In seven years, the Bare Bones Film Festival Indiewood Awards has grown from a dozen people to an auditorium of film makers — and one dog.

In a ceremony that lasted nearly two-and-a-half hours Sunday at the Roxy Theatre, Bare Bones festival directors Oscar and ShIronButterfly Ray honored independent producers, screenwriters musicians and actors. Movies honored ranged in length from a couple of minutes to full-length features.

 

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The main awards, buffalo skulls on slices from a cedar tree were imperfect by design.

“We’re here to celebrate art, not perfection,” Oscar Ray said. “We want you to be comrades, not competitors.”

The biggest “Boneheads,” the 2006 Indie Auteur Awards, went not to the biggest movies, but to the filmmakers who refused to quit and put in the most effort.

Auteur Award recipients were Ray Arthur Wang, who also won Best Feature with “Carma,” and Peter Zhmutski.

A native Kazakhstan, Zhmutski said he especially likes filming in Oklahoma. Zhmutski also won an award for Best Film Promoting the State of Oklahoma Globally with his film “Pow Wow With the Sac and Fox Nation.”

He said the awards “stimulate me to do more films.”

“They provide great inspiration to work in Oklahoma,” he said.
Wang, who lives in Las Vegas, said winning the Bonehead was “just amazing.”

“It’s a recognition of my efforts,” he said. “It’s a boost that will get me to the highest level.”

Janet Wapaha of the Muskogee Chamber of Commerce, who had a video “Libby Girl,” in the festival, brought the video’s star, Libby the Dog, to the ceremony.

Bare Bones also honored two Oklahoma natives with “Living Legend” Awards to producer Gray Fredericksen and singer Leon Russell.

Muskogee residents Honey Colburn and Ron Colburn picked up the award for Russell, who wrote a a song for the Barbara Streisand movie “A Star is Born” as well as such songs as “Superstar,” which has been used in several movies.

In his 40-year-career, Fredericksen has won an Oscar as co-producer of "The Godfather, Part II." He also was nominated for an Academy Award for his work as co-producer of "Apocalypse Now." He now teaches film at Oklahoma City University and Oklahoma City Community College.

“Everyone asks me ‘How can we get more films produced in Oklahoma?’ but what Shiron and Oscar are doing is fantastic,” Fredericksen said as he picked up his award. “They’re helping people realize their dreams.”

Originally published April 24, 2006

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