Last Updated on June 6, 2024, 12:27 PM | Published: June 6, 2024
OKLAHOMA CITY — deadCenter Film Festival 2024 is here! It’s opening day for the biggest film event in all of Oklahoma, and city theaters and venues are buzzing in anticipation.
For the next four days, filmmakers, tastemakers, critics, reviewers, and above all, cinema fanatics will be descending upon OKC to catch as many films, panels, and events as possible.
This year’s festivities are loaded with a host of thematically exciting (and sometimes creatively bonkers) shorts and features, with filmmakers from across the nation and the world all lending their talents to the lineup.
Day 1’s schedule is a bit lighter on screenings but packed with welcome parties and cinema shindigs, so dust off your dancing shoes and be sure that your elbows are ready for rubbing all evening long.
Catch these happenings on Day 1 of deadCenter Film Festival 2024, and check out our featured selection for the day at the end:
Opening Night Party on the Rooftop – Oklahoma City Museum of Art – 5:00 PM
As ever, deadCenter is taking over the rooftop terrace at partner venue OKCMOA, kicking off the festival right with some of the best views in the city.
Pass-holders will be treated to some speeches, plenty of drinks, and the can’t-miss chance to chat with filmmakers, programmers, and festival organizers to get the inside scoop on what this year has to offer.
‘La Singla’ – Oklahoma City Museum of Art – 7:00 PM
Immediately following the opening party on the roof, guests can pop downstairs to OKCMOA’s Noble Theater for this documentary exploring the psychology of dance, culture, fame, and psychology.
One of the hottest and most revolutionary stars in the history of flamenco dance, Spain’s Antonia Singla overcame deafness to master the art of dance as a teenager without even hearing the music. But after seeing her star rise to peaking heights, she left the stage behind.
Filmmaker Paloma Zapata seeks to find out why.
This screening will see an introduction and post-feature discussion moderated by deadCenter’s Senior Features Programmer, Kevin Ely.
‘Cricket’ – Harkins Bricktown Auditorium 10 – 8:30 PM
One of the most anticipated features in this year’s lineup, this heartwarming family film follows a young girl with a habit of stealthily stealing candles from churches.
When a choir director catches her, her punishment ends up changing the course of her life and her outlook on the world in surprising ways.
This screening will see an introduction and post-feature discussion moderated by journalist, author, and screenwriter Nicole Jocleen.
‘Saucedo’ – Harkins Bricktown Auditorium 11 – 8:45 PM
Documentarian Emmett Berg presents a closely personal and intimate look into the life of OKC-based former boxer Alex Saucedo as he navigates an unexpectedly altered path from his one-time rising star status in the professional fighting world.
In late 2020, Saucedo suffered two traumatic brain bleeds in a fight, requiring emergency brain surgeries, long, difficult recoveries, and ultimately, a complete overhaul of his life and purpose.
This screening will see an introduction and post-feature discussion moderated by deadCenter’s Senior Features Programmer, Kevin Ely.
FREE PRESS FEATURED PICK – ‘Hailey’s Game’ – Harkins Bricktown Auditorium 11 – 5:00 PM
This deeply felt, magical romance is actually the very first screening on deadCenter’s 2024 slate, rolling just as the rooftop party at OKCMOA is kicking off.
It’s a small, personal, and powerful film made with an entirely Oklahoman team that perfectly captures the grit and perseverance of our state’s homegrown filmmaking community.
First-time feature director and writer Katie Hightower said that she was caught completely off guard when she got the call that “Hailey’s Game” would be kicking off the entire festival as the official Opening Night Oklahoman Feature.
“We submitted the film as an Oklahoman feature because we are and we’re proud of it, but then we didn’t hear anything for a long time,” she said. “I was really thinking that it just wasn’t going to happen for us.”
When she finally got the call, she was as shocked as anyone.
“I was actually at the gym on the treadmill,” she said laughing. “I got a call from [deadCenter Director of Programming] Sunrise Tippeconnie saying that they’d been trying to email us and that it hadn’t been going through. And so he said that they didn’t just want it in the festival, they wanted it to be the Opening Night feature.”
It was a huge payoff after a passionate and tumultuous shoot that saw tight funding demands, location issues, and even some illness scares.
“I was just trying so hard to play it cool,” Hightower said of receiving that call. “And it was tough because I’d already been on the treadmill for an hour.”
deadCenter Film Festival 2024 runs June 6th through June 9th.
Check back each day for our can’t-miss selections and our daily Free Press Featured Pick!
Brett Fieldcamp has been covering arts, entertainment, news, housing, and culture in Oklahoma for nearly 15 years, writing for several local and state publications. He’s also a musician and songwriter and holds a certification as Specialist of Spirits from The Society of Wine Educators.
