Tonkawa Film Festival

Story by Chelsea McConnell/Staff Writer | Photos provided by Tonkawa Film Festival

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

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 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! was born out of a desire to give back through creating In its third year, the TFF has been fortunate a five-star film festival for Oklahoma and for the town of to see steady growth with the number of film Tonkawa. 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

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Watch the video for Five Year Gap’s “Chalk Houses” https://youtu.be/R3uJl0Ojn9s

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in time in history. But you also are going to have films that are dealing with the pandemic, unrest in the country, LGBTQ rights, people of color and women’s rights. So those are very, very timely. The tone of that topic does vary from year to year to year. I think that’s what’s exciting about film festivals. That’s what [makes them] different than going to the movies. They’re not just about entertainment; they are kind of about education. You’re getting a filmmaker’s point of view on a topic, and it may not be your point of view. You may not agree with the point of view and that’s okay.”

James is passionate about creating a positive and inviting environment for the filmmakers. “We take [this] very seriously. If you send us your movie, and we choose to select it, we’re going to make it look and sound as good as possible.” After films are chosen, work begins with the filmmakers to get them to Tonkawa. James explains, “Then we start working really hard trying to encourage them to attend the festival because that’s what makes it the most special, is having them here with us.” James says if filmmakers can get themselves to the Oklahoma City Airport, the TFF will do the rest.

“If you fly into Oklahoma City, we will pick you up. We pick everybody up at the airport who flies in and we drive them to the hotel. Hotels are covered by the festival, which is a very, very rare thing. We will shuttle [them] back and forth to everything that’s going on. They have breakfast at the hotel. We provide lunches and we provide food at the screenings in the evenings. Then we shuttle the filmmakers back to the airport on Sunday morning. So if you can get yourself to the Oklahoma City Airport, we’ll take it from there. That’s kind of our approach. I think we have 17 filmmakers that are going to be attending this year, which is huge.”

Of the 34 films being screened this year, one is a music video created by local company Speak Now Films in conjunction with local band Five Year Gap. According to Speak Now’s Luke Garrison, the Speak Now team used a new to them, but older camera called a CanoSound 8mm to create the nostalgic look and feel they hoped to achieve for the video. Five Year Gap’s song “Chalk Houses” is featured in the video and is reminiscent of childhood in a small town.

More information about the festival and a list of the rest of the selections can be found on the Tonkawa Film Festival’s website at www.TonkawFilmFestival. com. Film submissions will begin being accepted for the 2023 festival at the culmination of this year’s event and proceed through Dec. 31. Be sure to check the site for information on early bird submission specials, sponsorship opportunities and tickets to this exciting event!