Best of Oxford Film Fest heading to Ocean Springs

OCEAN SPRINGS -- South Mississippi residents will get a glimpse of the Hill Country's finest as the Oxford Film Festival lands in Ocean Springs for a two-day event Saturday.

The Best of the Oxford Film Festival will be at the Mary C. O’Keefe Cultural Arts Center beginning at 6 p.m.

Festival director Melanie Addington said this is the second year for the film fest to travel south.

“(Mary C. benefactor) Ron Feder has been a big supporter of the festival, and he does a lot for the Mary C. O’Keefe, so we wanted to combine these two things he loves so much,” she said. “Although we were here last year, this is our first year to do it up big.”

Addington said it didn’t take much persuading for her to take the festival on the road to the Coast.

“We are very excited about this,” she said. “We Love Ocean Springs, and we are so happy to be able to show some of these films here. And we are looking forward to using Becky’s Kitchen, which was named after Ron’s wife, Becky, as part of the festival.”

One of the films that will be making its Coast debut is “Yalo,” a documentary about Yalobusha Brewery, a craft-beer brewery in Water Valley.

The film was the winner of the festival’s Audience Award.

Addington said the directors of the film, Chandler Griffin and Alison Fast, will be on hand for a question-and-answer session with festival participants.

“The filmmakers still happen to be in Mississippi so they are going to come down for the mini-festival,” she said. “There will also be a discussion about small businesses in Mississippi alongside the Main Street Association.”

The festival will bring two Elvis-themed films to Ocean Springs.

“The Gift” is about that fateful day when Presley’s mother, Gladys, bought him a guitar at Tupelo Hardware. “West of Elvis” is the last documentary about Elvis eccentric Paul MacLeod, who owned Graceland Too private museum in Holly Springs.

“Many of these films are great examples of people telling these great stories about small towns in Mississippi,” Addington said.

For a full schedule of the Best of the Oxford Film Festival, click here.

This story was originally published February 26, 2016 at 2:11 PM with the headline "Best of Oxford Film Fest heading to Ocean Springs ."