2021.
2021 Oxford Film Festival’s Official Selections
SPOTLIGHT FILMS AND SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS
Horton Foote: The Road to Home
Director: Anne Rapp
Country: USA, Run Time: 77 min.
Horton Foote: The RoadtTo Home is a documentary that chronicles the creative journey of acclaimed Texas writer Horton Foote through his own eyes and voice at the end of his life.
Keyboard Fantasies: The Beverly Glenn-Copeland Story
Director: Posy Dixon
Country: United Kingdom Run Time: 63 min.
After his 1986 album Keyboard Fantasies is rediscovered, a black trans musician recounts his life as an out queer person and performer from the 60s to the present.
Director: Jim Henson
Country: USA, Run Time: 101 min
Sixteen-year-old Sarah is given thirteen hours to solve a labyrinth and rescue her baby brother Toby when her wish for him to be taken away is granted by the Goblin King Jareth.
Liberation Heroes: The Last Eyewitnesses Regional Premiere
in association with USC Shoah Foundation
Director: Vanessa Roth
Country: USA, Run Time: 42 min
Heroic World War II veterans vividly share their liberation journeys, drawing parallels between the past and the present.
Director: Ryan Spahn
Country: USA Run Time: 63 min.
Nora Highland follows the casting process of a notable gay character in an upcoming Broadway revival and explores the phenomenon of straight performers being lauded for their work in queer roles. Adapted from a play of the same name this is a damning look at how and why over 60 straight/cis actors have been Oscar nominated for playing queer roles while only one queer actor has been Oscar nominated for doing the same.
Director: Olivia Peace
Country: USA, Run Time: 82 min
A queer, coming-of-age drama set in Rochester, NY about an anxious teen girl who is manipulated into a romantic encounter with her best friend during the funeral service of their former Hebrew school classmate.
Director: Bill Perry
Country: USA, Run Time: 70 min
The Nebulonians are an advanced alien species that have come to earth to conquer and destroy all humans. They have created a race of hybrid clones to infiltrate a human society called the X Models.
NARRATIVE FEATURES
Director: Travis Mills
Country: USA, Run Time: 95 min
Bastard’s Crossing tells the story of Cam Talcutt, a man who won a trading post in a card game. Now, he's stuck in the wilderness trying to run it when he learns the freight company who supplies his store won't be coming anymore. Mississippi Feature Competition.
Director: Jonathan Wysocki
Country: USA, Run Time: 91 min
In 1994, a closeted teen struggles to part ways with his 4 high school drama friends at their final murder mystery party before they leave for college. LGBTQIA+ Feature Competition.
Directors: Megan Petersen, Hannah Black
Country: USA, Run Time: 84 min
It’s 1993 and North Carolina is experiencing a historic drought but autistic teen Carl, fascinated by weather, predicts that a storm will soon hit nearby while his sister Sam crafts a plan to help him chase the storm. Narrative Feature Competition.
Get The Hell Out Regional Premiere
Director: I-Fan Wang
Country: Taiwan, Run Time: 95 min.
Taiwan's parliament turns deadly when a virus transforms politicians into ravenous zombie mutants. Narrative Features Competition.
Director: Lisa Donato
Country: USA, Run Time: 96 min
A young boy with an unhappy home life seeks solace in an unexpected friendship with his next-door neighbor, a trans woman named Gossamer. LGBTQIA+ Feature Competition.
Murder Bury Win Regional Premiere
Director: Michael Lovan
Country: USA, Run Time: 90 min
Three friends have created a board game, Murder Bury Win, and they think it has what it takes to become a best seller on the indie charts. Narrative Feature Competition.
Director: Jake Mahaffy
Country: New Zealand, Run Time: 90 min
A pregnant woman returns to her recently deceased grandparents' family home to spend time with her estranged mother. What begins as a reunion turns terrifying. Narrative Feature Competition.
Sublet Regional Premiere
Director: Eytan Fox
Country: USA, Israel, Run Time: 90 min
Michael, a travel columnist for The New York Times, goes to Tel Aviv to write an article after suffering a tragedy. LGBTQIA+ Feature Competition.
Director: Lissette Feliciano
Country: USA, Run Time: 84 min
In 1960s San Francisco, bright and talented catholic school girl Celina Guerrera (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’s Lorenza Izzo) survives a difficult home life by following the rules. Narrative Feature Competition.
DOCUMENTARY FEATURES
Bleeding Audio Regional Premiere
Director: Chelsea Christer
Country: USA, Run Time: 91 min.
From inspiring triumphs to heartbreaking setbacks, Bleeding Audio relives the explosive career of the Matches and explores what it means to succeed in the digital age of music. Music Documentary Competition.
Director: David Delaney Mayer
Country: USA, Run Time: 55 min
The Castle on Red Mountain is a documentary about a sculptor named Robert Mihaly who is returning to finish his biggest project to date: a whimsical 70-foot-high castle that he abandoned a decade earlier. Documentary Features Compeition.
Director: Geeta Gandbhir
Country: USA, Run Time: 84 min
Produced by Soledad O’Brien and directed by Geeta Gandbhir, Hungry to Learn shows the faces behind an American crisis -- college students so strapped to pay tuition that they don’t have enough money to eat.
Directors: Caren Zucker, John Donvan
Country: USA, Run Time: 102 min.
A mother tracks down the first person diagnosed with autism, now an elderly man in Mississippi, to learn if his life holds promise for her autistic son. Her journey through autism's past and present uncovers much cruelty, framed by forces like race, money and privilege, but ultimately leads to hope. Also, Sid Salter, political columnist is in the cast. Mississippi Feature Competition.
Director: Patrick O’Connor
Country: USA, Run Time: 89 min
Look Away, Look Away is the story of the fierce 5-year fight over the state flag of Mississippi, the last of the original Confederate states to still have the Rebel flag in its design – a fact that warmed the hearts of many white Mississippians and angered most of their African-American and progressive white neighbors. But this documentary is about more than a flag – it’s about how race, heritage, and long-simmering grievances over the Civil War lead to a reckoning over the meaning of Confederate symbols. Mississippi Feature Competition.
Mama Gloria Regional Premiere
Director: Luchina Fisher
Country: USA, Run Time: 76 min
Meet Mama Gloria. Chicago’s Black transgender icon Gloria Allen, now in her 70s, blazed a trail for trans people like few others before her. LGBTQIA+ Feature Competition.
Directors: Aisling Chin-yee, Chase Koynt
Country: USA, Run Time: 84 min
The legacy of Billy Tipton, a 20th Century American jazz musician and trans icon, is brought to life by a diverse group of contemporary trans artists. LGBTQIA+ Feature Competition.
Director: Nathan Clarke
Country: USA, Run Time: 64 min
Three professions ushered former slaves from poverty to the American dream: preacher, teacher, and undertaker. Now, renowned embalmer James Bryant puts his faith in a new generation to continue the legacy of Black funeral homes in San Antonio, TX. Documentary Feature Competition.
Queens of Pain Regional Premiere
Directors: Cassie Hay, Amy Winston
Country: USA, Run Time: 75 min
An intimate portrait of the athletes of Gotham Girls Roller Derby League, Queens of Pain follows Suzy Hotrod, Evilicious, and Captain Smack Sparrow, as they face the constraints of being a woman in America playing the sport they love. Documentary Feature Competition.
Director: Nathan Willis
Country: USA. Run Time: 55 min.
Rap Squad is an intimate verité documentary about student hip hop artists who seek healing for themselves and justice for their Delta community through their music.
Surviving the Silence Regional Premiere
Director: Cindy L. Abel
Country: USA, Run Time: 79 min.
Years before Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Colonel Patsy Thompson presided over the board that dismissed Colonel Margarethe Cammermeyer for being a lesbian, forcing her to confront her own secret and moral dilemma: she too was a lesbian.
Uprooted - The Journey of Jazz Dance
Director: Khadifa Wong
Country: USA, Run Time: 94 min.
Uprooted - The Journey of Jazz Dance is a feature-length documentary celebrating the history, lineage, and future progressions of jazz dance. With special appearances by Debbie Allen, George Faison, Chita Rivera, Camille, A. Brown and Thomas F. DeFrantz.
Directors: Kevin Smokler, Christopher Boone
Country: USA, Run Time; 92 min
Vinyl Nation is a documentary dig into the resurgence of vinyl records, the diversification of vinyl fans, and the connective power of music. Music Documentary Competition.
Director: Rebecca Richman Cohen
Country: USA, France, Run Time: 89 min
Weed & Wine interweaves stories, urging comparisons and teasing out contradictions between France’s revered winemaking traditions and the artisan culture emerging alongside the legal cannabis industry. Documentary Feature Competition.
Without Getting Killed or Caught Regional Premiere
Directors: Tamara Saviano, Paul Whitfield
Country: USA, Run Time: 95 min
Without Getting Killed or Caught is the true story of Guy Clark, the dean of Texas songwriters, who struggles to write poetic, yet indelible songs while balancing a complicated marriage with his wife, Suzanna, and a deep friendship with singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt, on whom Susanna forged a passionate dependence.
Music Documentary Competition.
SHORT FILMS
Fuil descriptions of the shorts are available at https://2021oxff.eventive.org/welcome
NARRATIVE SHORTS COMPETITION
1-800-D-DIRECT
Director: Clare Macdonald
Country: UK, Run Time: 11 min
3:14PM
Director: I Fu Chen
Country: USA, Run Time: 19 min
A Cthulhu Story
Director: Zhidong Yi
Country: USA, Run Time: 13 min
Beyond Saving
Director: Kryzz Gautier
Country: USA, Run Time: 9 min
Birdie Regional Premiere
Director: Çağatay Ulusoy
Country: Turkey, Run Time: 20 min
Brief Survey
Director: Dava Whisenant
Country: USA, Run Time: 3 min
Brown With Blue
Director: Christian Nolan Jones
Country: USA, Run Time: 22 min
Charon Regional Premiere
Director: Yannick Karcher
Country: France, Run Time: 16 min
Clave
Director: Alex Argiles
Country: USA, Run Time: 15 min
David
Director: Zachary Woods
Country: USA, Run Time: 12 min
Fenestra
Director: Jason Sheedy
Country: USA, Run Time: 4 min
Freeze
Director: Maya Albanese
Country: USA, Run Time: 14 min
Hello From Taiwan
Director: Tiffany Frances
Country: USA, Run Time: 16 min
Imminent
Director: Tophersimon
Country: USA, Run Time: 8 min
Jack and Jo Don't Want to Die
Director: Kantú Lentz
Country: USA, Run Time: 20 min
Little Con Lili
Director: Gabriela Garcia Medina
Country: USA, Run Time: 9 min
Miss Fortunate
Director: Ella Jones
Country: UK, Run Time: 15 min
The Mother Regional Premiere
Director: Hope Olaidé Wilson
Country: USA, Run Time: 8 min
Mother Tongue
Director: Jessica Li
Country: Australia, Run Time: 12 min
Mountain Of Light
Director: Aashish Gadhvi
Country: UK, Run Time: 16 min
Natives
Director: R Jason Rawlings
Country: USA, Run Time: 12 min
One Sweet Night
Director: Daniel Pfeffer
Country: USA, Run Time: 19 min
Pharmacopeia
Director: Tania Taiwo
Country: USA, Run Time: 5 min
Pieces of Me
Director: Julia Max
Country: USA, Run Time: 15 min
The Recess
Director: Navid Nikkhah Azad
Country: Iran, Run Time: 12 min
Standing Woman
Director: Tony Hipwell
Country: UK, Run Time: 15 min
Standstill
Director: Katia Shannon
Country: Cape Verde, Run Time: 13 min
Swim to Steven Regional Premiere
Director: Amy French
Country: USA, Run Time: 15 min
There Was Nobody Here We Knew
Director: Khaula Malik
Country: USA, Run Time: 10 min
Three Men Named Mantas
Director: James Mackenzie
Country: USA, Run Time: 11 min
Untitled Post-Baby Project
Director: Lorna Street Dopson
Country: USA, Run Time: 15 min
Waves Regional Premiere
Director: Agazi Desta
Country: USA, Run Time: 11 min
DOCUMENTARY SHORTS COMPETITION
A Head Shorter
Director: Sasha Sivan Bortnik
Country: USA, Run Time: 23 min
And Don't Forget I Love You
Taylor Walker
Country: USA, Run Time: 2 min
Ang Meron sa Wala (Beyond Nothing)
Director: Arby Laraño
Country: Philippines, Run Time: 13 min
As You Can See
Director: Ghada Fikri
Country: Egypt, Run Time: 4 min
Darling Pet Monkey
Director: Jim McDonough
Country: USA, Run Time: 8 min
Dieorama
Director: Kevin Staake
Country: USA, Run Time: 10 min
Dixie
Director: Caroline Rumley
Country: USA, Run Time: 14 min
Fujin
Director: Rachel Makana'aloha O Kauikeolani Nakawatase
Country: USA, Run Time: 6 min
Girl with The D Earring
Director: Lamar Landers
Country: USA, Run Time: 14 min
God's Plant
Directors: Jeremy Seifert, Malek Asfeer
Country: USA, Run Time: 14 min
Grab My Hand: A Letter to My Dad
Directors: Camrus Johnson, Pedro Piccinini
Country: USA, Run Time: 5 min
The Maroon Bomber
Director: Joshua Thomas
Country: USA, Run Time: 10 min
Modern Whore
Director: Nicole Bazuin
Country: Cape Verde, Run Time: 12 min
Shaun Leonardo: The Freedom to Move Regional Premiere
Director: Nick Ravich
Country: USA, Run Time: 11 min
Snowy
Directors: Kaitlyn Schwalje, Alex Wolf Lewis
Country: USA, Run Time: 13 min
Still Processing
Director: Sophy Romvari
Country: Canada, Run Time: 17 min
Turf Nation
Director: Jun Bae
Country: USA, Run Time: 13 min
Unmarked
Directors: Chris Haley, Brad J. Bennett
Country: USA, Run Time: 27 min
Vanishing Louisiana
Director: Adam Chitayat
Country: USA, Run Time: 8 min
The Water Walker
Director: James Burns
Country: Cape Verde, Run Time: 14 min
FEST FORWARD COMPETITION
A Step into My Wallpaper
Director: Antoine Ceunebroucke
Country: France, Run Time: 13 min
The Beakmann Incident
Director: Jared D. Weiss
Country: USA, Run Time: 3 min
Chor(e)s
Director: Danielle Deadwyler
Country: USA, Run Time: 13 min
Crowded Regional Premiere
Director: Nathania Rubin
Country: Netherlands, Run Time: 4 min
Desert Air
Director: ANDiLAND
Country: USA, Run Time: 108 min
Ex Nihilo Nihil Fit
Director: Eric Butler
Country: USA, Run Time: 14 min
Haiku
Director: Martin Gerigk
Countries: Germany/Japan, Run Time: 17 min
Hop Along Hang On
Director: Cobra Collins
Country: USA, Run Time: 4 min
Ije
Directors: Onyenaturuchi Ogbonnaya, Charles Obioha Ogbonnaya
Country: USA, Run Time: 7 min
Lessons from My Nightmares
Director: Kira Bursky
Country: USA, Run Time: 4 min
Luv U Cuz
Director: Eric Pumphrey
Country: USA, Run Time: 15 min
Malinchista
Director: Flora Rees-Arredondo
Country: USA, Run Time: 6 min
Nobody Gives a Fuck
Director: Asha Susan Alex
Country: India, Run Time: 5 min
Pleasant Valley Drive In
Director: Brian Zahm
Country: USA, Run Time: 2 min
RKLSS
Director: Tank Standing Buffalo
Country: Cape Verde, Run Time: 5 min
Snow Shelter
Director: Robertas Nevecka
Country: Lithuania, Run Time: 16 min
Three
Director: Soyeon Kim
Country: USA, Run Time: 2 min
The Winter
Director: Xin Li
Country: Australia, Run Time: 5 min
LGBTQIA+ SHORTS COMPETITION
Appetite
Director: Stacey Maltin
Country: USA, Run Time: 13 min
Catfish Killer
Director: Gil Hizon, Seth Harrington
Country: USA, Run Time: 13 min
Color Me Blue Regional Premiere
Director: Lucas Camusso
Country: USA, Run Time: 11 min
Drifting
Hanxiong Bo
Countries: USA/China, Run Time: 16 min
The Forgotten Place Regional Premiere
Director: Oscar Rene Lozoya II
Country: USA, Run Time: 12 min
Good Night
Director: Eric Shahinian
Country: USA, Run Time: 11 min
Just a Guy
Director: Shoko Hara
Country: Germany, Run Time: 15 min
Kapaemahu
Director: Hinaleimoana Wong Kalu
Country: USA, Run Time: 8 min
Kiko’s Saints
Director: Manuel Marmier
Country: France, Run Time: 25 min
Kind Of
Director: Noah Schamus
Country: USA, Run Time: 8 min
Light Regional Premiere
Director: Daniel Talbott
Country: USA, Run Time: 12 min
"Love"
Director: Andrea Ashton
Country: USA, Run Time: 4 min
Making Samantha
Directors: T Cooper, Allison Glock-Cooper
Country: USA, Run Time: 10 min
The Meaning of Daisey
Director: Max'ed Deeq
Country: UK, Run Time: 5 min
My Own
Director: Courtney Hope Thérond
Country: USA, Run Time: 12 min
The Paint Wizzard
Directors: Jessie Auritt, Jessica Wolfson
Country: USA, Run Time: 17 min
Polter
Director: Álvaro Vicario
Country: Spain, Run Time: 11 min
Remember That?
Director: Aella Jordan-Edge
Country: UK, Run Time: 11 min
S.A.M
Director: Eyre and Ely
Country: UK, Run Time: 16 min
Tell Me About Orange
Director: Robin Noonan-Price
Country: USA, Run Time: 6 min
Thorns
Directors: Sarah Wisner, Sean Temple
Country: USA, Run Time: 5 min
Vestirse
Director: John E. Kilberg
Country: USA, Run Time: 8 min
Waffle
Director: Carlyn Hudson
Country: USA, Run Time: 11 min
MISSISSIPPI SHORTS COMPETITION
10 Years Over the Horizon
Directors: Elisabetta and Matteo Zengaro
Country: USA, Run Time: 10 min
The Doll Lady
Director: Amile Wilson
Country: USA, Run Time: 13 Min
Dress to Impress
Director: Collin Surbeck
Country: USA, Run Time: 4 min
Genderf*ck Drag
Director: Christina Huff
Country: USA, Run Time: 5 min
The Long Haul
Director: Maggie Bushway
Country: USA, Run Time: 3 min
Mending Mittie's Tomb
Jonathan Smith
Country: USA, Run Time: 9 mins
Mississippi Yearning
Director: Marcus Black
Country: USA, Run Time: 4 min
Mori World Premiere
Director: Jonathan Breaux
Country: USA, Run Time: 13 mins
Road to Step
Director: Zaire Love
Country: USA, Run Time: 20 min
Smoot’s
Directors: Silas Borelly, Greyson A. Welch
Country: USA, Run Time: 4 min
Tahksic
Director: Anquanizia Hall
Country: USA, Run Time: 9 min
The Space We Make
Director: Tucker Robbins
Country: USA, Run Time: 13 min
We Travel
Directors: Brian Foster, Ethan Payne
Country: USA, Run Time: 13 min
STUDENT SHORTS COMPETITION
El Triste
Director: Manuel Del Valle
Country: Mexico, USA, Run Time: 14 min
Foods For Coping
Director: Zoey Zhao
Country: USA, Run Time: 18 min
Le Prince Oublié
Director: Chloe Aguirre
Country: USA, Run Time: 18 min
Millenium Hour
Director: Adam Bohorquez
Country: USA, Run Time: 6 min
Misfits Regional Premiere
Director: Ciani Rey Walker
Country: USA, Run Time: 18 min
Out of Stock
Director: Bryan Taira
Country: USA, Run Time: 18 min
Sackhead Strikes Out!
Director: Jon Sherin
Country: USA, Run Time: 5 min
Toomsboro
Director: Liam Tangum
Country: USA, Run Time: 14 min
Your Friend, Ranger Doug Regional Premiere
Directors: Claire Jantzen, Sara Rose Nell
Country: USA, Run Time: 17 min
MUSIC VIDEO COMPETITION
8 Minutes & 46 Seconds Regional Premiere
Directors: Aaron Strand, Cooper Bucha, Brady Dunn
Country: USA, Run Time: 3 min
All I Wanted Was You
Director: Randy Ferino
Country: USA, Run Time: 5 min
Canes Creek
Director: Michael Everett
Country: USA, Run Time: 3 min
Confused by Spencer Thomas
Director: Drew McKercher
Country: USA, Run Time: 4 min
Even the Rats Regional Premiere
Director: Mike Hay
Country: Scotland, UK, Run Time: 6 min
The Great Divide by The Shins Regional Premiere
Director: Paul Trillo
Country: USA, Run Time: 4 min
Infected
Director: Alfonso Cronopio
Country: USA, Run Time: 4 min
Jane by Patrick Jennings
Director: Marsh Nabors
Country: USA, Run Time: 2 min
Memphis as F*ck by Tori WhoDat (feat. Lil Wyte, Frayser Boy & Al Kapone)
Director: Isaiah Conyers
Country: USA, Run Time: 3 min
Night Terrors by Kudoz
Director: Ellie Lee Stayner
Country: USA, Run Time: 3 min
Paw in the Honey
Director: Laura Jean Hocking
Country: USA, Run Time: 3 min
Top Knot Turn Up by Madame Gandhi
Director: Justine Raczkiewicz
Country: USA, Run Time: 3 min
Thru My City by Tori WhoDat (feat. Miscellaneous)
Director: Isaiah Conyers
Country: USA, Run Time: 4 min
Touch Tone Telephone by Lemon Demon
Director: Chris Spargo
Country: UK, Run Time: 4 min
The Trouble with Angels Regional Premiere
Director: Sam Chegini
Country: UK, Run Time: 6 min
Union Made Guillotine
Director: John Rash
Country: USA, Run Time: 2 min
The Vacant by American Automatic
Director: Greg Johnson
Country: USA, Run Time: 4 min
Wasteland
Director: Lizbeth Calingasan
Country: Australia, Run Time: 12 min
When I'm Gone
Director: Kalob Adair
Country: USA, Run Time: 3 min
PROJECT(ion)
5000 Space Aliens World Premiere
Director: Scott Bateman
Country: USA, Run Time: 86 min
A Peculiar Week in My Dream Journal, May 1973 Regional Premiere
Director: Rachel Nakawatase
Country: USA, Run Time: 6 min
The Chair
Director: Ronnie Cramer
Country: USA, Run Time: 7 min
Chatbot Dialogs Regional Premiere
Directors: Marina Landia, Nick Landia, Holly Hudson,
Natasha Stiven, Mike Freedman, Ben Dallimore
Country: UK, Run Time: 5 min
Chattri (Umbrella) Regional Premiere
Director: Sarvshrest Singh
Country: USA, India, Run Time: 1 min.
Connexions
Director: Cendrine Robelin
Country: France, Run Time: 19 min
Homage to Airway Regional Premiere
Director: Sophia Ioannou Gjerding
Country: Denmark, Run Time: 13 min
Lullaby for a Pandemic Regional Premiere
Director: Gwendolyn Audrey Foster
Country: USA, Run Time: 1 min
Qausuittuq
Director: Min Bae
Country: Cape Verde, Run Time: 8 min
Six Positions on Uncertainty
Director: Lionel Popkin
Country: USA, Run Time: 7 min
Whistling Bridge
Director: Sohee Kim
Country: Korea, Run Time: 5 min
SHORT SCREENPLAY COMPETITION
“The Break-App”
Writer: Alison Zatta
Country: USA
“Cochebomba”
Writer: Kantu Lentz
Country: USA
“Lambing”
Writer: Katie McNeice
Country: Ireland
“My Friend”
Writer: Cedric Hill
Country: USA
“Nascent State”
Writer: Beanie Barnes
Country: USA
