Published: May 29, 2025 | Last Updated on June 4, 2025, 2:02 PM
OKLAHOMA CITY — The deadCenter Film Festival – Oklahoma’s biggest annual film world event – is gearing up for a five-day blowout to celebrate its 25th year with the largest slate of film screenings, panels, and events that the fest has ever seen.
From Wednesday, June 11th through Sunday, June 15th, Oklahoma City will see streets, seats, and theater spaces all across town buzzing with filmmakers and fans alike as deadCenter celebrates its own past and evolution while spotlighting the present and future of the film industry.
Since launching inauspiciously in 2001 in a single room of the old Oklahoma Contemporary art space at the Fairgrounds, deadCenter has grown into a full-fledged film institute and incubator for the state’s moviemaking community, as well as a respected and anticipated annual festival that’s now heralded as an Oscar-qualifying event.
To celebrate the 25th installment of the festival, organizers are reaching into theaters and spaces all over town, incorporating returning favorites like Harkins and the Oklahoma City Museum of Art and utilizing both Rodeo Cinema theaters and the First Americans Museum. But they’re also returning to the fest’s spiritual home at the new Oklahoma Contemporary.
It’s all in service of spotlighting Oklahoma’s own homegrown creative community while boasting some newly honed global interest.
“We’ll be kicking things off this year ‘Okie style,’” deadCenter Executive Director Cacky Poarch told Free Press by phone on Wednesday. “We’ll have a 400-seat theater at Harkins where we’ll be kicking off the whole festival with our ‘Okie Shorts’ showcase in the largest theater that we’ve ever had at deadCenter.”
Oklahoma focus
That deep focus and consideration of Oklahoma-made films has always been a priority for the festival, but this year’s lineup will see more than ever before.
In addition to the always anticipated “Okies Shorts” programs, the lineup will also see some world premieres of some major Oklahoman selections.
That includes the long-in-development “Close Enough to Burn” from local director Ben Tefera, “Life’s Ballet,” examining the life of OCU dance instructor Jo Rowan, and “67 Bombs to Enid,” the Errol Morris-produced look into the Marshallese community of Enid and its growth following decades of atomic testing on the Marshall Islands.
“We have a record number of Oklahoman films this year,” Poarch said. “We were really founded as a platform for Oklahoman filmmakers, so it’s always been important to us. But it was particularly important to highlight Oklahoman films this year for the anniversary.”
Oscar qualifying
While the full-length features often clench the marquee spots, it’s actually the short film programs that have helped to raise deadCenter’s standing across the film world.
That’s because, in recent years, the festival secured its status as a qualifying venue and showcase for Academy Awards consideration in the Live-Action Short and Animated Short categories, pulling in recognition and interest from filmmakers around the globe.
But this year’s 25th installment will introduce that same Oscar qualification to another category for the first time: Best Documentary Short.
“We’re now an Oscar-qualifying festival in all three of the short film categories, which is really amazing,” Poarch said. “We’re one of only 27 film festivals in America that can say that.”
Some of the shorts that made waves at deadCenter 2024 later showed up as Oscar finalists, so these short film programs are a great way for OKC cinephiles to get ahead of the curve and to see what could be the next big names before anyone else.
“Filmmakers from all over know that if you bring your short to deadCenter, that you could be eligible for an Oscar,” Poarch said of the worldwide interest that the qualification has brought to the festival. “That’s a really big deal, not just for the festival, but for Oklahoma.”
New/old home base
Throughout the full five-day festival, the deadCenter team will be operating out of their new headquarters in OKC’s Deep Deuce, but will also be running a kind of home base for the festival in a sentimental and commemoratively appropriate location.
“Our hub this year will be at Oklahoma Contemporary,” Poarch said. “That’s where we’ll be doing our full panel series and a ton of free programming, something for everyone, really.”
It’s an apt partnership, as deadCenter originally launched in Contemporary’s old space at the OKC Fairgrounds 25 years ago.
But bringing the festival back to Contemporary not only highlights how far both organizations have come in the past two decades, it also provides an accessible home base to venues like Harkins and OKCMOA and allows the team a unique space for events and ceremonies.
“We’ll have the dedicated Te Ata Theater for all of our panel discussions and education programming,” said Poarch. “It’s nice to have this great big room at Contemporary to host those things. And it’s also nice that Contemporary has so much parking and streetcar access. That really helps.”
They’ll also be utilizing Contemporary’s unique spaces for some new creative spins on festival events.
Saturday evening will see the festival’s Awards Gala inside the Te Ata Theater followed by a free movie screening outside on the Contemporary lawn.
Bigger than ever
The scale and scope of this year’s festivities will represent one of the largest undertakings that deadCenter has ever seen, a marked turnaround from the pared-down, streamlined festival of just a few years ago, when post-pandemic rollbacks and leadership shakeups forced a scaling back for the fest.
But the deadCenter team is banking big for their 25th year, fielding over 1700 submissions and selecting the largest number that they’ve ever presented.
“It just so happens that we’re showing 200 films this year, and we’ve never shown that many before,” Poarch said. “So we’re just thrilled. It’s awesome.”
For full schedules, festival passes, and more information, visit deadcenterfilm.org.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly said that the deadCenter Awards would be presented outdoors on the Contemporary terrace. It has been corrected to show that they will be presented inside the Te Ata Theater at Oklahoma Contemporary.
Brett Fieldcamp has been covering arts, entertainment, news, housing, and culture in Oklahoma for nearly 15 years, writing for several local and state publications. He’s also a musician and songwriter and holds a certification as Specialist of Spirits from The Society of Wine Educators.
