STATE COLEGE — The 96th Academy Awards will be presented in Hollywood Sunday, March 10, and, as usual, there is tremendous interest in which films, actors, actresses and directors will come away with the major statues at this year’s ceremony.
The list is impressive. With films like “Oppenheimer,” “Barbie,” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Maestro” and “Past Lives” along with a long slate of A-listers up for awards, the fascination and intrigue about who will walk away with the trophies is at an all-time high.
With a stellar lineup of artistic talent and creations, it is interesting to observe that the 2023 Centre Film Festival made presentations to an actress and a short film that are among the nominees for Oscars this year.
The festival was held in October and November of 2023 at venues on the Penn State campus, in State College and at the Rowland Theatre in Philipsburg.
It presented films in many categories, including narrative features, documentaries, shorts, sports, kid-friendly, Pennsylvania productions, world cinema and many others.
One of the films from the festival that is directly related to this year’s Oscars is “Fancy Dance,” directed by Erica Tremblay and starring Lily Gladstone.
In the film, Gladstone plays Jax, who lives on the Seneca-Cayuga reservation and is taking care of her niece Roki. Jax’s sister (and Roki’s mother) has disappeared, and the two begin to scour the backcountry searching for Roki’s mother before an important powwow.
But what begins as just a search, according to the Centre Film Festival website, “turns into a far deeper investigation into the complexities and contradictions of Indigenous women moving through a colonized world and at the mercy of a failed justice system.”
Gladstone was nominated for the Best Actress Oscar for her stunning performance in “Killers of the Flower Moon,” but she was just as proud of her work in this picture.
Speaking at the IndieWire Honors, where she won a Performance Award for “Flower Moon,” Gladstone said she was proud of her work as Molly Burkhart in “Flower Moon,” but that her role as Jax was the best work she’s ever done — the highlight of her career so far.
High praise, for sure, and the Centre County judges agreed and awarded her the festival’s Best Actress Award, and “Fancy Dance” won Best Film.
Gladstone, unfortunately, could not attend the festival, and director Trombly was scheduled to attend but had to withdraw due to illness.
“Fancy Dance” was made in 2023, was 91 minutes long and is rumored to have been picked up for streaming on Apple TV.
The other film with Oscar connections is one produced and directed by Tal Kantor called “Letter to a Pig.”
This is a 17-minute animated short film about a class of students with a guest speaker who is a Holocaust survivor.
The gentleman tells a story of how when he was a boy, he was hiding from the Nazis in a barn. He describes how a pig blocked the Nazis’ view and they did not find him. The pig essentially saved his life, and the man was writing a thank-you letter to the pig.
A girl in the class, Alma, slips into a twisted dream about the issues and fears the man talked about — the Holocaust, our perceptions of pigs and animals in general, fear, racism, prejudice, evil and passing down of trauma from generation to generation.
It is a beautiful and creative film that evokes in the audience the same emotions Alma is experiencing.
In the end, though, it hints that there is possibly a better way for us to move forward.
The film is nominated for an Oscar in the Animated Short Film category, along with “Ninety-Five Senses,” “Our Uniform,” “Pachyderme” and “War is Over.”
“Letters to a Pig” won the Best Animated Short Film at the Centre Film Festival.
In addition to these two, there were many other noteworthy creations in the Centre Film Festival that thrilled audiences in both State College and Phillipsburg.
According to Pearl Gluck, co-founder and artistic director of the Centre Film Festival, the festival is now in its sixth year and is beginning to gain traction and popularity. The future is bright.
“I think our community wants to come to see a variety of films, and so far, I’ve been right about that, considering all the incredible sponsors as well as film lovers who make the festival possible. It’s been amazing to see how the visiting films and filmmakers impact us here,” Gluck said. “For example, Marinette Pichon, who visited with her opening-night film, ‘Marinette,’ was invited back by Centre LGBT+ to be the grand marshall of the 2024 Pride Parade in State College. And I know filmmakers want to meet their audiences and talk about the local relevance of their work. Emmy, Peabody, Grammy and Tony winner Stan Lathan, who is a PSU alum and was honored by the festival, met with up-and-coming film students when he visited.
“The communal experiment is working. With a mix of lesser-known talent, PA films and award-winners on the international stage, the festival is proving to be relevant in the industry as well as here in our historic theaters. We are on the right path,” Gluck remarked.
Through a film programming committee, films and visiting filmmakers will be considered in the summer for the 2024 season. According to Gluck, the festival will continue to grow and be an important part of our local arts experience and economy.
