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Tulsa American Film Festival debuts in October

The Tulsa American Film Festival came together less than a year after founder Ben Arredondo’s first visit to Tulsa. 

In November, the New York resident and lifelong cinephile came through town to see a friend and was struck by the vibrancy and unique film history of the Kendall Whittier neighborhood. Above Circle Cinema is the former home of an Oscar-winning actress, the late Jennifer Jones; around the corner are collaborative studios Loose Leaf Co. and Rough House Creative (see p. 28); innovative upstart Hoot Owl Coffee Co. is just across the street.

Oct. 15-18, Arredondo will launch the festival he created—with plenty of help from the local film community. The bulk of the multi-genre event will take place at Circle Cinema, with satellite screenings at the Woody Guthrie Center and Gilcrease Museum. Tulsa American Film Festival will include features and short films with an emphasis on local filmmaking, a Native American showcase, classic retrospectives with Okie ties, live panels on documentary and local filmmaking, and student shorts.

Arredondo, who currently divides his time between Tulsa and New York, got his start in festival programming with the NYC PictureStart Film Festival, an all-genre, international shorts event founded in 2002. In 2010, he inherited the festival from its founder, Greg Segal. It now travels internationally and is headed for Mexico City next year. 

“This is a town that’s ready for a full-fledged film festival,” he said of Tulsa. “I was a little surprised there wasn’t one.”

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Of course there are, and have been, many annual film festivals in Oklahoma. Though perhaps not quite like Tulsa American in concept, they’ve shared the basic goal of fostering local, independent filmmaking.

Oklahoma’s premiere film festival is OKC’s deadCENTER. Celebrating its 15th year, the festival toured 15 cities across the state in 2014, including a stop at Circle Cinema last October. As an exhibition of eclectic films both foreign and domestic and a platform to feature, develop and educate Oklahoma filmmakers, deadCENTER is the state’s closest to being on the national radar. It’s also an apt model for Tulsa American. 

deadCENTER Executive Director Lance McDaniel expressed enthusiastically support for Tulsa American’s mission. 

“I truly hope the community gets behind this festival and helps it grow and flourish,” McDaniel said. “It will be great for the cultural fabric of Tulsa, and for Oklahoma film.”  

There’s also Tulsa Overground, the unique, mix-tape-party shorts fest hosted by filmmakers Todd Lincoln and Jeremy Lamberton. Overground is a road-tested showcase of its creators’ id; the punk rock sensibility, emphasis on avant-garde films and inevitable party are almost symbiotic. It occupies a different part of the film festival landscape, far from Tulsa American.

Overground enjoyed a decade of steady popularity before a seven-year hiatus. The festival’s return in 2014 had well-attended screenings and packed after-parties at Soundpony. Originally planned for September, this year’s event was unexpectedly pushed back to March 2016. 

“Every time we do Overground, we learn a massive amount,” Lincoln said. “After the success of last year, we decided to dramatically expand the size and scope of the festival.”  

Though the timing is curious, Lamberton said the delay has nothing to do with perceived competition from Tulsa American. 

“Whenever there's a new festival of any kind in town, we're excited about it,” Lamberton said. “The more that's happening and going on, the better it is for Tulsa. Hopefully the people who attend these festivals are inspired to create their own thing.”

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Tulsa American’s conception feels weirdly providential and organic. Being the new guy, Arredondo was adamant about collaborating with like-minded local talents and engaging Tulsa filmmakers and their audience.

In January, Arredondo brought the idea for a festival to Abby Kurin, director of the Tulsa Office of Film, Music, Arts & Culture (formerly the Mayor’s Film + Music Office). Kurin’s goal is to promote Tulsa’s ample pool of resources, from writers and actors to technical crew and craftspeople, as well as projects generated by local production hubs.

One of her objectives is fostering local film festivals. Kurin led the Mayor’s Film + Music Office in co-sponsoring Overground’s 2014 return. 

“We’ve been a supporter of both (Overground and Tulsa American), and it’s exciting that we get to look forward to film events in the fall as well as the spring,” Kurin said. “Since TAFF is coming up sooner, we felt the need was more for educational opportunities, so we’re partnering with them on a few panels.” 

Arredondo also connected with The University of Tulsa film department’s Joseph Rivers and Jeff Van Hanken, who introduced him to Adam O’Connor. A TU alum, O’Connor wrote and produced “Sherman & Pacifico,” a charming black-and-white short film about an old man and his adopted jellyfish (voiced by the Oscar-winning Javier Bardem of “No Country for Old Men”).

O’Connor got on board with Arredondo’s mission. 

“We’d love to be the festival for Tulsa filmmakers to premiere their films,” O’Connor said.  

Through a mutual friend, Arredondo met Colleen Thurston, a Tulsa-based producer and former programmer at the Smithsonian National Museum’s Native Cinema Showcase. She’s the last word on submissions for Tulsa American. 

“I figured I’d never be able to work in film in my hometown,” Thurston said. “I was thrilled at the idea of showcasing quality independent cinema and being able to promote local filmmaking.” 

With the power trio in place, the work began.

“One of my first conversations with Adam and Colleen was, ‘Unless we say yes, we can talk about this for the next six months and it’ll never get done,’” Arredondo said. “(They) signed on right away.”

In short order, the team garnered a promising base of supporters. In addition to VisitTulsa (which houses Kurin’s operation) and the screening venues, the festival’s sponsors include the University of Tulsa, the Oklahoma Film and Music Office, Kendall Whittier Main Street, Guthrie Green, Tulsa Historical Society and several downtown businesses. 

“I feel like there is a future there,” Kurin said. “Of course our advice to them was to start small; let’s let something grow organically and make sure this is not a one-and-done,” she said.

Arredondo expressed confidence that the relationships they’ve forged will help nurture the fledgling festival for the long haul. 

“Sustainability is a common subject with many of our current partners,” Arredondo said. “We need to get through this inaugural festival first. But we have great plans for next year already.”

GOOD NEWS IN TWOS // Tulsa's beloved drive-in theater is open for just a few more weeks this season! Pack the blankets and lawn chairs, double check the health of your FM stereo and head over to the Admiral Twin while you still can—October 17 marks the final show night before its annual winter hibernation. 

Admiral Twin owner Blake Smith recently opened Village 8 Movies in the 25-year home of the former Cinemark Movies 8 at 71st and Memorial. With upgrades to digital projection and sound, new screens, new carpet, new rocking chairs and a lobby makeover, the Village is easily the most pristine second-run movie house in Tulsa. The digital upgrade means if you missed “Mad Max: Fury Road” the first time around, you can still see it on the big screen (for a mere $2) without surrendering to the poor sound and picture quality that so often plagues dollar theaters. Smith also plans to add a 3-D component in a few months.

For more from Joe, read his article on Tulsa's comedy scene.