Tallgrass, True/False just two of the major film festivals in this region

I give Tallgrass Film Festival, Wichita’s annual independent movie festival, credit for opening my eyes to the world of documentaries. Now in its 18th year, Tallgrass was my first film festival experience, and each year I’ve attended the event my choices have shifted more and more to documentaries rather than the narratives.

Then I heard about True/False Film Festival, an all-documentary festival in Columbia, Mo., which is also my hometown. The festival started in 2004, long after I’d moved to Kansas and one year after the first Tallgrass event.

I should explain that I am unapologetically not a snob when it comes to choosing movies. I’ve typically seen more crude comedies in a given year than Oscar-nominated titles. Attending film festivals gives me a chance to see movies I normally wouldn’t, and it’s also one of the best ways to explore a community, even one you’ve lived in for decades.

Like many film festivals in our region, True/False uses multiple venues throughout the town’s downtown, including places I wouldn’t otherwise take time to visit. When I attended the festival for the first time last spring, I sat in a temporary theater in a church and felt like I was back in 1969 witnessing man’s first steps on the moon’s surface (“Apollo 11”). The next day, I was looking at a screen in the ballroom of a historic hotel watching protests and debates about a Civil War statue in North Carolina (“The Commons”).

Most of the movies I saw, though, were in the beautifully restored 1928 Missouri Theatre, just steps from the campus of the University of Missouri and in the middle of Columbia’s downtown district. I could grab a slice at Shakespeare’s Pizza or a sandwich at the Sub Shop between movies. Or, I could use my free time to walk a block to Sparky’s Homemade Ice Cream for a scoop or boozy shake, or any of the district’s bars, boutiques and art galleries.

This year’s True/False Film Fest is March 5-8 and will include eight world and eight U.S. premieres among the 38 new feature films and 25 new short films – all nonfiction. “Boys State,” which won the Grand Jury Prize at this year’s Sundance Film Festival is in the lineup, along with films selected from roughly 1,100 submissions and hundreds scouted at festivals round the world.

True/False isn’t the biggest in terms of number of films screened (in comparison to their 63 features and shorts this year, Tallgrass screened 190 last year) but critics regard it as one of the best curated documentary film festivals. The programming team works to showcase diverse documentary styles, and each screenings is followed by a question and answer session with visiting filmmakers.

I’ve heard at least one critic say this is the only festival he attends where he also brings his family along, and True/False is also known to attract documentary filmmakers who aren’t participating but there for the show.

The festival’s size – four days, eight venues within walking distance – make it easy to navigate, though I still had trouble finding time for all the movies plus the events. True/False starts with a parade on Thursday and ends Sunday night with a gathering of all the busking musicians. In between, there are concerts, dance parties, a game show and other non-film events. There are more than 20 art installations in and around the venues, in alleyways and in a sculpture yard in front of the Missouri Theatre.

One of my favorite features of the festival was having a musical act performing on stage before each screening. This year there will be 42 acts from across the country, and a literal hat is passed among the audience to tip the busking musicians. Audiences are large and engaged; True/False sold 50,000 tickets in 2019 and organizers estimate more than half the attendees come from outside mid-Missouri.

True/False and Tallgrass weren’t the first film festivals in our region and many others have joined the fray in the past two decades. Among this list we’ve pulled together, you’ll find broad film festivals and others with a narrow focus. They range from first-year events to the longest running all-documentary film festival in North America (29th annual Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival). Some focus on horror films others are focused on promoting underrepresented voices of diverse storytellers.

You can drive to a festival nearly every week, from this weekend’s 24th annual Kansas Silent Film Festival in Topeka through multiple events in November.