OKLAHOMA CITY – It’s time again to block out some days on your calendar, shore up your popcorn budget, and ready yourself for the 26th deadCenter Film Festival, June 10th through 14th all over town.
And while this is the first year for the fest under new executive director (and co-owner of sprawling film and production studio Filmmakers Ranch) Amy Janes, the week’s lineup is packed full as ever of the kinds of richly diverse, pointedly outspoken features that we’ve all come to expect from Oklahoma’s premiere film festival.
But with a huge slate of films and screenings at theater spaces across the city, it can be tough to figure out exactly what you need to catch, so here’s a list of some (not all!) of the buzziest feature-length offerings at this year’s deadCenter.
And don’t think I’m overlooking the huge selection of shorts. That’ll be next week.
Note: Most of these movies will have multiple screenings across the weekend, so check out the full lineup to see all your chances to catch each one.
‘Keep Quiet’
The Opening Night feature and the newest showcase for this year’s Legacy Icon Award recipient, the great Lou Diamond Phillips, Vincent Grashaw’s “Keep Quiet” digs deep into the cycles of violence at the center of gangland loyalties, law enforcement, and the hazy gray areas in between.
Grashaw and screenwriter Zach Montague attempt to dig at the unique, quiet struggles of reservation life, as Phillips stars as a reservation cop on the trail of a recently released gang boss that’s bring his own violent history to the present-day realities of Indigenous life in America.
‘Mallory’s Ghost’
Written by, co-directed by, and starring Arabella Oz, psycho-dramedy “Mallory’s Ghost” floats somewhere between a complicated relationship comedy and a psychological thriller.
Mallory is an irrepressibly insecure young woman joining her playwright boyfriend on what should be a quiet and romantic coastal retreat. But it all falls apart when she discovers that he brought a previous girlfriend on the exact same trip, triggering Mallory’s own fears and paranoias as her own jealousy turns the retreat into something more like a haunting.
‘We Put the World to Sleep’
From Romanian director Adrian Țofei and Turkish writer Duru Yücel comes this bizarre, reality-breaking mockumentary in which they both get so wrapped up in an apocalyptic, end-of-the-world film they’re trying to produce that they decide to try ending the world for real.
It’s just the kind of unsettlingly odd experimental film that you’re not likely to catch outside of the festival circuit, and exactly the kind of weirdo, boundary-skirting offering that’s perfect for deadCenter.
‘What Will I Become?’
As deadCenter takes place each year in the middle of Pride Month and boasts a strong presence of programmers and leaders from the LGBTQ+ community, the lineup is always guaranteed to feature a wide selection of thoughtful – and often even defiant – examinations of queer life and love.
One of many such thoughtful, deeply considered films is “What Will I Become?” from directors Lexie Bean and Logan Rozos, an intimate exploration of the tragic suicide epidemic among transgender boys, centering on two young lives lost and blurring the lines between whimsical animation and stark documentary to celebrate their spirit.
‘Reservation Redemption’
deadCenter’s annual lineup has never been any stranger to overt activism and mobilization in the face of pressing, true-life challenges, and the 2026 slate is no different.
From directors Brenda Fisher and Blake Pickens (of Oklahoma’s own Chickasaw Nation), “Reservation Redemption” is part of a direct effort lobbying for freedom for Chief Marchand Rice, an incarcerated Indigenous man sentenced to life in prison in Washington for murder in 1988, when he was just 17 years old.
Since his sentencing, the state of Washington has ruled it unconstitutionally cruel and unusual to sentence minors to life in prison with no parole, but Chief Marchand Rice remains. “Reservation Redemption” is an attempt to tell his story and to hear from the voices calling for his case to be reconsidered.
‘The Last Picture Shows’
Documentarian Rustin Thompson takes viewers on a road trip across America to explore and honor the once-thriving, now critically endangered, American cultural institution that is the local movie theater.
Crossing the country to consider the multiplexes, art-houses, and small-town theaters that used to dominate entertainment and American life nationwide, Thompson unpacks the implications of rapidly losing theaters to streaming, inflation, and general ennui, celebrating what they used to mean for their communities and what some communities are striving to protect.
It’s tough to think of a better venue for this one than OFX, itself an historic theater operated by a local group committed to retaining that community hub.
‘It Comes in Waves’
A harrowing look at the struggles of a family of Rwandan immigrants in Canada in the shadow of abuse, addiction, and the spiraling cycles of violence that threaten that pull them down, “It Comes in Waves” is bound to be an especially powerful one.
Haitian-Canadian director Fitch Jean’s first-ever narrative feature, the film has already been pulling in awards and accolades at festivals in both the US and Canada, so it‘ll already be carrying some major buzz when it make its Oklahoma premiere at deadCenter.
‘The General’
The Oklahoma City Museum of Art is hosting a special event screening of Buster Keaton’s 1926 classic “The General” as part of deadCenter, celebrating the 100th anniversary of the film from one of the undisputed masters of cinema stunt spectacle.
Perhaps Keaton’s very greatest achievement, “The General” follows a hapless, Southern train engineer through the chaos of the Civil War, the bureaucracies of the Confederate military, and the challenges of burgeoning love, all while surviving some of the wildest stunts and train-based action ever put to film.
It’s surely the most legendary comedy of the entire Silent Era, and celebrating its centennial in OKC’s best art-house theater is bound to be an unforgettable way to spend the morning on deadCenter Sunday.
For more, including the full schedule and lineup of films, panels, events, and more, visit deadcenterfilm.org.
Catch Brett Fieldcamp’s film column weekly for information and insights into the world of film in the Oklahoma City metro and Oklahoma. | Brought to you by the Oklahoma City Museum of Art.
Brett Fieldcamp is the owner and Editor in Chief of Oklahoma City Free Press. He has been covering arts, entertainment, news, housing, and culture in Oklahoma for nearly two decades and served as Arts & Entertainment Editor before purchasing the company from founder Brett Dickerson in 2026.
He is also a musician and songwriter and holds a certification as Specialist of Spirits from The Society of Wine Educators.
