Scene - Blogs - Tulsa United Film Festival begins Thursday

Tulsa United Film Festival begins Thursday
Published: 10/9/2012 5:38 PM
Last Modified: 10/9/2012 5:38 PM

The United Film Festival is now in its tenth year in Tulsa, returning to Circle Cinema on Thursday with an eclectic four-day mix of full-length features, documentaries and short films.

This year's lineup includes films like "Free Samples," starring Jesse Eisenberg and Jason Ritter, and "Open Road," with Andy Garcia, Camilla Belle and Juliette Lewis.

Also included are films with local connections like Tulsa-made "LoveTown" and "Just Crazy Enough," which stars Chris Kattan of "Saturday Night Live" fame and which was shot mostly in the Oklahoma City area.

TUFF is the brainchild of Jason Connell, a Los Angeles filmmaker who graduated from Edison High School. His juried festivals began in Tulsa, where aspiring cinema auteurs paid an entry fee to submit their short films and features to be considered for a screening at the festival.

Connell has expanded this concept to a "United Film Festival" that is held in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, San Francisco and London.

Connell's own well-received documentaries have screened in past years -- his "Strictly Background" focused on extras, and then there was last year's "Holy Rollers: The True Story of Card-Counting Christians."

That means that a highlight of this year's TUFF would be Connell's Oklahoma premiere of his newest documentary: "GLOW: The Story of the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling."

Connell will be in attendance for the screening and for a question-and-answer session at 9 p.m. Saturday.

The festival begins Thursday and runs through Sunday at Circle Cinema. All-access Passes are available, and individual session tickets are $8 and can be purchased at tulsaworld.com/unitedfilmfest.

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I See Movies for Free

“I was born a poor, black child” … not me, actually, but Steve Martin’s character in the “The Jerk.” That absurd opening line is just one of the absurd number of film facts, quotes and minutiae contained in movie critic Michael Smith’s brain, at his disposal to toss out on a moment’s notice. It’s a key requirement as Tulsa World film critic to know these things. Michael learned a few other life facts along the way (seven years as a Crystal’s Pizza & Spaghetti manager) before attempting journalism and joining the Tulsa World in 1996, where he’s covered everything from a school shooting in Fort Gibson to a tornado in Stroud to witnessing an execution. A little community theater coverage was sprinkled in there, too. Movies engender many of his happiest memories, from standing in line for “Star Wars” and “Grease” at the Southroads Cinema to the James Bond and Pink Panther movies that always premiered at the enormous Continental Theater.

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Past Articles By Michael Smith

2/16/2013		Broken Arrow movie theater moves to discount showings
2/15/2013		Review: 'Amour'
2/15/2013		Review: 'A Good Day to Die Hard'
2/15/2013		Review: 'Beautiful Creatures'
2/14/2013		Review: 'Quartet'
2/14/2013		Shirley MacLaine to speak at Osage Casino
2/14/2013		Weekly rewind: February 14
2/14/2013		REVIEW: 'Beautiful Creatures'
2/12/2013		Belgian best picture hopeful 'Amour' opens in Tulsa on Friday
2/10/2013		'Die Hard' marathon at AMC Southroads on Wednesday ends with new film
2/9/2013		Review: 'Identity Thief' a stupid movie from stupid idea
2/8/2013		Oscar audit: Critics choices for best picture hold up over time

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