Tonkawa Film Festival Story by Chelsea McConnell/Staff Writer | Photos provided by Tonkawa Film Festival The Tonkawa Film Festival (TFF) held its 3rd annual film competition on the weekend of April 8th and 9th on the Northern Oklahoma Campus in Tonkawa. This film festival is the true definition of a passion project for Event Creator and Director James Oxford. At its core, the festival was born out of a desire to give back through creating a five-star film festival for Oklahoma and for the town of Tonkawa. James Oxford was born and raised in Tonkawa. James attended NOC and then LSU where he got his degree in finance, before moving to Houston to work in the oil and gas industry. In Houston, James met his husband, who is a filmmaker. He got pulled into the world of film making. As James puts it, “I work on films as a producer, which is where I use my finance and business brain to handle that side of filmmaking.” James and his husband now live in the Hudson Valley area of New York. Several years ago, the two created a film together which was accepted at an Oklahoma film festival. Their excitement quickly turned to dismay, as the festival was poorly planned and executed, with little thought given to the event location or logistics of screening the films. After years of attending festivals all over the county and in other parts of the world, James believed he could create a well-executed and entertaining event for all involved, particularly the filmmakers.
James credits his mom, Margie Oxford, as pushing him to make the final move and found the festival in Tonkawa. As the President of the Tonkawa Chamber of Commerce, Margie encouraged James to have the festival in his hometown with the Chamber as the host. After a year of planning, the Tonkawa Film Festival made its debut in March 2020. Believe it or not, Tonkawa is quite well-suited to host such an event due to the availability of strategic partners in the area. The festival’s partnership with the Chamber as the host is key to the planning and execution of the event. The festival partners with Northern Oklahoma College and their Digital Media Institute. The NOC campus provides the facilities necessary to show the films using their stateof-the-art equipment. Partnering with the Tonkawa Casino & Hotel, the festival can provide lodging for their filmmakers. Additionally, partnering with the City and other parties named, TFF is able to make their event unique with features like the parade that happens each year. Growing up in a small
town in Oklahoma, many may take parades for granted. However, with filmmakers coming from all over the world, most have never been to a parade, much less ridden in a parade float! In its third year, the TFF has been fortunate to see steady growth with the number of film submissions climbing annually by 30%-40%. This year, 170 submissions were received with 34 chosen as Official Selections. Official Selection is a term used industry-wide and refers to films chosen to be screened at the festival. Genres this year include drama, comedy, animation, horror, music video and documentary. When asked about the yearly mix of Official Selections, James gives this insight. “That is one of the things that’s so interesting about film festivals. They really are kind of a moment in time of what’s going on in the world. There are going to be films that are in a way timeless, that would make sense or be valid at any point See FESTIVAL Continued on Page 22
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