Photo by David Leeson for the Advocate
The Oak Cliff Film Festival made its triumphant return to the Texas Theatre last weekend with a lineup that brought out the (late-20th-century era, PBS-watching) child in all of us.
It started Thursday with the Texas premiere of Butterfly in the Sky, a documentary about the TV show Reading Rainbow plus an Octopus Project DJ set afterparty.
Josh and Yvonne Lambert of The Octopus Project — which composed the Butterfly score — say they had the best time. “We just got home and wanted to send a million thank yous [to everyone involved]. Everything from the programming, to hospitality, to y’all just being all around fantastic folks — really, really amazing” they noted by email. “We felt so welcomed and loved by everyone and can’t thank you enough. You’ve created something special and beautiful and we cherished every second.”
Eleventh-year OCFF member and head of public relations Chris Gardner says that vibe held strong throughout.
“This year had a thematic joy and nostalgic innocence with concentrated programming nods to the playfully oddball educational programming of 1980s-90s PBS,” he says.
Gardner says overall revenue was up 27% from the year before. And VIP-badge sales increased. “That means people didn’t want to miss ANY of it.”
As we mentioned last week during our interview with board member and filmmaker David Lowery, the OCFF and For Oak Cliff this year held its first in a series of high school moviemaking workshops.
During the student shorts segment of the OCFF, students and other attendees watched a mini-documentary about the workshop. The students in the OCFF/For Oak Cliff workshop expressed such gratitude at being given the opportunity to work with the high quality equipment and under the guidance of such esteemed directors. As one of the high schoolers put it, “you would usually have to go to college in order to have access to this camera” Another student filmmaker beamed, “I got to meet David Lowery, [pause] well, I got to hear him talk to us, anyway!”
After the workshop doc, the audience had the opportunity to see what student filmmakers are capable of, with shorts such as Otra Vida: A Celebration of the Immigrant and #BlackatSMU, which you can read about here.
“It worked out nicely that the programming this year had that love-of/through-education feeling of this year’s programming, in a way, was emblematic of our new OCFF High School Student Filmmaking Workshop for kids in Oak Cliff and other areas where there might not be easily accessible film training classes, which we launched in May with our friends at For Oak Cliff,” Gardner says in a post-festival email. “We’re so excited about the new project. It just snuck into the theme I guess!”
Saturday Night’s Chop and Steele was a laugh-out-loud, cringe-y and fascinating-as-heck story about man-child pranksters (with a marked ambivalence about success and growing up) who go through a rough patch. Not to spoil anything, but they did live to perform the Found Footage Festival in person after the movie, and it was a crowd pleaser. The Chop and Steele movie includes a significant scene at the Texas Theatre, plus one of the main subjects dons a Texas Theatre T-shirt in another vital scene. It was a meta experience for Saturday’s audience.
Trailblazing millennials and Get Zs are celebrated in Mija — featuring Oak Cliff native Jacks Haupt (look for her in the July Advocate) and her mentor, talent manager Doris Muñoz. It is a documentary that pulls off the fictional-film feel. It is a tear jerking story about the modern American dream and the tribulations of immigrants and their offspring. Soon you’ll be able to watch Mija on Disney Plus, and I strongly suggest you do. Not only will it make you laugh, weep and cheer, you will also see tons of Dallas and Oak Cliff on screen. Jacks came to Saturday afternoon’s screening with filmmaker Isabel Castro.
In the movie, as in life, Jacks deals with parents who want her to go to college rather than into the unpredictable music industry, which is pretty common for people who risked everything in their lives to raise their children in America, she said during the Q+A. Castro says that in the Latino culture music is a way that we “cope and we bond,” and Mija meets at the “intersection of music and immigration.”
Jacks Haupt and Isabel Castro at the Texas Theatre
Programming for actual children included the acclaimed Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, which is based on a lovable YouTube character. and a retrospective Secret of Nimh screening at Turner House.
Head of programming Parker D. May says she heard all sorts of positive feedback.
“I am so grateful for all the kind words I’ve received from filmmakers and guests about this year’s Oak Cliff Film Festival,” May says. “I got to share so much of the work I admire in one of my favorite places in the world with an eager and passionate audience.”
It wasn’t just about movies, but about movie lovers from our neighborhoods, getting to finally gather together for theater experiences, parties and conversation.
As Ian Loomer, who oversaw hospitality puts it, “We don’t just show a film, we provide a multi day experience and an opportunity to connect with other filmmakers, creators, distributors, fans, and audience members.”
“One of the best parts about running hospitality for OCFF is hearing how much the filmmakers love this festival and how they all can’t wait to come back”
2022 Oak Cliff Film Festival Awards
Best Narrative Feature: Linoleum
Special Jury Mention: Three Tidy Tigers Tied A Tie Tighter
Best Documentary Feature: Meet Me in the Bathroom
Special Jury Mention: Sirens
Best Narrative Short: Peacocking
Special Jury Mention: Executrix
Best Documentary Short: Stranger Than Rotterdam With Sarah Driver
Special Jury Mention: Deerwoods Deathtrap
Best Student Short: Otra Vida: A Celebration of the Immigrant
Special Jury Mention: #BlackatSMU
CRAZY Awards
(sponsored by CRAZY WATER)
Craziest practical effects — Guts
Craziest sequence — Linoleum
Craziest decision — 2nd Chance
