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LOS ANGELES, Calif. — J.A. Steel’s third feature film, “Denizen,” has been selected by the 11th annual Bare Bones International Film Festival, and nominated for Best Sci-Fi Feature and Best Oklahoma Soil Film. 

The world premiere screening is at 8 p.m. today at The Roxy Theater, 220 W. Okmulgee Ave. Tickets are $7 at the door. “Denizen” was filmed in Muskogee using the mayor’s office, The Roxy, and Main Street; and at Lake Tenkiller. Actor Glen Jensen, who is originally from Wagoner, will be at the screening along with Janet Mayson, former employee of the Muskogee Chamber of Commerce. 

The festival continues with other films screening through Sunday. The screenings are open to the public.

Steel, the director, released her third feature film in early April on the IndieFlix distribution platform. “Denizen” is available On Demand as a 30-day stream and on DVD. Her previous features, “The Third Society” and “Salvation,” are available on Amazon.com. 

Peace gets shattered in a small town, when suddenly a mysterious creature starts to leave a bloody trail. The last hope for the residents to fight the terror, and prevent the destruction by military forces, rests on the courage and the resourcefulness of a small group of scientists. 

The townsfolk, led by Callie Calhoun (Julie Lisandro, “Cheerleader Massacre”) enlist the aid of marine biologist Dr. Dallas Murphy (Jody Mullins, “Salvation”) to find the source of water contamination in a nearby lake. Dallas finds more than he bargains for when the mutilated bodies of locals begin turning up by the lakeshore. Dallas calls in the help of two old Army buddies, U.S. Army Geneticist Dexter Maines (Ben Bayless, “Salvation”) and First Lieutenant Sierra Deacon (J.A. Steel, “The Third Society”) to help him track down the creature and the source of the contamination. 

Led by Dallas’ old commander, General Jernigan (Glen Jensen, “Fingerprints”), the military shows up surprisingly fast and declares martial law. It is then a race against time to track down the creature, before Jernigan orders the town destroyed.

“I wanted to create a creature movie that was a throwback to the low-budget creature features of the late 1950s. The movie is fun, cheesy and a great pizza and beer movie,” Steel said. “I added a bit of an updated twist with the Sierra Deacon character. Her dad, Zeke, is a cross-dressing general that aides Dallas’ team. I thought of ‘what if’ the Klinger character from M*A*S*H stayed in the Army, became a general and had kids. Zeke is played by real life transgendered actress Dominique Storni. 

“We had a lot of fun with the characters. Sierra is a lesbian and married to a hot blonde, who turns out to be a little bit more than a strip-club waitress.”

“Denizen” has its Georgia premiere at 9 p.m. April 30 at Outlantacon in Atlanta, where $35 buys the “Denizen” screening and conference events for the weekend.

Information: Christian@warriorentertainment.com,  www.warriorentertainment.com, http://www.jasteel.com, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1194424/.

Schedule

To see a complete list of activities during the 11th annual Bare Bones International  Film Festival, go to www.barebonesfilmfest.com.