deadCENTER 2008 Postmortem
Once again, deadCENTER was beyond great. I can never get enough. And when that Sunday rolls around, the depression of the real world sinks in. And still the whole thing always manages to inspire me. The city and the food and the booze and the discussions and the filmmakers and the film lovers and of course the films always reignite a spark within me. I want to enjoy life and art. I want to watch great films. And perhaps–just maybe–go to a future deadCENTER as a filmmaker myself. For once, I want to answer the oft asked question–Are you a filmmaker?–with a resounding “yes” instead of just a “no, just a film lover.”
The films were great. They always seem to keep getting better. The venues were great. The parties were great. I loved that they seemed to be featuring food from a wide array of local restaurants. It was an impressive undertaking and the organizers deserve much, much praise. Thank you guys.
For next year, I’d love to get a hotel room for the entire weekend. Make a vacation out of the thing. Then, I wouldn’t have to worry about running home and back in order to take care of the dogs (and to sleep).
The standouts for me this year were Damn the Past!, Gustav Braustache and the Auto-Debilitator, A Beautiful Day, The Aviatrix, disFIGURED, Year at Danger and American Teen.
The official deadCENTER winners were:
Narrative Feature – The New Year Parade
Documentary Feature – Greensboro: Closer to the Truth
Narrative Short – Damn the Past!
Documentary Short – The Jump
Animation – A Faery’s Tale
Student Film – The Aviatrix
Oklahoma Film – Rainbow Around the Sun
Grand Jury Narrative Feature – disFIGURED
Grand Jury Documentary Feature – A Year at Danger
Check out Kathryn Jenson White’s take on the festival over at OFCC.
And, check out reviews of these deadCENTER films over at Film Threat:
OKIE NOODLING II
YEAR AT DANGER
THE VAULT
PRIMITIVE TECHNOLOGY
BARK OR BITE
THREE LITTLE WORDS
THE STANTON FAMILY GRAVE ROBBERY
