deadCenter Film Festival

Welcome to deadCenter Film, located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, or rather the “deadCenter” of the US. We are Oklahoma’s largest film festival and take place the second weekend of every June.

deadCenter is a festival focused on putting filmmakers first and doing everything in our power to provide positive relationships between filmmaker and audience. This comes naturally to us, as we are a festival that was founded and in large part, has been run by filmmakers who understand how hard the festival circuit can be.

In its 23rd year, the deadCENTER film festival is Oklahoma's largest and most celebrated film festival. The fest has been named one of the "20 Coolest Film Festivals" and “Top 50 Festivals Worth the Entry Fee” by MovieMaker Magazine. In 2020, deadCENTER was celebrated by Smithsonian Magazine as “One of Eight Festivals Worth Attending (Virtually).”

Designated as an Academy Award®-Qualifying Festival for animated and live action shorts, the deadCenter Film Festival boasts an impressive slate of over 150 films during the 4-day event in June. Founded by independent filmmakers, the festival focuses on providing engaging experiences for filmmakers, distributors, industry professionals, and film audiences.

Pre-pandemic, we hosted sold-out screenings and were notorious for legendary special events. In 2020, we pivoted from creating the biggest and rowdiest film festival to planning an 11-day, completely virtual festival that was experienced in 42 states, 24 countries, and home to over 140 films securely protected on our platform. In 2021, we took that experience further to create a hybrid festival that focused on bringing audiences back to the theater by highlighting our Oklahoma films.

In 2022, we returned in full force to theaters and expanded our footprint into neighboring communities to highlight a more inclusive and diverse slate of films. We brought filmmakers and audiences together with vibrant special events, connected filmmakers to industry professionals at our Annual Distribution Forum, and highlighted visiting filmmakers in the Oklahoma Film + Music Office Panel Series.

As we move toward the 23rd Annual deadCenter Film Festival, we are excited to plan our best fest to date and serve our mission of inspiring, promoting, and celebrating creativity and community through film.