Oxford Film Fest Announces Special Screenings and Panel

 
The Oxford Film Festival has announced its Friday spotlight films. The festival will be held on February 6-9, 2014. This year, the 8 p.m. special screening on Friday, February 7 at the Oxford Malco Commons will include a regional premiere of “TSA America: Level Orange,” the new short film by Supernatural star Misha Collins, before the feature “Someone Marry Barry.”
“TSA America: Level Orange” is a comedic short that demonstrates just how far the Transportation Security Authority (TSA) will go to achieve its objectives when confronted with a passenger that does not want his personal space invaded.
The comedic feature film is “Someone Marry Barry,” written and directed by Rob Pearlstein and starring Tyler Labine, Damon Wayans, Lucy Punch and Hayes McArthur.
The film is presented by FilmBuff.
Synopsis: He’s loyal. Generous. Big-hearted. And completely inappropriate. Meet Barry Burke. Honest to a fault, he has no filter. No boundaries. He says and does things other people only think. And he is about to meet his match. Literally. Her name is Mel Miller. Blonde and petite, partial to pretty dresses, she’s practically angelic – that is, until she opens her mouth. She and Barry are, to put it mildly, social wrecking balls. And their friends are not too happy about their romance.
A trailer of the film can be seen at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ7_jAVlxNU.
On Saturday, a panel with Mississippi actors is replacing the previously announced panel with actors Reb Brown and Cisse Cameron. The new panel is held at the Oxford Conference Center at 4:30 p.m. Saturday, February 8.
Moderator Kevin Broughton, a working Mississippi actor based in Madison, leads a discussion of other actors currently living in Mississippi, but working in the film industry, whether in Los Angeles or New Orleans, or points in between.
Kenny Cookis an Actor, Writer and Director from Baldwyn, Miss.  He didn’t start acting until 2007, when he took a Sketch Comedy Class in Atlanta.  He has been involved in both stage and film productions.  Recently he has booked roles in “As I Lay Dying” and “Homefront”.  He has also worked with local, award willing film makers, Glenn Payne and Johnson Thomasson.
Casey Dillardis an actor, writer, improviser and sometimes director living in Tupelo, Miss. and working wherever she can. An interest in acting on stage as a child continued to grow and branch out into different aspects of filmmaking and performing. When she is not making films she can be found performing with her award-winning improv team, West of Shake Rag anywhere from Tupelo to Chicago.
Arkansas native Jennifer Pierce Mathus is an accomplished actress, first performing in a self-directed, all-girl cast, elementary school send-up of The Odyssey.  She later spent 13 years with Little Rock-based Red Octopus Theatre as an actor, sketch comedy writer and board member.  In addition to national and regional commercial work for radio and TV, Jennifer’s film credits include various award-winning independent films and a supporting role in the forthcoming film “Dark Places,” starring Charlize Theron and Christina Hendricks.
Jessica Lemon Wilkinson has been a professional working actor for the past 10 years, working out of Jackson, Miss. She often acts at New Stage Theatre, Mississippi’s only professional theatre, having been in over a dozen productions, as well as teaching and directing there. She has also done many commercials and industrial films. She has recently worked in feature films in New Orleans and the Jackson area such as “As I Lay Dying,” “2 Bedroom 1 Bath,” “Starve,” and “Civil War: The Untold Stories” which airs on PBS in April. Aside from acting, she is also a singer and performs with a bluegrass band.
Moderator Kevin Broughton is a lawyer, writer, actor and filmmaker in Madison, Mississippi. His first short film, “Murderabilia,” won Best Mississippi narrative at the 2011 Oxford Film Festival. His second, “Old Oak,” won the same prize the following year. He is currently collaborating with Ryan Bohling on a documentary.
For the most up to date information on the festival, visit www.oxfordfilmfest.com.
— Tad Wilkes, tad.wilkes@hottytoddy.com