For five years, the Tonkawa Film Festival has showcased films of various genres from around the world while bringing the filmmakers themselves to Tonkawa in an annual event that takes over the town with a parade, entertainment, along with the slate of films.This year featured a parade through downtown Tonkawa on Saturday, April 20 and featured entertainment with world renowned hoop dancer Eric Michael Hernandez immediately following the parade. Hernadez was the lead hoop dancer for Cirque du Soleil’s production, Totem. As a professional hoop dancer, Hernandez is an Ambassador for Native American Culture and has travelled all over the world showcasing his talent.The festival’s inaugural year came in 2019 and faced a challenge in its second year during the COVID-19 pandemic, a challenge which the festival met head-on and has only continued to grow with each successive year. The festival sees support from numerous local area sponsors, and from the Tonkawa Chamber of Commerce.This year’s slate included 48 short films over two days on Friday, April 19 and Saturday, April 20. The awards ceremony immediately followed the ending of the last block of films on Saturday, and the following are those winners by category: Best Student Film - “The Horse Room” directed by Danielle Windram Best Music Video - “Wallowing Bull” directed by Noam Sol and Dan Lior Best Oklahoma Film - “Carving Season” directed by Ariana Stark Best Native American Film - “Redlights” directed by Eva Thomas Best Family Film - “Niece Day” directed by Jordan Wilson Best Documentary - “KALU: Growing UP Wild” directed by Roman Willi and Matteo Clarke Best Animation - “Twin Sparks” directed by Ollie Yao and Heather Yun Best International Film - “Waking Up” directed by Mattias Olsson Best Horror Film - “Canary” directed by Taka Tsubota Best Comedy - “B Word” directed by Honora Talbott Best Drama - “Blue Hour” directed by J.D. Shields Best of Fest - “B Word” directed by Honora Talbott ...
