THE 2016 Oxford Film Festival (February 17-21) Announces Full Schedule

The 2016 Oxford Film Festival announced the full schedule and complete slate of films for this year’s edition. A record breaking 144 films (25 features, 119 shorts and music videos) representing 14 countries were selected for the film festival taking place February 17-21 in Oxford, Mississippi. A series of special filmmaker panels including a talk with film and television star Joey Lawrence will be offered for Mississippi filmgoers to attend, 21 short films will screen for the first time anywhere, and 21 alumni filmmakers will see their latest work screen at Oxford with as many as 80 filmmakers planning to attend the popular film festival.

Narrative feature films in competition this year include; Claire Carré’s Embers; A.D. Calvo’s The Missing Girl; Kostadin Bonev’s The Sinking of Sozopol; John W. Mann and Jon Gunn’s The Week; and Rupert Glasson’s What Lola Wants. Documentary features in competition are: Gerald Peary’s Archie’s Betty; Nick Brandestini’s Children of the Arctic; Ryan Kelley’s Dixie; Neal Broffman’s Help Us Find Sunil Tripathi; and Sara Kaye Larson and Joann Self Selvidge’s The Keepers.

Highlights among the feature film selections include “can’t-miss” documentaries like; Amy Berg’s devastating documentary An Open Secret about the sexual abuse of minors in Hollywood; Les Blank’s A Poem is a Naked Person, his long-awaited profile of musician Leon Russell; Abigail Disney’s The Armor of Light, which takes a look at an evangelical preacher’s efforts to discuss gun control; the world premiere of local filmmaker Rex Jones’ Longleaf: The Heart of Pine, which traces the history and current status of the South’s primeval forest; and Joanne Grant’s Fundi: The Story of Ella Baker, which looks at the life of the civil rights figure.

On the narrative front, standouts include Tony Bloodworth’s thriller Forced Move and Mark Potts’ superhero comedy Spaghetti Man, which will both make their world premieres; 5-Second Films’ 80’s slasher films parody Dude Bro Party Massacre III which is sure to be a crowd pleaser; Johnny Remo’s Saved by Grace stars Joey Lawrence as a bitter ex-cop trying to come to terms with a tragic past with the help of a new relationship which brings some grace into his life; Max Myers’ Slip, Tumble, and Slide features Scott Wilson and Katherine Ross in a story about overcoming addiction through faith, music and love; an encore screening of John Stuart Wildman’s critically acclaimed grindhouse genre film The Ladies of the House starring Anime voice talent Brina Palencia and former adult film star Michelle ‘Belladonna’ Sinclair; and a special presentation of the restored Jonathan Demme Presents Made in Texas short film compilation about the punk rock scene of the 70s and early 80s, originally screened in 1981.

The series of panels offered are headed by a “Conversation with…Joey Lawrence” where he will discuss his career including his experiences being a teen idol and his new faith-based film Saved by Grace, and include additional compelling panel subjects subjects such as “Casting Character Actors”, “Producing Films in Mississippi”, “Casting Child Actors”, “Dissecting Hollywood’s Diversity Problem”, “How to Get Film Critics to review Your Film”, and “Independent Black Film Collective”.

World premieres and star wattage dot the ambitious slate of short films screening at Oxford this year. Among the 21 world premieres are; Michaela O’Brien’s Anatomical Gifts; Jeremy Jensen’s Araignee; George Gross’ Booker Wright’s Mashup; Damein Wash’s Bottle of Sunshine; G.B. Shannon’s Broke Dick Dog; Kimberly Burleigh’s Cannot Predict Now; Eileen Myers’ The Favor; Thad Lee’s Fiddler’s Green; Jordan Liebwitz’s Hit & Run; Sajad Abbas’ The Iraqi Superman; Tate Moore’s Kudzu Kings 20th Anniversary; Michael Jackson Chaney’s Little Sticker; Tim O’Grady’s Mo’ Bout Joe; James Martin’s The New Orleans Sazerac; Nancy Maria Balach and Katie McLaughlin’s Ole Miss Rebel Blues; Alice Walker’s Once a Month; Jason Rochelle’s One Star Delta Night; Calum Macdiarmid’s Preacherman; Gloria Chung’s River Moon Blackbirds; Roberta Munroe’s The Sibling Code; and Gloria Chung’s Take the Bus on a Hot Summer Day.

Recognizable faces popping up among the short film selections include; Alex Karpovsky in Michael Tyburski’s Actor Seeks Role; Alvaro Ron’s THE RED THUNDER features the trio of television stars Allie Grant (“Weeds”), Miles Heizer (“Parenthood”), and Karen Strassman (“Silicon Valley”); Jeff Tan’s Mother’s Day stars Academy Award-winner Melissa Leo; and Ridley Scott and Michael Fassbender are producers of David Victori’s Zero.

The full listing of films and online schedule and program is available at the Oxford Film Festival website.

Tickets and passes are available for purchase to attend the 2016 Oxford Film Festival. For more information go to http://www.oxfordfilmfest.com.