OKLAHOMA CITY – For the second year, hopefuls, revelers, icons, and well-wishers all gathered in Oklahoma Contemporary’s Te Ata Theatre to celebrate the winners of the deadCenter Film Festival and anoint the next generation of rising indie filmmakers in Oklahoma.
At the center point of a noticeably leaner festival, deadCenter’s new executive director, Amy Janes (co-owner of Filmmaker’s Ranch, the state’s largest film production studio, and a producer and filmmaker herself behind some of the films in this year’s festival lineup) took the stage Saturday night to kick off the awards ceremony.
Janes praised the other filmmaking talent in the audience and thanked attendees, event partners like Contemporary, and host venues like Harkins Theatres, the Oklahoma Film Exchage, and the Oklahoma City Museum of Art.
The night’s inarguable biggest winner was gritty, reservation-set cop drama “Keep Quiet.”
Starring Oklahoma Legacy Award-winner Lou Diamond Phillips, the film picked up double honors as both the overall Best Narrative Feature and Best Oklahoma Feature in a ceremony that saw few winning filmmakers present to accept and saw a few fumbles, like presenters nearly forgetting to announce Best Oklahoma Feature until programming director Sunrise Tippeconnie swooped in to remind.
Though overall attendance at the festival appeared to be down a bit from last year’s packed and raucous 25th anniversary installment, speakers at Saturday’s ceremony lauded what they said was the greatest number of Oklahoman productions in the festival’s history.
That local filmmaking spirit was championed by the night’s Oklahoma Icon winners, including Lt. Governor Matt Pinnell, who was granted the Oklahoma Community Icon award for his work to further establish and expand the state’s filmmaking tax rebate.
“Over the last eight years, this has been the most rewarding project that I’ve been able to work on,” Pinnell said, particularly addressing the filmmakers in the audience. “We need this industry, and we need you in Oklahoma.”
The Oklahoma Film Icon award went to producer/director Loren Waters, founder of Waters Media and a casting director for “Reservation Dogs” and “The Lowdown,” who echoed Pinnell’s sentiment and encouraged young and aspiring filmmakers to make a home in Oklahoma and to help expand the industry here.
“This is where the stories are,” she said.
Here are the winners of the 2026 deadCenter Film Festival:
Best Narrative Feature: “Keep Quiet”
Best Oklahoma Feature: “Keep Quiet”
Best Oklahoma Short: “Basic Bandits”
Best Documentary Feature: “What Will I Become?”
Best Live Action Short: “Every Time I See a Yellow Car”
Best Documentary Short: “This Land Carries Us”
Best Animated Short (TIE): “Amarelo Banana” / “Paper Daughter”
Best Pride Feature: “She’s the He”
Best Pride Short: “Magid/Zafar”
Best Indigenous Feature: “Reservation Redemption”
Best Indigenous Short: “The Arrangements”
Special Jury Narrative Feature: “Take Me Home”
Special Jury Short Film: “Nervous Energy”
Special Jury Documentary Feature: “School for Defectors”
3-Minute Film: “An Tus Egyptian Highway”
High School Film: “Past in Motion”
Music Video: “Tarr Béla” by Benton.Hofi
Series/Episodic: “Penelope”
Honorable Mention: “Sell Your House” (given special mention for editing and creative filmmaking)
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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.
