OXFORD, Miss. – With films coming in from across the nation, the annual four-day Oxford Film Festival screens animations, documentaries, experimental pieces and narrative features.
But no matter what one opts to view at the Seventh Annual Oxford Film Festival, there is something for everybody, said festival co-director Michelle Emanuel.
“The lineup is pretty solid,” she said. “I don’t think there’s anything bad, really!”
One of the more intriguing films of this year’s lineup is a 27-minute documentary, “I Am a Man: From Memphis, A Lesson in Life,” said festival blogger Melanie Addington. Directed by Jonathan Epstein, the film is set in modern-day Memphis and follows Elmore Nickleberry, one of the Memphis sanitation workers who went on strike in 1968 during one of the most pivotal stands of the civil rights movement.
“Mr. Nickelberry and the quiet dignity he exudes provide an appreciation for a whole group of Memphians who too often go unnoticed,” Epstein said. “He and his peers, not the sports stars and musicians, are the real role models.”
In the film, 77-year-old Nickleberry, who still drives his garbage truck through the streets of Memphis, tells stories of pain, determination and, sometimes, laughter. The film also includes accounts of other protesters and their families, some speaking out for the first time.
“I Am a Man” is scheduled to be screened at 7 p.m. Friday and again at 3 p.m. Sunday.
“I truly believe telling this story has the ability to impact people’s lives for the better,” Epstein said. “These are people to be admired. Their individual stories are representative of every one of the hundreds of workers and their families who marched with Dr. King in 1968.”
Emanuel said she is most looking forward to a Japanese film, “Happy Ending.” She first viewed the 90-minute narrative feature at the Austin Film Festival.
“I had to have this movie here,” Emanuel said. “It’s about people who love movies and have to deal with their real lives.”
Director Atsu Yamada described the project as “a romantic comedy about romantic comedy for romantic comedy lovers.” The film is to be screened at 12:30 p.m. Friday and 3:20 p.m. Sunday.
Festival co-director Micah Ginn’s must-see festival film is “The Mountain, The River and The Road.” A final grasp at youthful freedom, the narrative feature follows a failing post-college writer on a road trip with a friend.
“It’s a mid-20s life crisis love story,” Ginn said. “You won’t recognize the actors; they are unknowns, but they do a fantastic job. The director lets things feel very real.”
Directed by Michael Harring, the 77-minute feature is slated for a 2:45 p.m. screening Friday and again at 1 p.m. Sunday.
“Naturally Obsessed: The Making of a Scientist” is festival co-director Molly Ferguson’s must-see movie. Co-directed by Richard Rifkind and Carole Rifkind, the 60-minute documentary feature offers an intriguing look into the world of academic research labs, where high stakes – and even higher competition – fuel graduate students in their race to complete experiments and make discoveries.
“I love documentaries,” Ferguson said. “This follows candidates in the Ph.D. program in Columbia University’s chemistry department.”
“Naturally Obsessed” screens at 4:15 p.m. Friday and 5:30 p.m. Saturday.
For more information or tickets, visit http://www.oxfordfilmfest.com.