2009 Images

The cast of Prom Night in Mississippi does a Q&A after the packed out (three theaters worth!) screenings at the 2009 OFF.

Although co-director (aka rock star) Michelle may not be willing to brag about herself on here, I am! Michelle worked all last weekend to resolve ongoing issues with our Web site in order to finally be able to post up our 2009 images. Thanks to her, from now on, images will go up much more often and in a much more timely fashion.

Co-director Molly Fergusson and filmmaker Craig Brewer at the awards ceremony.

Missing the film fest? Visit http://www.oxfordfilmfest.com/gallery.html and relive the moments. Remember when director and actor Giancarlo Esposito hung out at Donna Ruth Roberts house? Remember the great Q&A from Prom Night in Mississippi including Morgan Freeman and director Paul Saltzman? Remember some of the more zany late night antics? Remember Jason Ritter and James Rocchi breaking it down on the dance floor? Join us in remembering how great 2009 was by taking a trip down memory lane. And thank you, as always; it was because of all of you that participated that the film festival continues to be a success.

As our early bird deadline approaches (July 15!), we are gearing up for the 2010 film festival. Looking back fondly at 2009, we can't wait to see what happens next!

How not to enter a Film Festival

It's submission season, and as our July 15th Early-Bird Deadline approaches, Austin's Decider publishes an interview with Kelly Williams, programming director for the Austin Film Festival.

Its title says it all: How not to enter the Austin Film Festival.

And while the AFF is a more seasoned festival with three times the entries we receive (as they are an Academy-qualifying festival, among other attributes), almost any Film Festival programmer I've ever met will tell you exactly the same advice.

Sample advice:
Tip #2: If you’re making a 10-minute short, don’t make your credit sequence five minutes.

Read more tips at the Decider's posting of the article. (Thanks, Kelly!)

Summer Series, Week 5: RIP, Remix Manifesto

Our Summer Series at the Lyric continues with RIP: Remix Manifesto, a documentary we are pleased to present in partnership with B-Side.com.

Web activist and filmmaker Brett Gaylor explores issues of copyright in the information age, mashing up the media landscape of the 20th century and shattering the wall between users and producers. The film's central protagonist is Girl Talk, a mash-up musician topping the charts with his sample-based songs. Is Girl Talk a paragon of people power or the Pied Piper of piracy? You decide. Creative Commons founder, Lawrence Lessig, Brazil's Minister of Culture Gilberto Gil and pop culture critic Cory Doctorow are also along for the ride.

Is it art? Or is it copyright infringement? You decide...join us on Monday, June 29 at 7:00pm. $5 at the door.

Summer Series, Week 4: Splinterheads

Splinterheads Trailer from Atlantic Pictures on Vimeo.

Splinterheads comes to Oxford! After a premiere at the South by Southwest Film Festival in March, Oxford is next on the film's brief list of pre-distribution screenings. Producer Darren Goldberg will be in attendance. Don't miss it!

Show starts at 7:00pm, $5.00 at the door. Bring your own snacks! The bar is open!

For Justin Frost, a typical day is rolling out of bed at one, practicing improvised karate, and mowing grass for his best friend's landscaping business. But when a traveling carnival lands in his small town, Justin falls for a sexy con-artist and wakes up to the life he has yet to begin living. Directed by Brant Sersen (Blackballed: the Bobby Dukes Story; Best Narrative Feature, OFF 2004), and featuring several familiar faces, including Lea Thompson and Frankie Faison.

Summer Series, Week 3: Motherland

A return to documentaries for our next Movie Monday at the Lyric with Motherland.

Show starts at 7:00pm, $5.00 at the door. Bring your own snacks! The bar is open!

See this powerful film which debuted in March at the South by Southwest Film Festival.

Six diverse and remarkable women, each grieving the loss of a child, travel to rural South Africa to work as volunteers in an effort to find some positive meaning in the wake of their tragedies. The group, strangers to each other before the trip began but bound by the painful experience they share, contribute to and learn from a culture that deals with mourning in a way very different from what they're accustomed to in America. For 17 days on the other side of the world, these women cry and laugh, grieve and celebrate, and talk more openly than ever before about the kids they adored. And for the first time since their children's deaths, together in the Motherland, each woman finds hope and healing in the company of others who truly understand her experience. Directed by Jennifer Steinman.

Summer Series, Week 2: Adventures of Power

Our Summer Series at the Lyric continues with Ari Gold's ADVENTURES OF POWER. Show starts at 7:00pm; tickets are $5.00 at the door.

A poor, misfit mineworker named Power sets out to change the world through his love of drums. The only problem is, he’s never learned to play – so has instead become an expert air-drummer, a skill which has yet to earn him the respect of his union-leader father or working-class town. Power soon discovers an underground network of people who play air drums competitively and his life changes forever. Directed by Ari Gold, who stars along with Jane Lynch, Michael McKean, and Adrian Grenier.

The film premiered at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and screened at over 20 film festivals across North America, including some of our favorites: Indie Memphis, Sidewalk, Austin, and Toofy.

Unleash your inner (air) drummer, and join us at the Lyric!

SIDE NOTE: we will rescreen WE FUN for those who missed it on Monday night due to the baseball game. (Go Rebels!) Stay tuned for details....

Summer Series begins with WE FUN

Our expanded Summer Series -- this year at The Lyric Oxford -- kicks off on Monday, June 1 at 7:00pm with WE FUN, directed by Matthew Robison. We first met Matthew in 2008 when he brought the film Silver Jew, which he co-produced, to our 5th Annual Festival. We have been anxiously awaiting his new project, and here it is!

WE FUN is an insider's look at a small group of bands that have come to international prominence in the last year. Atlanta area bands like the Black Lips, Mastodon and Deerhunter that started playing at house parties and offbeat local venues are now playing festivals around the world. It is the story of the Peter Pan syndrome reaching critical mass and the creativity that follows. It is also a portrait of how a scene develops, in this case the Atlanta indie rock scene. It starts as simply with talented musicians who just want to play their music with no compromises, followed by venues that make themselves accessible to new and rising acts, and fans who take ownership and pride in helping to nurture a burgeoning community. Eventually, the rest of the world notices. There is fire, fireworks and still more fire, odd stories from the road, the how and why of performance, and all variety of what these artists call "fun."

Fittingly enough, the bar at the Lyric will be open during this film.

See the full series schedule here.

Admission = $5.00
Festival merchandise will also be on sale.