A couple of weeks ago we pointed to the new Oak Cliff Film Festival bumper and speculated with regard to its metaphor (soldier lifts himself off the battlefield, grabs flag bearing the festival emblem, and charges up the Trinity River levee and towards the paint balloon skirmish that’s erupted beneath the Dallas skyline).
Well, now we have the metaphor explicated by the bumper’s director, as well as the release of the full lineup of films for the second edition of the festival.
“In year one you make it through as best you can. In year two you have to say something” said Jason Reimer, OCFF Co-Founder and Texas Theatre Creative Director. “You have to try and make your mark.”
So, just what is the mark or statement the OCFF is making in year two? Well, I’ll need a little more time to chew on this film list before coming to any conclusions. But here’s a clue. Opening night features a double feature: the quirky, candid, sudsy brewery-set romantic comedy Drinking Buddies by low budget workhorse Joe Swanberg, and a HBO-produced doc on the Russian punk band Pussy Riot. Closing night will bring a screening of Bobcat Goldthwait’s new film Willow Creek, described as a “found footage tour de force that will forever change the way you view Bigfoot,” with Bobcat (but not Bigfoot) in attendance.
In between, films range from heady, buzzing new indie films (Andrew Bujalski’s Computer Chess) to silent films with live orchestrations (Shadow of the Bat-Man scored by the Two Star Symphony), shorts programs (including the avant-garde-billed Cinema 16 program which is chock-full of local talent this year) to repertory programming (like Altman’s McCabe and Mrs Miller presented by hot young filmmaker David Lowery). Lowery will also present a secret screening during the festival. I have no idea what that could be, but I hope it’s the Dallas filmmaker’s Ain’t Them Bodies Saints (currently at Cannes), one of the most acclaimed new movies of the year. And another highlight: End of the Road, a “lost” 1970 film written and produced by Oak Cliff’s Terry Southern (who wrote the script for Dr. Strangelove), and recently “rediscovered” by Steven Soderbergh. Soderbergh won’t be in town to present the movie, but Southern’s son Nile will be.
Other events include an awards ceremony at Four Corners Brewery, a beer-sponsored bike scavenger hunt, and student films, all at venues spread throughout North Oak Cliff, including the Texas Theater, Kessler Theater, TeCo Theater, Turner House, El Sibil, and Four Corners Brewery.
And so, what about that flag? My first impression is that the OCFF is building a reputation as boutique showcase featuring a few hand-picked new, potentially important independent films, with excursions into the eccentric, a finger on the community and its history, and choices that are a reflection of the founders’ background as filmmakers.
