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Drowned Land (Tulsa Premiere) and Voices for the Water (Panel Discussion)
SATURDAY, JULY 12, 3:00 PM - 7:30 PM
Circle Cinema, 10 S Lewis Ave, Tulsa, OK 74104
RSVP + TICKET REQUIRED
Drowned Land, the debut feature documentary by Choctaw filmmaker and Tulsa Artist Fellow Colleen Thurston, will premiere in Tulsa on Saturday, July 12, as part of the 2025 Circle Cinema Film Festival. Recently awarded Best Documentary by the festival jury, the film will be programmed alongside the panel discussion “Voices for the Water: Art, Journalism, and the Protection of Eastern Oklahoma’s Waterways,” featuring regional artists and journalists working at the intersection of storytelling and environmental justice. The program will also include a post-film Q&A with the crew and cast, as well as a reception featuring food by Burning Cedar Sovereign Wellness and live music by Kalyn Fay.
Presented by Circle Cinema Film Festival in partnership with Tulsa Artist Fellowship and Indian Territory Film Festival.
SCHEDULE
Saturday, July 12, 2025
3:00 PM | Panel Discussion | Free
Voices for the Water: Art, Journalism, and the Protection of Eastern Oklahoma’s Waterways with Molly Bullock, Melissa Lukenbaugh, and Alex DeRoin, moderated by Jessica McEver
4:30 PM | Film Screening: Drowned Land (Tulsa Premiere) | Ticketed Event
Followed by a post-film Q&A with the director and featured participants
6:30 PM | Reception | Free
Featuring food by Burning Cedar Sovereign Wellness and live music by Kalyn Fay
Tuesday, July 15, 2025
4:30 PM – Drowned Land (Best Documentary) with Tiger by Loren Waters (Best Short Documentary) | Ticketed Event
For ticket & festival pass information, visit circlecinema.org/ccff.
Ticket subsidies for individual film screenings are available for audience members experiencing hardship. Please contact [email protected] for more information.
FILM
Drowned Land (2025, 86 min, USA) Director: Colleen Thurston. Producers: Michelle Svenson and Colleen Thurston. Executive Producers: Francene Blythe-Lewis (for Vision Maker Media) and Tracy Rector. Associate Producers: Stevie Wallace, Britni Harris, and Cindi Finneran-Reeves. Director of Photography: Charles Elmore. Additional Camera: Shane Brown. Editors: Gloria Shade, Janna Kyllästinen, and Zach Litwack. Featuring: Sandra Stroud, Charlotte Robbins, Dr. Kenneth Roberts, Lauren Haygood, and Johnna Thurston.
In the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, the Kiamichi River is a bastion of eco-diversity. A Texas corporation seeks to dam and build a hydroelectric plant on the river. For a group of locals, theirs is a generations-long struggle with resource extraction and displacement that began with the Trail of Tears. While the river drives the narrative, the director reflects on her Choctaw grandfather’s role in designing and building dams for the Army Corps of Engineers that displaced countless Oklahomans, many of them Native. Interwoven are the stories of the river’s advocates—residents, Choctaw culture-keepers, and scientists—who have come together to protect the river.
PANEL DISCUSSION
Voices for the Water: Art, Journalism, and the Protection of Eastern Oklahoma’s Waterways brings together artists and journalists who use storytelling to elevate water issues across the region. From documentary photography and poetry to investigative reporting, panelists will reflect on the ecological, cultural, and spiritual importance of Green Country’s rivers, springs, and aquifers.
Panelists include:
Molly Bullock (founder/editor/journalist, Watershed)
Melissa Lukenbaugh (photojournalist, documentarian, Tulsa Artist Fellowship Awardee)
Alex DeRoin (co-editor, Osage Water Zine; Two Spirit artist and community builder)
Moderated by Jessica McEver (co-founder, Tulsa Film Collective and founder, Strawberry Moon)
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Colleen Thurston (she/her) is a documentary storyteller, producer, and film curator from Tulsa, Oklahoma, and a citizen of the Choctaw Nation. Her nonfiction work has aired on the Smithsonian Channel, Vox, and PBS, and has been commissioned by museums, tribal nations, and nonprofits. Her films have screened at international festivals and received support from Firelight Media, Sundance Institute, Patagonia, the Redford Center, and Creative Capital. She is the founder of the Indigenous Moving Image Archive project and curates film programs for institutions including the National Gallery of Art and the Momentary. Colleen is a 2025–2027 Tulsa Artist Fellow. Drowned Land is her first feature-length documentary.
Event Links
Tickets: https://go.evvnt.com/3145108-0
Website: https://go.evvnt.com/3145108-2
