True/False Film Fest is an annual documentary film festival that takes place in Columbia, Missouri. The Fest occurs on the first weekend in March (sometimes beginning in late February), with films being shown from Thursday evening to Sunday night. Films are screened at multiple locations around downtown Columbia, including Ragtag Cinema, Jesse Hall, Missouri Theatre Center for the Arts, The Picturehouse, The Blue Note, The Globe, Rhynsburger Theater and the Forrest Theater in the Tiger Hotel. It offers one award each year, the True Vision Award.
True/False Film Fest and Ragtag Cinema are programs of the 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, the Ragtag Film Society. Ragtag Film Society seeks to champion independent film and media art and to serve film communities both locally and globally.
History True/False was started by Paul Sturtz and David Wilson (who also founded the Ragtag Cinema) in February 2004. In 2006, it won the Riverfront Times best film festival. In 2008, the film fest lost 1,200 seats due to the renovation work taking place at the Missouri Theatre. To adjust for the loss, the fest expanded beyond its usual boundaries in order to take advantage of additional screens at Macklanburg Cinema, Windsor Cinema, and The Den on the campus of Stephens College. After the completion of its restoration, the historic Missouri Theatre was once again a featured venue for the 2009 edition of the fest. The True/False Film Fest and Stephens College amicably ended their partnership after the 2011 fest, and Stephens College continued to host the annual Citizen Jane Film Festival through its demise in 2018.
The 2021 edition of the festival was moved to outdoor venues in nearby Stephens Lake Park due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to moving the event outdoors, they also brought festival boxes straight to the doors of pass holders. The event made its return to downtown Columbia setting 2022.
Growth The first True/False Film Festival in 2004 sold 4,200 tickets and the fest has since experienced rapid growth, increasing attendance by 25% or more in all but two years through its first decade. Since then, the festival has increased attendance each year with the exception of 2014, which saw a 3% decrease amid a winter snowstorm. The latest event in 2017 saw another record high in ticket sales, nearly 3,000 more than 2016.
Over the years, the festival has expanded its presentation of other arts, including music and decorative art. The event kicks off with a parade, the "March March," and ends with "Buskers Last Stand," in which many of the invited musicians come together for a closing performance. It encourages additional attendee involvement through participatory events like the "True Life 5K run," and the "Gimme Truth!" game show. The festival has risen from its meager origins to earn praise from both the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times.
In 2019, the festival received thousands of submissions and sold over 54,000 tickets, bringing thousands of people to mid-Missouri from around the world. The festival is sponsored by almost every downtown store, restaurant and bar, and has multiple educational events such as Camp True/False and BOATS for both local & national high schools, year-long film programs, and more.
Education
Media Literacy Initiative In early 2016, Columbia Public Schools, Ragtag Film Society, and the Columbia Public Schools Foundation announced a new, landmark multi-year partnership that brings together film, the CPS curriculum, and teacher training. The Media Literacy initiative is a year-round program that supports teacher efforts to incorporate more film and multimedia into their classrooms.
The program champions the belief that as students catapult into a world of ever-changing media, distribution platforms, and news outlets, the skills to be thoughtful, critical consumers of media must grow. Students deserve the tools to think consciously about the ways their world is presented to them and the ways they present their world. The primary goals are to increase the presence of film in core classrooms, help teachers and students learn to read film as text, and to cultivate and enhance critical thinking skills as teachers and students practice analyzing new media.
Camp True/False Camp True/False brings high school students Insider access to the festival for a weekend of exciting films, music, art, conversations, and workshops. Camp True/False convenes before the festival to discuss relevant issues, to share research, and to plot their course.
Participating students have a chance to meet the founders of the festival, and to meet with the directors of the films that are screening at the festival in a private and personal manner. The camp is completely free for the students, who are selected through an application process in November.
All Columbian Public Schools participate, as well as 10 out-of-town schools; 4 of those being out-of-state. In 2019, the camp included nearly 80 high schoolers, 30 local students and 50 students from national areas. Students from Saint Louis, Jefferson City, North Carolina, New Mexico, and more attended the 4 day camp. Applications are typically due about a month before the festival starts.
DIY Day On the Friday morning of the Fest, 10th graders from across all four Columbia public high schools take buses to a True/False venue where their nonfiction cinema & art experience begins. The students watch buskers and a festival film (listed below), and students have the opportunity to participate in a Q&A with the filmmaker. Afterward, 200 self-selected students attend interactive artist workshops and participate in the anyone-can-join March parade.
Educational Screening Films The Educational Screenings are a special screening for local high school sophomores as a field trip to watch one film from the festival for free.
2025: Time Bomb Y2K, dir. Brian Becker & Marley McDonald
2024: Going Varsity in Mariachi, dir. Alejandra Vazquez & Sam Osborn
2023: Let the Little Light Shine, dir. Kevin Shaw
2022: Step, dir. Amanda Lipitz
2021: Undefeated, dir. Daniel Lindsay and T.J. Martin
2020: The Order of Myths, dir. Margaret Brown
2019: Amazing Grace, guest Dr. King
2018: Won't You Be My Neighbor?, dir. Morgan Neville
2017: I Am Not Your Negro, dir. Raoul Peck
2016: The Bad Kids, dir. Keith Fulton & Lou Pepe
2015: What Happened Miss Simone?, dir. Liz Garbus
2014: Particle Fever, dir. Mark Levinson
2013: Crash Reel dir. Lucy Walker
Films
2017 TitleDirector (s)YearRuntimeTypeProgramAbacus: Small Enough to JailSteve James201788 minFeatureAll Good ThingsChloe Domont201726 minShortThe New FamilyAntonio, Dashing AntonioAna Maria Gomez201742 minShortEdith + Eddie + AntonioBalloonfestNathan Truesdell20176 minShortThe World Laughs With YouBest of Luck with the WallJosh Begley20177 minShortMaking Good NeighborsBrief History of Princess XGabriel Abrantes7 minShortBrimstone & GloryViktor Jakovleski201767 minFeatureCasting JonBenetKitty Green201780 minFeatureThe ChallengeYuri Ancarani201675 minFeatureCommodity CityJessica Kingdon201610 minShortCommunionAnna Zamecka201677 minFeatureDeer Squad: The MoviePipus Larsen, Kenneth Gug, & Scott J. Ross20175 minShortDescribe What You HeardJoe Callander & Jason Tippet20173 minShortDid You Wonder Who Fired the Gun?Travis Wilkerson201790 minFeatureDinaDan Sickles & Antonio Santini2017102 minFeatureDistant Constellation Shevaun Mizrahi201780 minFeatureThe DiverEsteban Arrangoiz201516 minShortDonkeyoteChico Pereira201786 minFeatureEdith+EddieLaura Checkoway201730 minShortFaresThora Lorentzen201621 minShortFish StoryCharlie Lyne201712 minShortThe ForcePeter Nicks201793 minFeatureThe GraduationClaire Simon2016120 minFeatureThe Grown-UpsMaite Alberdi201683 minFeatureGulîstan, Land of RosesZaynê Akyol201684 minFeatureHappy Happy BabyJan Soldat201722 minShortThe Hollow CoinFrank Heath201613 minShortHyperNormalisationAdam Curtis2016187 minFeatureI Am Not Your NegroRaoul Peck201693 minFeatureIf Only There Were PeaceCarmine Grimaldi & Deniz Tortum201730 minShortKoropaLaura Henno201619 minShortLindy Lou, Juror Number 2Florent Vassault201784 minFeatureLong Strange TripAmir Bar-Lev2017259 minFeatureLoveTrueAlma Har'el201682 minFeatureManifestoJulian Rosefeldt201790 minFeatureMimiClaire Simon2003105 minFeatureTrue VisionMiss Kiet's ChildrenPetra Lataster-Czisch & Peter Lataster2016114 minFeatureMy Daughter NoraJasna Krajinovic201616 minShortNo Man's LandDavid Byars201784 minFeatureone of the roughs, a kosmosCarmine Grimaldi201621 minShortPolonaiseAgnieszka Elbanowska201616 minShortProject XLaura Poitras & Henrik Moltke201610 minShortQuestJonathan Olshefski2017105 minFeatureThe Rabbit HuntPatrick Bresnan201712 minShortRailway SleepersSompot Chidgasornpongse2016102 minFeatureRat FilmTheo Anthony201687 minFeatureRécréationsClaire Simon199254 minFeatureTrue VisionThe Road MovieDmitrii Kalashnikov201672 minFeatureSafariUlrich Seidl201690 minFeatureServicing Guide: Fannie Mae Single Family, Subpart A4-2.1-02, Property Inspection Vendor Management and Oversight (11/12/2014)Carmine Grimaldi2016 13 minShortStepAmanda Lipitz201783 minFeatureStill TomorrowFAN Jian201688 minFeatureStranger in ParadiseGuido Hendrikx201677 minFeatureStrong IslandYance Ford2017107 minFeatureVenusLea Glob & Mette Carla Albrechtsen201680 minFeatureWhose Streets?Sabaah Folayan2016104 minFeature
2018