The Bare Bones International Film and Music Festival was founded in 1999 by the Darkwood Film Arts Institute (DFAI) in the city of Muskogee, Oklahoma to showcase independent motion picture projects with budgets of less than 1 million dollars (hence Bare Bones). The festival runs for eleven days each year in late April at several venues in downtown Muskogee.
MovieMaker Magazine called Bare Bones a "small-town festival that celebrates indie auteurs, directors, screenwriters, actors and cinematographers in a big way."