The Oklahoma City University Film Department and the Oklahoma City Museum of Art are partnering this month to present a film festival showcasing experimental films from artists around the world.
The Wide Open Experimental Film Festival (WOEFF) is set for April 22-23 at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art’s Noble Theater, 415 Couch Drive. Now in it’s second year, the festival features experimental films that open peoples’ eyes to the alternative forms, structures and styles of film.
Running at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. Saturday, April 22, and 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Sunday, April 23, WOEFF offers four programs presenting 45 short films from 14 countries.
“Film can change the way we see, hear, think and know our world,” said Billy Palumbo, festival director and visiting associate professor of film at OCU. “The Oklahoma City Museum of Art is the perfect venue for WOEFF — we want to show OKC the full innovative, expressive and weird potential of film as an artform.”
Selected films represent a variety of nontraditional filmmaking forms, including abstract animation, digital and chemical manipulation, visual lyricism, surreal narratives, and essay films. Some highlighted films and filmmakers include:
- “The man who could not see far enough” by Peter Rose
- “Against Time” by Ben Russell
- “Walden [verb]” by Emma Rozanski
- “Pet World” by Sofia Theodore-Pierce and Grace Mitchell
“The films are so diverse, and it’s a great opportunity to see what experimental filmmaking looks like from countries outside of the U.S.,” said Connor Newman, OCU student (BFA Film Production ’23).
Admission is free to the public with no tickets required. For more information about the Wide Open Experimental Film Festival, visit wideopeneff.com or follow @woefilmfest.
