deadCENTER Film Festival 2007
By MicroCinema Scene • Jun 12th, 2007 • Category: EditorialsIf you were wondering why the front page was dead for awhile, it’s because I was in OKC at deadCENTER 2007. I’ve been involved with this fest since it’s first year and it gets more and more awesome each year. I realize it’s probably off a lot of people’s radars because it’s located in Oklahoma City - but don’t let that turn you off because it is a really fun festival to attend.
I didn’t see as many movies as I would have liked this year, because there were so many great parties to attend, filmmakers to meet and old friends to hang out with. Here are a few personal highlights of deadCENTER 2007.
Year of the Fish. Imagine Cinderella if Cinderella was an illegal Chinese immigrant who is paying off her debts by working at a massage parlor - a massage parlor where happy endings are definitely to be had. The film is animated in a style similar to Waking Life, in that everything was first shot on Mini-DV and them brought into the computer for editing. This is a low-budget film and the animation is a little less expressive than it is on Richard Linklater’s animated projects - but it WORKS. The movie is engaging and the images are beautiful.
Hanging out with Aaron Hillis and Jennifer Loeber two of the filmmakers responsible for FISH KILL FLEA. Our movie (Roadside Gospel) always seemed to be playing opposite theirs so we meet in the theater lobby a few times. Conversation inevitably turned to Tex Mex, so we headed to La Luna where the Dos Equis came in 32oz. goblets with salt and a whole lime. I forgot how great La Luna’s Green Chile Pork was and Aarons Chicken Super Nachos didn’t look too shabby either.
Festival Parties. I didn’t make it to all of them, because there were just too many. On Friday I started drinking at 1:00 in the afternoon and didn’t stop until 4:00 a.m. That’s how the professionals do it!
Fish Kill Flea. It’s about a flea market that is about to be torn down to make way for a Home Depot. The filmmakers don’t concentrate so much on the facts behind what is happening - but rather paint an impressionistic portrait of the place and the community of people who have gathered around it. They also delve into the history of the building which was a shopping mall before it became a flea market.
Blood Car. This was playing in the back room of a gallery while a tattoo fashion show and burlesque dance routine were happening in the front. So unfortunately, I didn’t catch the whole movie, but that is something I hope to remedy soon. Set in the near future when gas is $40 a gallon, a science teacher figures out a way to make cars run on blood. Needless to say, carnage ensues.
Everything Will Be Okay. I think I’ve seen a Don Hertzfeld film at every deadCENTER I’ve attended, so there was no way I was going to miss Everything Will Be Okay. The film is the story Bill, one of Hertzfeld’s trademark stick figures, as he slides into depression and insanity. The breakdown of Bill’s mind is a beautiful and disturbing piece of experimental filmmaking that still manages to be sickly hilarious.
U.F.O.s at the Zoo. The closing night of deadCENTER is always an outdoor movie. It was a cool night and an audience of over 2,000 people sprawled out on blankets and lawnchairs in a downtown park. Concession stands sold popcorn, soda and beer from a local brewery. The closing night film was UFOs at the Zoo which documents the legendary Flaming Lips concert at the Oklahoma City Zoo. The movie was projected on 2 large screens and the sound was appropriately loud and crisp. UFOs intercuts footage of the actual concert with interviews with the fans and behind the scenes vignettes of Wayne Coyne playing with zoo animals and trying to construct a massive UFO for the opening of the concert. Midway through the movie, the Flaming Lips themselves made an appearance firing cannons that covered the audience with confetti and blasting fog machines all over the place. By this point, the line between a concert film and a live concert was definitely starting to blur.
Oklahoma City is experiencing a dramatic revitalization and it’s being driven by the creative class of the city. As someone who only visits once or twice a year, the changes are very obvious and exciting. deadCENTER is at the core of this rebirth. In seven years it’s evolved from a single venue event held at a children’s theater to a 5 day event with venues all over the downtown area. The festival is definitely something for the city to be proud of, but it’s also an opportunity for people from all over the world to see that Oklahoma City has a lot more to offer than they might have expected.
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