Trail Dance Film Festival draws independent filmmakers and fans to Duncan this weekend

Edmond actor Mark Adam Goff appears in a scene from the independent film "Substance."

From Friday’s Weekend Look section of The Oklahoman.

Trail Dance festival draws indie filmmakers and fans to Duncan
The award-winning event will feature several Oklahoma-made movies, including two featuring local celebrity John Ferguson, aka Count Gregore.

DUNCAN — Oklahoma’s independent film scene has its own big dance happening this weekend.

While A-list stars, big-name Hollywood directors and snap-happy paparazzi flock to Utah for the final weekend of the sprawling Sundance Film Festival, Duncan is hosting a similarly named celebration of indie film: the Trail Dance Film Festival.

In its sixth year, Trail Dance boasts 90 films screening Friday and Saturday at the Simmons Center, 800 Chisholm Parkway, and Chisholm Trail Heritage Center, 1000 Chisholm Trail Parkway.

Established in 2007, the festival introduces up-and-coming filmmakers from around the globe to Oklahoma’s emergent film industry and provides a welcoming forum to showcase films. The mission of the award-winning event is to encourage originality and creativity as well as promote the film industry in Oklahoma.

An open-genre contest for indie moviemakers, Trail Dance this year features a wide array of truly independent films, from the harrowing alcoholic’s saga “Substance,” the first professional feature from Lindsay resident William Tyler, to the superheroic action-comedy short “Charlie Christmas: Corndogs and Justice,” a precursor to Shawnee-area denizen Adam Hampton’s upcoming full-length costumed vigilante tale “The Unusual Calling of Charlie Christmas.”

James Murray appears in a scene from "Control Alt Destroy."

After its standing-room-only Oklahoma City premiere back in December, the action-comedy “Control Alt Destroy” will make its debut on the festival circuit at 8:30 p.m. Friday at the Simmons Center during Trail Dance.

“It should be fun. It was an amazing experience eating Bunch-A-Crunch and watching yourself onscreen. I can’t really describe it. … I’m excited to see it again,” said Norman entertainer James Murray, who made his cinematic debut in the action-comedy.

“Control Alt Destroy” centers on the dysfunctional offices of Frederickson and Frederickson. Three of the workers — browbeaten Carl (Murray), perpetually angry Al (Eric Kuritz) and nerdy Dennis (David Courtright) — escape for a long lunch, but when they return, they discover that armed robbers have broken into the office and taken their co-workers hostage. Over Carl’s objections, the other two plot to rescue their colleagues, and they just might have enough unexpected skills to pull it off.