The Dallas-based Oak Cliff Film Festival just announced the Feature Program for its sixth year. The festival runs from June 8th to June 11, 2017. Closing out the festival this year is David Lowery’s A Ghost Story.
The critically acclaimed supernatural drama from writer-director David Lowery stars Academy Award winning actor Casey Affleck (Manchester By The Sea) and Cannes award-winning actress Rooney Mara (The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Carol) and was one of the hottest tickets at Sundance where it had its world premiere this past January.
“With A GHOST STORY, acclaimed director David Lowery returns with a singular exploration of legacy, loss, and the essential human longing for meaning and connection. Recently deceased, a white-sheeted ghost (Academy Award-winner Casey Affleck) returns to his suburban home to console his bereft wife (Academy Award-nominee Rooney Mara), only to find that in his spectral state he has become unstuck in time, forced to watch passively as the life he knew and the woman he loves slowly slip away. Increasingly unmoored, the ghost embarks on a cosmic journey through memory and history, confronting life’s ineffable questions and the enormity of existence. An unforgettable meditation on love and grief, A GHOST STORY emerges ecstatic and surreal.”
In addition to Lowery’s tale of ghosts and loss the festival also boasts the first Texas screening of much-lauded cult-director Alejandro Jodorowsky’s latest film Endless Poetry whose star, Adan Jodorowsky will be in attendance for a Q&A about his father’s autobiographical film and the Texas premiere of Kevin Phillip’s Super Dark Times, a coming-of-age thriller that Bloody Disgusting’s own Brad Miska calls both “super violent” and “an awesome film”.
“Best friends Zach and Josh are like any other teenagers growing up in mid-’90s suburbia. They lead normal lives that revolve around high school, their crushes on the same girl, and loitering about town. When an afternoon in the park takes a grave turn, however, the boys try to pretend as though nothing has happened. The guilt soon starts to eat away at Zach as he is caught between nightmares and an increasing paranoia that Josh is no longer the same.”
Beyond the aforementioned films, the festival will also be host to a full slate of 23 other feature length films, a slew of documentaries and a few repertory screenings including Alejandro Jodorowsky’s horror classic Santa Sangre (1989) and the late Jonathan Demme’s blood-spattered drama Something Wild (1986).
The Oak Cliff Film Festival is an event that spans the city of Dallas, Texas but makes its home at the historic Texas Theatre, which horror fans may know as one of the shooting locations for Brian De Palma’s 1974 horror rock opera Phantom of the Paradise.
To keep up with the Oak Cliff Film Festival, visit them online at http://oakclifffilmfestival.com and follow them on twitter at @filmoakcliff.
-Nathan Steinmetz