouse Gallery Phenomorphology LAB ProMatura Proud Larrys Rummage Family Something Southern, Inc. Square Pizza Starbucks Steven and Gay Case The Growler The Local Voice Track 61 UBreakIFix University Museum University of Mississippi Vincent DeGutis William Haynes and Jon Massey

SUPPORTER LEVEL A Smile 4 U Anne Quinney Art World Beard and Riser Ben E Keith Brunson Green Crossroads Animal Hospital Damon Burks Department of Modern Languages Dorothy and John Laurenzo Edward Mafoud Frutta Bowls Heartbreak Coffee Hotty Toddy Ink Spot Jack Garner Joli Nichols Josh Williams

Kathy Sukanek Kaye Bryant Kerry Hamilton and Lucius Lamar Larson’s Cash Saver Lulu’s Magnolia Rental McAlisters Deli Mississippi Film Alliance MS Cheese Straws Newk’s Express Cafe Old Venice Pizza Co. Oxford Creamery Owen Phillips Oxford Canteen Oxford Commons Pam and Bill Lawhead Reba and Lance Greer

Rebel Bookstore Reel South SAG-AFTRA Shaw Security Sparky Reardon Stout’s Carpet Sue Gobert Sugarees SuperTalk Mississippi 93.7 and Q105 Tallahatchie Gourmet The Country Club of Oxford The Jefferson The Jewish Federation of Oxford Twisted Twig WalMart West Jackson Wine and Spirits Woodson Ridge Farms

FRIEND OF THE FEST LEVEL Action Talent Agency Adam Hohenberg Aileen Ajootian Ajax Diner Anne Klingen Anonymous Beckett and Mary Hartwell Howorth BigRentz Camp Hopewell Chewy.com Chicory Market Christi McCoy Claude and Katharine Jarman Clay Canvas Etc Cris Surbeck

Dr. Eric Springman and Kat Phillips of Kat Scratch Films LLC Dr. Todd Threadgill Final Draft Fisher Productions LLC Holly Street Home Depot JCG Apparel Jen’s Massage Joe Atkins John Reyer/Michelle Pillow Josh Moore Holcomb Dunbar Attorneys Lafayette Oxford Foundation for Tomorrow Marilyn and Richard Frey Mary Sexton

Michael Johansson Michael Satterfield Michelle Emanuel Morgan’s Mark Ollie’s Donuts Patrick O’Connor Rainy Day Pictures Randy Weeks Rene Pulliam & Christopher Schager Rob Cornelius Skizz Cyzyk Southern Equality Fund Square Books Stella and Chewys The Beacon WonderBird Distillery

March 18-22, 2020

SLATE LEVEL Anthony Patterson Bill and Jeanne Tarullo Hays Brooke Worthy Chipotle Mexican Grill Connie Hoy Copy Time/Safari Wine & Spirits Daniel Talbott Donald and Lyn Kartiganer FNB Focus Magazine

Griffith Law Firm Jane Gardner Jonathan Smith Kate Kellum Keith Collins Larry Wells Linda Arrington Lisa Clark Lovell Holder

Manuel Alvarez Diestro Marco’s Pizza Margaret and Kat King Martha Huckins Matthews Landscape Melody Webb Molly Wexler Neil Manson Professional Therapy Services

RedFin Ree Moses Robert and Rosie Cooper Southland Body & Paint Shop Stacey Reycraft Tannehill, Carmean & McKenzie PLLC, Attorneys The Depot Antique Mall Tim Phillips Tracy Kilpatrick

CROWDFUNDERS Adam Grannick Alana Hutton-Shaw Andrea Krauss Andrew Tyler Andy and Cristen Hemmins Ann Abadie Arik Sokol Asis Sethi Bailey, Womble & Yelton Law Beth Ann Fennelly Beth Roman Bill Beckwith Bradley Miller Carrie V Smith Catherine Haun Chris Green Clint Bowie Courtney Hall Dan Chuba Dana Duff Daneel Ferreira Darah Petersen Dave’s Killer Bread David and Barbara Kern David Ziegenhorn Edward Douglas

Farm Bureau Insurance Grahame Weinbren Hanna Miller Hollie Hilliard Honey Baked Ham In Ronzo’s Name Jaime Adams James Martin Jamie Dakin Jeff Callaway Jennifer Lauriello Jennifer Murchison Jon Gann Jordan Noel Lisa and Richard Howorth Lorri Cook Louisiana Film Prize Margarita Zhitkinova Mark C. Smith Mary Jenkins Maura Klingen Melanie Addington Melissa Pace Overholt Michael Ewing Michael Henry Michelle Bright

Accessibility at OFF2020 For any accessibility questions, contact us at (877) 560-3456 or info@oxfordfilmfest.com and we will be sure to help in any way!

Misbits Nelson Kim Oriana Oppice Peggy Nance Portia and Steve Lary Robb Roaten Robert Malone Robin Salant Rosie Nelson Rudy Waldner Ryan Clark Salley Agnew Sara Wellman

Sarah Sapp Tanya Wright Tav Falco Thomas Burton Tiffany Albright Tracy Koslowski Valerie Polgar Guinn Victoria Greene Victoria Negri Virginia Brick Wendy McMain Whitney Stewart

Now You Can Make Every Tuesday Fat Tuesday!

Imported Light & Dark Rum

Handmade Triple Sec

Fresh Pomegranate, Passion Fruit Pineapple Juice and a Squeeze of Lime

Accessible Buildings

• All Natural • No GMO • No Preservatives • Premium Spirits

All venues that the Oxford Film Festival uses are fully accessible either by ramp or wheelchair access.

Open Captioning

Film are labeled in the online guide if open captioning is available.

Select the Filter Events and click Open Captioning.

Lines

Have trouble standing in lines? We have accessible seating for you just by the theater door to allow you first entrance into the theater. See an usher for assistance.

Low Sensory Area

All venues have a quiet space if needed. Please let an usher or volunteer know if assistance is needed.

oxfordfilmfest.com

Always drink responsibly

www.buzzbox.com

59

film index

...so it goes............................................34 2 Weeks................................................20 11th Order, The......................................57 38,600 MPH..........................................50 40 Years of the Delta Blues Museum......48 70 Years of Blackness............................21 7AM Wednesday ...................................52 Alina......................................................55 All Eyes on Me.......................................55 All I Have to Offer You Is Me...................48 All That You Love Will Be Carried Away...47 Angel’s Trumpet.....................................40 Animal...................................................31 Anniversary...........................................54 Art Snobbery..........................................28 As Advised,............................................31 Astronauta, El........................................37 AV ........................................................48 Bad Assistant.........................................56 Baker, The ............................................56 Be My Voice ..........................................48 Bear & The Beekeeper, The....................37 Being.....................................................53 Belle......................................................45 Black Mirror...........................................53 Black Pajamas.......................................54 Blacksmith of Oxford, The......................49 Blocks...................................................37 Botis Seva: Air........................................23 Break Through the Abyss.......................43 Brothers Brothers, The...........................51 Cherry...................................................25 Cinderella Games...................................55 Clove.....................................................57 Coffee Shop Names...............................52 Collection of Attempts In Astral Travel, A..................................43 Comedian, The.......................................37 Cuban Heel Shoes..................................19 Cut Copy Sphinx....................................43 Dear Hubert Creekmore.........................50 Dear Johnny Reb...................................21 Defect, ................................................. 51 Delta Blind Spot.....................................51 Deuce....................................................56 Dia de la Madre.....................................39 Dick Pics...............................................28 Dim Valley, A..........................................19 Dinner Party, The...................................21 Dishwasher, The....................................52 Dixie Darling Dinner, A ..........................50 Dreamer, The ........................................39 Education of a Girl Child, The ................43 Elephant in the Room ............................57

60

Evening Hour, The .................................25 Evers, The .............................................21 Far East Deep South .............................21 Fool From Memphis ..............................48 Foreign Exchange .................................40 Forever Voters .......................................66 Four ......................................................55 Frank & Mary ........................................55 Freeland ...............................................25 From Baghdad to the Bay ......................19 Gabrielle ...............................................28 Getting to the Root ................................49 Ghosted ................................................54 Girl Called Tuesday, A ............................57 Girls Grow Up Drawing Horses ..............43 Go Go Boy .............................................20 Gods Of Tiny Things, The .......................43 Golden Years, The .................................47 Gotcha! .................................................57 Gun in Betty Lou’s Handbag, The............22 Her Name Was Jo .................................25 Home Girl .............................................45 Hope Frozen..........................................17 How and Why Don Jose Dissipated....... 40 How Great Thou Art ...............................23 How We Vote Here ................................50 I Am Not Alone ......................................17 I Will Survive .........................................48 I’m Not Spock .......................................52 I’ve Got Issues ......................................25 Iktamuli ................................................40 Improv ..................................................57 In a Lifetime .........................................25 In Flowers Through Space .....................23 In The Blood ..........................................34 In the Fall ..............................................37 In the Pink ............................................34 In-Between, The ...................................27 Indignation of Michael Busby, The .........34 Initiation, The ........................................27 Interview, The .......................................53 It’s Time ................................................22 Jared Dawson is the Church of Lavonia Elberton ..............................45 Joints ...................................................43 Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain, The .....27 King of the House .................................40 Labor Relations .....................................56 Leo & Grace ..........................................54 Les .......................................................39 Lessons From a Moonwalk ...................51 Let’s Have Some Fun ............................48 Life After Death, ....................................31 Life In Synchro ......................................17

Line Birds Cannot See, A .......................37 Long Shadow, The.................................19 Loop, The...............................................39 Loss of Control ......................................28 Lou .......................................................39 Man in Hoodie ......................................53 Mark “Muleman” Massey .....................34 Maven Voyage ......................................54 Milk Tea ................................................57 Mother’s Day ........................................34 Mune ....................................................43 My Dinner With Werner .........................21 My Time ...............................................55 Nadja ....................................................51 Night Out, A ..........................................54 No Distance Between Us .......................39 Normal Girl, A .......................................45 Nothin’ No Better ..................................22 Nowhere Arkansas ................................27 Of Memories and Madness ...................34 Offline Playlist, The ...............................23 On the Ride ...........................................45 Once Upon A River ................................27 One Hit Wonder .....................................52 Osirika - Black Champagne ..................40 Our Bodies Our Doctors ........................17 Out of Darkness.....................................50 Out of Tune............................................43 Pain.......................................................48 Panda....................................................51 Phantom 52, The...................................40 Picture Character...................................18 PK ........................................................53 Post 398................................................48 Price of the Blues...................................48 Propolis, part 7......................................40 Pump Up The Volume.............................27 Queen of Lapa.......................................20 Queering the South through Drag...........45 Rabbi Goes West, The............................18 Reckoning.............................................28 Recovery Inc..........................................49 Rehearsal..............................................52 Revelation, Alabama..............................22 Riding A Dream......................................17 Rockabul...............................................23 Root Shocked........................................39 Rougarou,The.................................. 34, 47 Sadika’s Garden.....................................18 Same Time Next Week...........................56 Second, The...........................................28 Self Portrait x 1000................................48 Shadow in the Room..............................52 She Who Wasn’t Tamed..........................57

Shield....................................................53 Short Calf Muscle,..................................31 Singing for King.....................................39 Singing Out............................................49 Soccer in Cleveland...............................50 Soul Man...............................................53 Space Wall, The.....................................40 Spenser Confidental...............................61 Spirit Seam, The....................................40 Star Light...............................................28 Stay in the Circle: A Mississippi Campmeeting...................................49 Steve of the Antarctic.............................55 Stood Up................................................56 Stories in Rhyme: The Songwriters of the Flora-Bama Lounge....................23 Stranger Among the Living, A.................22 Street Flame..........................................52 Sweet Solace.........................................55 Sweet Sorghum.....................................49 Sweet Steel...........................................19 Synchronicity.........................................40 Synchronization.....................................27 Team Marco...........................................28 Team Marilyn.........................................53 Tears Teacher........................................17 They Won’t Last.....................................57 This Old Radio.......................................57 Tides.....................................................44 Timekeeper, The....................................39 Tingle Monsters.....................................43 Touchscreen..........................................45 Trumped in Tupelo.................................50 Truth Lies Upstream...............................47 Tungrus.................................................39 Turning..................................................44 Tx-Reverse............................................44 Umbilical...............................................40 Unspoken..............................................19 Water Cooler, The...................................31 We Go Back..................................... 37, 51 Weight to my Weight..............................50 What if Black Boys Were butterflies?......53 When We Grow Old................................48 White Guys Solve Sexism.......................56 Win, Lose or Draw Straws......................64 Wonder,.................................................31 WoodPecker, The...................................19 WWW {The Whale Who Wasn’t}..............44 You Are Heading for a Land of Sunshine......................................44 You Asked for the Facts..........................18

March 18-22, 2020

Spenser Confidential Peter Berg USA, 01:50:00 Wednesday, 8:15 pm Malco 1 Ex-felon and former police detective Spenser returns to Boston's criminal underworld to unravel a twisted murder conspiracy. Netflix Original.

Q&A following.

TBA spots will be announced on www.oxfordfilmfest.com and the boards at the Box Office will also be updated. Not sure how to navigate this? Ask for help at the Box office!

oxfordfilmfest.com

61

Special Screenings

NETFLIX PRESENTS

Female Filmmaker Retreat • March 15-18, 2020

BRYN SILVERMAN is a writer and producer. She believes in community engagement, entrepreneurship and seeing the world. She has produced for Reuters, Spin Magazine, Glamour Magazine Germany, NPR, Vocativ, Freunde von Freunden, and MSNBC. She post-produced a documentary for Mumford and Sons, and a DACA PSA “Are you afraid of Monsters?,” which was an honoree for a 2018 Webby. Last year, Bryn worked on the feature documentary Roll Red Roll, which premiered at Tribeca Film Festival and screened at Hot Docs and the Bend Film Festival, where it won best in show. She recently story-produced a new Netflix documentary series that revisits the effects of the 14th Amendment and will air in 2020. She wrote and produced the short film Pinball, which screened at the Director’s Guild through Film Independent, the Montana International Film Festival and the Kansas City Film Festival. She is currently producing the feature adaptation in Louisville, Kentucky. Bryn was selected to participate in the Hadley Creatives Fellowship, an artistic enrichment program through Creative Capital and the Community Foundation of Louisville. As a fellow, she will continue development on her feature film Crackshot, a story about Annie Oakley and the dark truths her life reveals about American mythology.

DARINE HOTAIT is a published author, screenwriter, film director and the founder of Cinephilia.

Her award-winning films can be seen on SundanceTV, AMC Networks, BBC Channel, ShortsTV and at over a hundred international film festivals. She is the recipient of the prestigious New York Council on The Arts Artist Award, The New York Foundation For The Arts Fellowship, The AFAC Grant, and a Goethe Award nomination. Her work has been supported

by Cannes’ International Scriptwriters’ Pavilion at Cannes Film Festival and The Independent Film Project in New York. She is an advisor for New York’s leading arts organization NYFA and a writing consultant for FFFMed Residency. She is currently developing her narrative feature film Like Salt that was awarded the NYSCA Artist Award. www.darinehotait.com TIFFANY ALBRIGHT is a writer, producer, and director based in Greensboro, North Carolina.

She has been part of the core collaborative teams on multiple short narrative and documentary films, and a documentary feature. Tiffany has over a decade of film experience, both as a freelancer as well as with organizations like the Film Society of Lincoln Center, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival, and Scott Rudin Productions. Her primary artistic interests are in telling women-centered stories and expanding access to marginalized narratives.

62

ABDUL R SHARIF

MENTEES

SUZANNAH HERBERT is a documentary filmmaker and is originally from Memphis, Tennessee.

Her NYU Tisch thesis, Home Game, premiered at DOC NYC. Herbert was the Associate Producer on Shola Lynch’s Free Angela & All Political Prisoners, and has since worked as an Assistant Editor on Michael Moore’s Oscar-shortlisted Where To Invade Next and Fahrenheit 11/9, and on Martin Scorsese’s film, Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story. Herbert made her feature directorial debut with Wrestle, which won 11 awards on the festival circuit. In 2019 Wrestle was distributed theatrically by Oscilloscope and broadcast nationally on PBS’s series, Independent Lens.

MARLENE MCCURTIS is a documentary filmmaker, creative writer and teaching artist. She has directed non-fiction programming for The Discovery Channel, A&E, Lifetime, NatGEO and PBS. Marlene is in post-production on Wednesdays in Mississippi, her first documentary feature film about a little-known interracial alliance between Mississippi women during the civil rights movement. The film-in-progress has screened at the Athena and Cucalorus film festivals and at the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis.

Marlene’s short documentary Here I’ll Stay features a powerful coalition of immigrant rights’ activists and local Civil Rights veterans working for the rights of undocumented people in Mississippi. The film screened at the New Orleans Film Festival, the Montclair Film Festival, the Oxford Film Festival, and is on the web platform, Field of Vision. Her latest short film Moving Forward takes audiences behind the scenes to look at the process of creating two performances with participants from a re-entry program for formerly incarcerated citizens. The film recently screened at the Pembroke-Taprelli Arts and Film Festival and is on the film festival circuit.

She is an alum Fellow of Stanley Nelson’s Firelight Media Producer’s Lab and a DGA member.

MENTORS KIMBERLEY BROWNING is a filmmaker and festival programmer based in Los Angeles. She is the Founder and Festival Director of Hollywood Shorts Film Festival, and is an Associate Short Film Programmer at Tribeca Film Festival. She also serves as the Senior Programmer at the Catalyst Content Festival (formerly ITVFest), and is the Executive Producer of HBO ACCESS, the network’s episodic television writing and directing fellowship program for women and minorities.

JACQUELINE OLIVE is an independent filmmaker and immersive media producer with fifteen years of experience in journalism and film. In April 2019, Jackie was profiled as one of Variety’s “10 Filmmakers To Watch.” Her debut feature documentary, Always in Season, premiered in competition at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival and was awarded the Special Jury Prize for Moral Urgency. The film is slated to broadcast on the PBS Emmy Award-winning series, Independent Lens, in February 2020. Jackie also co-directed the award-winning, hour-long film, Black to Our Roots, which broadcast on PBS World in 2009. Jackie has received artist grants and industry funding from Sundance Institute, Independent Television Service, Ford Foundation, Tribeca Film Fund, Firelight Media, Chicken & Egg Pictures, Southern

March 18-22, 2020

CHRIS ELLENBOGEN

Along with our move to March, the festival has launched the new Female Filmmaker Retreat. Each mentee is paired up with a mentor to help them navigate after one successful film project. Most candidates have successfully navigated the festival world with at least one feature or several short films and are in progress on a new project. They will spend 3 days together in a cabin working on creativity before the film festival kicks off.

Documentary Fund, and more. She was recently awarded the Emerging Filmmakers of Color Award from International Documentary Association (IDA) and the Jonathan Logan Family Foundation.

For over a decade, Mississippi-native SHANNON COHN has produced award-winning feature documentaries & TV series for Discovery Channel & NatGeo. Before that, she practiced international law and was part of the legal team that prosecuted Enron. She went to film school at NYU and has a law degree from Vanderbilt.

BARBARA GHAMMASHI oversees the Production Assistance Program and handles broadcast and digital sales for Women Make Movies. As a producer, Barbara’s films have been included in numerous film festivals and been broadcast on PBS, the Documentary Channel, and Showtime.

Prior to producing independently, she spent five years at Showtime Networks Inc. where she was a Director of Original Programming. In addition, Barbara was previously a consultant for Women Make Movies as well as an Administrator and Special Projects Manager for Philanthropy Advisors where she worked with organizations such as the Charles Evans Hughes Memorial Foundation and the Anonymous Was A Woman Award. She is currently a board member of Women in the Arts and Media Coalition.

662.380.5282

open from 5pm-9:30pm

ROBBIE FISHER is a film producer and attorney based in Water Valley, Mississippi, who owns and operates Fisher Productions, LLC. Fisher has produced award-winning short documentaries including Boogaloo & Eden: Sustaining the Sound, The Gulf Islands: Mississippi’s Wilderness Shore, Delta 180: Changing Lives in the Mississippi Delta, Leadway, and A Mississippi Love Story. She won a Hoka for A Mississippi Love Story and a runner up award for Leadway at the Oxford Film Festival in 2015. Fisher has produced a number of short narrative films for other writer/directors including Going Toward Love, Headrush, Sequence, and Blue Plate Special. Fisher has also produced commercials and worked on feature films in Mississippi including As I Lay Dying, Starve and Thrasher Road. Fisher has been involved with the Crossroads Film Festival in Jackson, Mississippi, and is currently serving on the Board of OFF. She co-curated the LBGTQ block at Crossroads from 2015 through 2019 and was a juror for the LGBTQ block at OFF in 2017.

She moderated the Female Filmmaker Panel at OFF in 2019.

Rating System All films are marked by a general rating system provided by the filmmakers Please use your discretion when checking films and ask at the information table if any concerns.

• All Ages: no offensive language, violence, etc • Family Friendly: For ages 8+ • Teens and Up: For Ages 13+ • Mature: For 18+

oxfordfilmfest.com

63

free Screening

The League of Women Voters and the Mississippi Humanities Council present a FREE screening of Win, Lose or Draw Straws and Forever Voters Afterward, a panel discussion will be held to talk about voting rights and the election year.

Win, Lose or Draw Straws

Forever Voters

Casey Phillips USA, 1:23:26

Sky Bergman USA, 00:07:02

Did you know the next President of the United States could be decided by drawing names from a hat? Win, Lose or Draw Straws is a feature length documentary exposing one particular oddity of the US election system. The increasing existence of and wildly varied ways of determining elections that end in perfect ties. Told by the people who experienced the emotional highs and lows of a political campaign that was determined by a random game of chance and exposing the way random luck affects our lives from local races all the way to the White House.

Why do only 36% of 18-25 year olds actually vote? Many high school seniors are eligible to vote and have very strong opinions about what needs to change! But they don’t really know much about the voting process or how to register. The League of Women Voters is stepping in to educate high schoolers to prepare them for voting, because they know that people who vote early, vote forever. World Premiere

This special FREE screening is on Thursday, March 19, from 2:00 to 4:00 pm at the Overby Center.

The film festival is funded in part by a grant from South Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Mississippi Arts Commission.

Castle Hill est. 2003

64

March 18-22, 2020