A spirit of revolution was in the air over the weekend in Iowa City — a spirit of cultural, artistic and cinematic revolution. It all emanated from the Refocus Film Festival, the annual moviegoing event hosted by FilmScene, Iowa City’s nonprofit independent cinema.
Refocus, now in its fourth year, is held during the same week as the Iowa City Book Festival and fittingly features a lineup of adaptations. This year was no different, with a slate that included films adapted from books, novellas, short stories, plays, fairy tales and more.
But this year, in addition to the art of adaptation, another unifying theme emerged over the course of the four-day festival: art as a form of revolution.
“We've got a lot of films that kind of deal with those elements, of either revolution or radical filmmaking more broadly,” said Ben Delgado, programming director at FilmScene. “And that's something that is pretty relevant to today in terms of the state of the world, I think just having those kinds of art represented.”
FilmScene was among the many arts groups that was impacted when National Endowment for the Arts grants were terminated in May. Despite the funding cuts, the 2025 Refocus Film Festival saw its largest turnout yet, with 4,200 attendees — up 5% from last year.
“The arts in general are getting defunded,” Delgado said. “But it's trying to find ways to celebrate the work that isn't necessarily getting as much recognition, whether it's because people are afraid to do so in the climate that we're in, or they're just traditionally marginalized.”
Netflix movie with Iowa City ties opens the festival
This year’s festivities kicked off with an adaptation that was especially close to home for the City of Literature: Train Dreams, based on the award-winning novella by Iowa Writers’ Workshop alumnus Denis Johnson.
The film, which is directed by Oscar-nominated screenwriter Clint Bentley, follows a railroad worker who encounters sweeping change and unimaginable tragedy in the early 20th century. Joel Edgerton stars as the man at the heart of the story, joined by a cast that includes Felicity Jones, William H. Macy and Kerry Condon.
The opening night selection screened at the Englert Theatre on Oct. 9. Hundreds of attendees packed into the historic venue, where they were also treated to a post-screening Q&A with actor Will Patton, who narrates the film, and Cindy Lee Johnson, wife of the late Denis Johnson.
Cindy Lee described the emotional experience of watching Train Dreams while being reminded of her life with Denis, whose writing continues to have a transporting effect on her.
“I hear him and feel his presence in those words. It's almost like a time travel machine. It kind of brings him back to me for a minute, and it's the third time I've seen it,” Cindy Lee said. “Every time I see it, something new hits me.”
Patton, who was a friend of Denis, recounted the strong emotions he felt when recording the film’s narration, which often centered on themes of loss and grief.
“When I got to the end, I was so overcome that I kind of fell apart at the studio, and it was almost like I was visited by Denis,” Patton said. “I fell apart for a while and then went back and did the whole thing again.”
Standout films from around the world
The rest of the weekend was filled with a diverse range of films, artist panels, live music and special events. One of the festival’s most in-demand movies was No Other Choice, a new South Korean adaptation of the Donald E. Westlake novel The Ax.
The film is the latest genre-bending thriller from acclaimed director Park Chan-wook. It tells the story of a recently fired family man whose job hunt turns unexpectedly deadly — a darkly comic tale that revolves around capitalism, automation and human worth. No Other Choice screened in Iowa City the same day as its U.S. premiere at the New York Film Festival.
Other major 2025 titles included Orwell: 2+2=5, a documentary about author George Orwell’s life and literary lessons, and Hedda, a new adaptation of the Henrik Ibsen play Hedda Gabler. That film, starring Tessa Thompson, is directed by Nia DaCosta, who recorded an exclusive introduction for Refocus attendees.
Out of the vault: restored films see new life
This year’s festival also played host to several new restorations of classic films. Among these was The Spook Who Sat by the Door, adapted from the novel by Sam Greenlee. First released in 1973, the film was an overnight success before quickly courting controversy. It’s about a CIA agent named Dan Freeman who, using his specialized paramilitary training, organizes a Black revolution.
The Spook Who Sat by the Door was directed by celebrated stage and screen actor Ivan Dixon, who forged a grassroots campaign to finance the film’s production. Although he was ultimately successful, the film was pulled from theaters shortly after its release and was suppressed for decades.
Doris Nomathandé Dixon, the daughter of Ivan Dixon, was on hand at Refocus, where she discussed the legacy of The Spook Who Sat by the Door and its recent restoration by Martin Scorsese’s nonprofit The Film Foundation.
Refocus also screened the new restoration of the 1972 film Play It as It Lays, an adaptation of the classic Joan Didion novel about one woman’s increasingly aimless (and rebellious) life in Hollywood. Tuesday Weld stars as Maria, the story’s protagonist, alongside a post-Psycho Anthony Perkins.
Beyond movies: conversations and art exhibits offer ways to connect
Themes of revolution and rebellion were also explored in one of the festival’s artist panels. Dubbed an “Epigraph Coffee Session,” the Sunday morning conversation featured Doris Nomathandé Dixon, as well as filmmakers Christopher Harris and Ian Bell.
Harris directed Speaking in Tongues: Take One, a short film about Black incarceration and resistance, while Bell directed WTO/99, an archival documentary about the Seattle protests against the World Trade Organization more than 25 years ago.
Dixon, Harris and Bell discussed the revolutionary role cinema can play in social movements and explored what it means to be engaged in “radical filmmaking.”
Refocus hosted several other Q&A sessions and conversations, including another coffee talk about working in low-budget cinema. That panel, which was subtitled “Make Your Own Damn Movie,” featured Bethany Michalski (cinematographer of She’s the He), Charlie Shackleton (director of Zodiac Killer Project) and Mamadou Yattassaye (director of the short film Vis-à-Vis).
The long-running movie podcast Filmspotting also returned to Refocus for a live taping. Taking inspiration from Train Dreams and Denis Johnson’s ties to Iowa, the episode’s topic was “Top 5 Movies Adapted from Iowa Writers.”
Filmspotting host and University of Iowa professor Adam Kempenaar was joined by Chicago-based film critic Michael Phillips, who each shared their respective lists. Phillips’ top films consisted of The Best Years of Our Lives, The Hustler, the 1933 adaptation of State Fair, The Pajama Game and The Bridges of Madison County. Kempenaar’s picks were The World According to Garp, The Best Years of Our Lives, The Color of Money, Field of Dreams and Gun Crazy.
The weekend was packed with many other opportunities to engage with filmmakers, writers and artists of all kinds. And yet, even before the festival had fully wound down, Delgado revealed that plans were already being put in place for the 2026 edition of Refocus.
“Next year is year five, which is a bit of a milestone,” Delgado said. “So, yeah, work is definitely underway for next year.”
Refocus Film Festival and FilmScene are sponsors of Iowa Public Radio.
