Tickets being reserved for showing of docu-drama at film festival

BARTLESVILLE — Ticket reservations currently are being accepted for a June showing of “Playground of the Native Son,” a recently-completed documentary film about the 1920’s Hominy Indians football team.

The special screening is scheduled for Saturday afternoon, June 14, as part of a Native Film Festival 2014 — an Oklahoma Indian Summer event that is being held in conjunction with OK Mozart.

“Playground of the Native Son” is one of at least four films that is to be shown as part of the festival, according to OK Indian Summer coordinator Lori Pannell. The football-related movie is scheduled for the 2 p.m. time slot in the festival, which will run from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. at Theatre Bartlesville, 312 S. Dewey Ave.

According to Pannell, a ticket for the entire film festival costs $20, while individual tickets to a single movie can be purchased for $10. Tickets may be reserved by calling the event coordinator at 918-397-2125, she said.

Celia Xavier — who wrote and produced the Hominy Indians movie through her West Coast-based Fully Funded Films/Indie N Productions companies — is expected to attend the festival.

“I am very much looking forward to coming back to Oklahoma,” Xavier said. “I’m beginning to consider it my ‘other’ home.”

Xavier’s production company spent several weeks in Bartlesville during the filming for the docu-drama in late 2012. Scenes were shot at several area locations and numerous Oklahoma persons became involved in the production. Xavier returned to the state last fall to offer a rough-cut screening of the film for cast and crew members during National Congress of American Indians Convention in Tulsa.

In addition to “Playground of the Native Son,” the June festival is to include the following films: “The Dead Can’t Dance” by Wichita artist Rod Pocawachit; “Play Visions of Yesterday,” a local creation by Kevin Mnich, and “The Cherokee Word for Water,” a special performance sponsored by the Wilma Mankiller Foundation. A special presentation by Richard Ray Whitman also will be featured.

“There are other exciting possibilities that we are hoping will materialize,” Pannell said.

The event coordinator said the film festival is to be involved with OK Mozart’s “Downtown Art Walk.” It is among several special presentations designed to draw attention to Oklahoma Indian Summer 2014 in September.

Pannell said there has been considerable interest expressed about the Hominy Indians project.

“It really seems to be capturing a lot of attention,” said Pannell. “That’s one of the main reasons we decided to offer individual tickets for the films.

Xavier also has hinted about the possibility of a “Playground” screening in Tulsa later this month.

She is continuing to work with renowned First Nation actor Adam Beach in arranging for a full-length film based on the Hominy Indians story. Beach, who served as narrator for the documentary, is listed as an executive co-producer of the proposed feature film — which has been tentatively entitled “War Paint.”

The trailer for “Playground of the Native Son” may be viewed on the production company’s website at www.indieinfilms.com.