It’s almost the most wonderful time of the year for Oklahoma film fans: deadCenter Film Festival is here.

Running June 10 through June 14 at various locations around downtown Oklahoma City, deadCenter will play host to world premieres, red carpets, panels, parties, and – the reason for the season – five days of great film programming.

In its 26th year, deadCenter continues to build on the work of former executive directors, board, staff, programmers, and volunteers. But while the films and parties remain constant, the festival is transforming just how the audience “deadCenters.”

“This year, we are able to continue building on what Cacky [Poarch] and her team built,” says deadCenter executive director Amy Janes. “We will still have five days of screenings, we will still have over 200 films, 13 parties, and at least 12 panels that are free to the public.”

With a continued focus on the filmmaker experience and exciting new opportunities for film fans, here’s the lowdown on what’s new and refreshed at the 26th annual deadCenter Film Festival in 2026.

Opening Night Red Carpet and Festivities

Kicking the festival off is a “massive red carpet event”, according to Janes, taking place at the new Cloud Embrace Sculpture in front of the Harkins Theater quad in downtown Oklahoma City. Sponsored by the Oklahoma Film and Music Office and Blue Note, filmmakers and fans can experience a red carpet event, along with live music. This event is free and open to the public and starts at 4:00 PM.

Keeping with the “celebrating Oklahoma” theme, the always-popular Okie Shorts block will play at 5:30 PM at Harkins Theater. But the celebration of Oklahoma-shot films doesn’t stop there.

The native-noir flick Keep Quiet, starring legendary actor Lou Diamond Phillips, will have its Oklahoma premiere at 9 PM at Harkins with Phillips in attendance. After the screening, the deadCenter team will conduct a Q&A with Phillips and honor him with the inaugural Legacy ICON Award. The award is given to filmmakers who hail from outside of the Sooner State who showcase the kindness and professionalism of the Oklahoma Standard.

“We want people who come and behave appropriately, beyond appropriately, as part of our community,” says Janes. “So I'm hoping our state will see that we have the power now to invite people into our club, and we don't need to be invited into anybody else's.”

New Pass Type and Revitalized Venues

While the festival’s All-Access pass is nothing new, this year the festival added the new Film pass. With this, film-lovers get a chance to pass on the parties and just focus on the 47 unique programming blocks of shorts and features for $135. But for folks wanting to dip their toe into the deadCenter waters, they can participate in many free events and screenings, like the ThunderFilms Double Feature.

Another new part of deadCenter this year is a heightened focus on the Stockyards towards the end of the festival, with all award-winning shorts and one of the award-winning features screening at Rodeo Cinema on June 14.

“Since COVID, I still am shocked at how few people know about one of the most beautiful theaters in the country that is sitting here in our back garden,” says Janes. “You will be able to attend the festival in the Stockyards with a very festival feel. We'll have a red carpet out there. Rodeo will have everything set up for them to really show off the Stockyards.”

Rodeo Cinema will also host a very special reunion on Sunday, June 14: the 10-year anniversary screening of deadCenter’s 2016 Best Oklahoma Film, Electric Nostalgia, at 3:45 PM.

“It was exciting enough when deadCenter accepted Electric Nostalgia as an official selection in 2016, but to award it Best Oklahoma Feature and then to, ten years later, invite us back for a special anniversary screening is quite an honor,” says Electric Nostalgia director Jacob Leighton Burns. “We’ve all grown so much since we created this film together and I’m so excited to see it again with fresh eyes on the big screen.”

Additionally, the Oklahoma Film Exchange screening room on Film Row is back at deadCenter as a venue. Last year, the theater was shut down after deadCenter without a guarantee that the projector would ever roll again. The OFX team kept the lights on and, thanks to them, is an excellent intimate venue at deadCenter this year.

“It’s our first dCFF as a venue and our owner-operators are long-time fans of the festival, so it’s exciting to be able to have a bigger role in the festival,” says Dalton Stuart, Director of Operations for OFX. “Not to mention, we’re a natural fit as a 100-year-old screening room that began as a distribution hub for new films. We now get to carry on that legacy for our local film community.”

Refreshed Awards

To round out the new Legacy ICON award, the other awards have been slightly re-focused: a community leader who advocates for Oklahoma film is honored with the Visionary Leadership ICON Award, and a filmmaker is honored with the Festival ICON Award.

At the 2026 deadCenter Film Festival Awards Ceremony on Saturday, June 13 at 6:30 PM, the festival will induct Lt. Governor Matt Pinnell as the Visionary Leadership ICON honoree and Oklahoma director Loren Waters as the Festival ICON honoree.

“I just always feel like it's really important for our filmmaking community and industry to know that these politicians are on our side, and it is a lot of work to be able to get that $30 million rebate. I don't think anybody will understand how many hours are spent at the Capitol making something like that happen,” says Janes on the selection of Pinnell as the Visionary Leadership awardee. “With him stepping out of office, we wanted to recognize him before he got too far away from that position.”

On giving the award to Waters, who was named one of Forbes 30 Under 30 for Media in 2025, Janes says she and her team decided she was the perfect fit to receive the honor.

“There was no question, I think it was mentioned and sealed within five minutes of bringing up her name. We're just very proud of her,” says Janes on Waters. “We just feel so very lucky to be able to honor her and all of her incredible work.”

deadCenter in Tulsa

Finally, new to the fest this year, is the deadCenter Film Festival Tulsa Experience, starting June 26 through 27. This additional mini-festival is open to deadCenter Film and All-Access passholders and, of course, individual tickets will be available for purchase.

“I’ve always heard from our Tulsa filmmakers that they feel really separate from the festival. And so that was a major priority for me this year, to be able to work out a way that we can include Tulsa authentically,” says Janes. All programming screenings at the Tulsa Experience locations will be completely unique to Tulsa and will not be screened during the Oklahoma City portion of the festival.

The Philbrook Museum of Art will host a deadCenter shorts block in its theater on Friday, June 26, at 7 PM. The next day, starting at 12:45 PM, Circle Cinema will host a shorts block, a feature-length documentary, and additional film programming yet to be announced.
What Janes and her team created for the Tulsa Experience is just a taste of what she has planned for deadCenter’s statewide programming in the long term.
“One of the big grants that we're writing this year is to get a van so that we can do what we call dC on the Road and bring deadCenter to every corner of the state. But that's a work in progress,” says Janes.

The Future of Film is Oklahoman

Janes always has high expectations for deadCenter and knows that, in future years, the festival will only continue to reach its full potential. As one of only a handful of film festivals in the country that is Oscar-qualifying in every shorts category, Janes wants the festival to continue focusing on emerging artists.

“Our dream is to become the premier festival where our independent producers and indie studios are looking to come to us to find the next best filmmakers,” says Janes. “The industry [members] coming to join us this year are a lot more focused on the next step for our short filmmakers, as well as our features.”

deadCenter as a springboard for filmmakers has already worked in the past, but even more so recently. Three short films that played deadCenter in 2025 went on to be nominated for the Oscars, with the live-action short film Two People Exchanging Saliva winning (in a rare tie) the Live Action Short category.

With meetups, filmmaker panels, and a teen filmmaker mixer, people looking to go deeper into the industry will find what they need at deadCenter in 2026. But folks who just want to enjoy the films and the parties will have a great time as well.

“I just want people to walk in the city and recognize the arts are alive and vibrant, and we collectively are building an environment in Oklahoma City that is going to raise all of our arts together,” says Janes.

“I believe we can really have an impact on how, not only we see ourselves, but how the world views us.”

deadCenter Film Festival takes over downtown Oklahoma City from June 10-14 and select locations in Tulsa from June 26-27. Purchase passes, tickets, and explore the schedule on their website. Plus, follow the festival on Instagram to keep up with the latest.

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