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There was probably a better choice than Easter weekend for the first Oxford International Film Festival but I heard favorable comments from people who were able to check out some of the movies.

And I would have to echo those sentiments after a very limited exposure to the OIFF Sunday.

The weekend was busy around our house and we did not get to the Marcum Center for any of the movies until Sunday afternoon. We were late for collection of shorts we had hoped to see and took in only part of one of them. We hung around for a half hour and got to see an unusual movie called "Mojave Phone Booth."

Several people, including a stranger who turned out to be the director, highly recommended a movie called "Finding Kraftland" so we ran home for a quick Easter dinner and went back to see Kraftland in the evening.

That was a good decision.

Several people asked which I liked the best, but answering that question struck me as a bit like being asked if I like apples or oranges. I liked both movies, but comparing them is like comparing, well, apples and oranges.

Part of the fun of having the film festival in town was having some of the actors, actresses, producers and directors in town to talk about their work. Unfortunately, since we had to rush home for dinner, we missed the comments of Phone Booth director John Putch and actress Christine Elise.

The film was a commentary on communication based on the lives of four people who talk to an unknown woman from a phone booth on an obscure road in the Mojave Desert.

The evening's Kraftland was also about communication. It's the father-son story of talent agent Richard Kraft and his teenage son Nicky.

The film was originally made by the elder Kraft for a joint birthday party — their birthdays are a day apart — for a party of several hundred of their closest friends. He joked in his post-showing comments that it is about the "idiot-ness" of his collecting iconic memorabilia such as large plastic Dumbo, Big Boy and untold numbers of others. It's also about a worldwide roller-coaster tour and a lot of silly things the father and son have shared.

"The movie is about my son growing up and I never did," Kraft joked.

The movie takes a serious twist when Kraft discovers he has Crohn's Disease, which killed his brother years earlier. Kraft has a mild case and he is not worried about his future, but it is an element of seriousness that gives a depth to an otherwise silly, but fun, movie.

Kraft said that the film is really his home movies and joked, "If you want to take me home to show me a slide show of your trip to the Grand Canyon, I'll go. It's only fair."

We had seen Kraft walking the hallways in the afternoon, passing out cards about Kraftland, but I did not realize who he was until seeing him at the screening. He said the Saturday showing drew six people.

The two screenings I saw had decent crowds, but I heard of several smaller ones. The weekend was probably not the best choice for the event, but for those able to attend any of it, there was some fun. It certainly left room to hope for a second year of the Oxford International Film Festival.

Contact this reporter at (513) 523-4139 or bratterman@coxohio.com.