Tallgrass Film Festival 2022 announces lineup for 20th Anniversary edition

The Tallgrass Film Festival announced this year’s film lineup celebrating its 20th Anniversary, September 28-October 2.

Ravi Kapoor’s Four Samosas and Matthew Eskey’s The Mojo Manifesto: The Life and Times of Mojo Nixon will be the Opening Night Gala selections, joining the previously announced and gala presentations which include the world premiere of Daniel Fetherston and Danny Szlauderbach’s, We Were Famous, You Don’t Remember: The Embarrassment, Bryan Darling and Jesse Finley Reed’s All Man: The International Male Story, Bradford Thomason and Brett Whitcomb’s Butterfly in the Sky, and Camille Hardman and Gary Lane’s Still Working 9 to 5.

Troma Films legend Lloyd Kaufman will receive the festival’s Ad Astra Award, which had also been previously announced.

Four Samosas
FOUR SAMOSAS
THE MOJO MANIFESTO: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF MOJO NIXON
THE MOJO MANIFESTO: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF MOJO NIXON

Tallgrass FF’s lineup includes 53 features and 14 short film programs with 195 films, highlighted by the film festival’s signature Stubbornly Independent, Female Filmmakers, and Gordon Parks competitions. The 20th Anniversary celebration will also include a return visit and salute to Tallgrass Film Festival’s former Executive Director Lela Meadow Conner and film programmer Eric Moore, and a special work-in-progress screening from Academy Award-winner Kevin Willmott.

Tallgrass FF program director Andre Seward, said, “This edition of Tallgrass will be one to remember for sure. Every year we say the same thing, that this year’s films are the best we’ve seen. There is no doubt that it is true for this year as well. I am very proud to be able to present the line-up that we have for our 20th anniversary. The wide range of genres and styles will give everyone a chance to find something to fall in love with during the festival.”

Tallgrass FF Executive Director Melanie Addington added, “The films selected this year embrace the same stubbornly independent spirit as Tallgrass from freedom of speech fighters to almost famous indie musicians. The best part is that many of the directors, actors, documentary participants, and musicians will be coming to Wichita with those films and will be joining amazing film personalities like Lloyd Kaufman, Kansas favorites like Kevin Willmott and The Embarrassment, as well as our beloved Lela Meadow Conner and Eric Moore to make this a true extended Anniversary party for film lovers here in Wichita.”

Thursday, September 29, Kapoor’s Four Samosas will make its Kansas premiere as the Opening Night selection. The comedy follows the exploits of a wannabe rapper and his crew, who concoct a brilliant plan to steal her dowry of family jewels to disrupt her wedding and make a fortune in the process. Also making its Kansas Premiere is Matthew Eskey’s The Mojo Manifesto: The Life and Times of Mojo Nixon which follows the origin story of the enigmatic rocker Mojo Nixon tracing themusical journey including the touring, the record deal, college radio airplay, and MTV exposure that lead to unexpected mainstream success. Kapoor and star Venk Potula will attend and participate in a Q&A after the Four Samosas screening, and Mojo Nixon and the Toad Lickers will play at the Opening Night Gala after party.

As previously announced, Friday, September 30, Tallgrass will host a Double Gala event with the world premiere of Daniel Fetherston and Danny Szlauderbach’s documentary We Were Famous, You Don’t Remember: The Embarrassment,and Bryan Darling and Jesse Finley Reed’s documentary All Man: The International Male Story. We Were Famous, You Don’t Remember: The Embarrassmentis the highly anticipated film about the Kansas band The Embarrassment, which scored an intensely loyal following in Wichita and beyond while not quite courting mainstream success. The presentation of the film will include a reunion of the band’s members which will include a post-screening concert at the after party. In recognition of the All Man presentation, RMI will be presenting Wichita Male Models at the after party.

Bradford Thomason and Brett Whitcomb’s Butterfly in the Sky will be the Centerpiece Gala selection following the Filmmaker Awards presentations and Camille Hardman and Gary Lane’s Still Working 9 to 5. Butterfly in the Skylooks at the history and influence of the beloved “Reading Rainbow!” series one of the most adored television hosts of all time, LeVar Burton. Camille Hardman and Gary Lane’s Still Working 9 to 5 focuses on the cultural zeitgeist that also happened to be one of the highest grossing comedies of all time, 9 to 5.

As part of its salute to Ad Astra Award honoree Lloyd Kaufman and Troma, along with the film festival’s traditional “Conversation on Film” it hosts with Ad Astra honorees, Tallgrass will be screening his cult classic, The Toxic Avenger (1984), Poultrygeist (2006), as well as his latest film, #ShakespearesShitstorm (2020) which naturally involves a mad scientist and his blind daughter on the run from evil pharmaceutical execs, and how he seeks to wreck vengeance upon them by feeding mass amounts of laxatives to whales, among other things.  

Tallgrass FF’s three signature competition categories (Stubbornly Independent, Female Filmmaker, and Gordon Parks) will each bring with them grand prizes of $5000 this year.

ATTACK, DECAY, RELEASE
ATTACK, DECAY, RELEASE
DISFLUENCY
DISFLUENCY
EAST BAY
EAST BAY

The Stubbornly Independent Competition (for domestic narrative features made for under $750,000) includes HP Mendoza’s Attack, Decay, Release, a sci-fi musical chronicling a human migration following decimation from a pandemic. The film was commissioned by The Svane Family Foundation for ARK, a collection of 100 art pieces interpreting the narrative of Noah’s Ark. Anna Baumgarten’s Disfluency, about a formerly promising young female academic piecing together the trauma that caused her to leave school short of graduation. Daniel Yoon’s micro-budget comedy/drama East Bay follows a Korean American man who “throws in the towel” at age 39 deciding there is no point to trying to be happy and successful since we’re all probably living in a simulation anyway. Though the film is just being released now, it features Crazy, Rich Asians‘ star Constance Wu in her first film role.

A PLACE IN THE FIELD
A PLACE IN THE FIELD
GOD SAVE THE QUEENS
REFUGE
REFUGE

Among the Female Filmmaker Competition films is Nicole Mejia’s A Place In The Field. A critical favorite which follows a veteran who receives a package and special request from a friend he served with, setting him off on a cross country journey to fulfill a promise made while in combat. Jordan Danger’s dramedy God Save the Queens focuses on four Drag Queens finding common ground and more at a therapy retreat which requires each of them to relive past traumas in glorious detail. Erin Bernhardt and Din Blankenship’s Refuge looks at a white nationalist leader and former veteran who is forced to confront his hatred for Muslims when he receives an unexpected text from a Muslim refugee and heart doctor who needs his help.

AFTER SHERMAN
AFTER SHERMAN
AMANSA TIAFA (PUBLIC TOILET AFRICA)
AMANSA TIAFA (PUBLIC TOILET AFRICA)
BLACK DADDY: THE MOVIE
BLACK DADDY: THE MOVIE

The Gordon Parks Competition for Black Excellence in Filmmaking includes Jon-Sesrie Goff’s After Sherman. In the film, Goff’s exploration of coastal South Carolina as a site of pride and racial trauma is interrupted by the tragic and shocking shootings at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Kofi Ofosu-Yeboah’s Amansa Tiafi (Public Toilet Africa) follows a woman’s quest to pay an old debt by returning to the place where she was gifted to a white art-collector as a little girl. Making its world premiere will be Damon Jamal Taylor’s Black Daddy: The Movie, a captivating look at the experience of fatherhood by black men.

Additional highlights include a special work-in-progress screening of Academy Award winning screenwriter Kevin Willmott’s directorial effort No Place Like Home: The Struggle Against Hate in Kansas. Taking its cue from C.J. Janovy’s book No Place Like Home: Lessons in Activism in LGBT Kansas, the film takes us on a tour of the deep red state, to meet people who have found themselves in a battle for LGBTQ rights in the most unlikely places – including  rural Trego County, Salina and Topeka. Janovy and Willmott will both be on hand prior to the screening for a book signing. From From Ava DuVernay’s film distribution company ARRAY Releasing comes Iliana Sosa’s What We Leave Behind, comes Iliana Sosa’s What We Leave Behind. The film, which premiered at SXSW, takes us on a journey with 89-year-old Julián, as he takes one last bus ride to El Paso, Texas, to visit his daughters and their children — a lengthy trip he has made without fail every month for decades. Travis Heying and Roy Wenzl’s Emmy-winning documentary Once Was Lost: The 70-Year Search for Chaplain Emil Kapaun. The film looks at the remarkable life story of Kapaun, who was raised on the plains and farm fields of central Kansas, became a catholic priest and later an Army chaplain whose service led to him posthumously received the Medal of Honor in 2013 and even the potential for Sainthood.

For more information on the Tallgrass Film Festival and to purchase passes and tickets, please go to: https://tallgrassfilm.org/

WHAT WE LEAVE BEHIND
WHAT WE LEAVE BEHIND

2022 Tallgrass Film Festival Official Selections

Opening Night Gala Selections

Four Samosas                                                                                   Kansas Premiere       

Director: Ravi Kapoor

Country: United States; Running Time: 80 min                    

Determined to disrupt the engagement of his ex-girlfriend by stealing her dowry, underachieving, wanna-be rapper Vinny and his eccentric crew of neighborhood pals, concoct a plan to take her family jewels from a supermarket safe in LA’s “Little India.” A celebration of discovering your voice and finding your crew.

The Mojo Manifesto: The Life and Times of Mojo Nixon             Kansas Premiere

Director: Matthew Eskey

Country: United States; Running Time: 85 min

Neill Kirby McMillan Jr. comes of age in Danville, VA, listening to records from his father’s soul radio station and plotting his escape from the confines of conservative small town life. On a bicycle trip across the country, Kirby experiences The Mojo Revelation and becomes Mojo Nixon, a primitive blues-inspired musician. Mojo then teams up with the enigmatic Skid Roper to form an outrageous duo. Relentless touring, a record deal, college radio airplay, and MTV exposure lead to unexpected mainstream success. The song “Elvis Is Everywhere” is a cult phenomenon, but his next single is banned by MTV and Mojo makes a decision that could jeopardize his career.

Lloyd Kaufman/Troma Films Salute

Poultreygeist (2006)

Director: Lloyd Kaufman

Country: USA, Running Time: 102 min

When the American Chicken Bunker, a military themed fast-food restaurant, builds its latest chain restaurant on the site of a Native American burial ground, the displaced spirits take revenge on the unsuspecting diners and transform them into chicken zombies. Now, it’s up to a dimwitted counter boy, his collegiate lesbian ex-girlfriend and a burqa-wearing fry cook to put an end to the foul feathered menace once and for all.

#ShakespearesShitstorm (2020)    

Director: Lloyd Kaufman        

Country: Albania, USA; Running Time: 94 min         

Mad scientist Prospero runs away with his blind daughter Miranda to Tromaville, hiding from evil pharmaceutical execs, including his own sister Antoinette who ruined his career after he found the cure for opioid addiction. With the help of a handicapped crack-whore, he releases a massive amount of laxative to whales, while his enemies are on a cruise ship to North Korea. A humongous shitstorm washes the boat away and brings them to Tromaville, where Prospero can now fully realize his ultimate vengeance.

The Toxic Avenger (1984)   

Directors: Michael Herz, Lloyd Kaufman      

Country: USA; Running Time: 82 min           

Tromaville has a monstrous new hero. The Toxic Avenger is born when meek mop boy Melvin falls into a vat of toxic waste. Now evildoers will have a lot to lose.

Friday Double Gala Selections

All Man: The International Male Story                                Kansas Premiere       

Directors: Bryan Darling, Jesse Finley Reed

Country: USA; Running Time: 83 min           

All Man: The International Male Story journeys across three decades of the catalog’s unlikely but lasting impact on fashion, masculinity, and sexuality in America. Gene Burkard, a once-closeted Midwesterner, and GI found freedom in San Diego, where he transformed men’s fashion into something cosmopolitan, carefree, and trend-setting International Male reached gay and straight customers alike as it redefined images of masculinity in popular culture, generating revenue and circulation in the millions. This character-driven documentary crafts a portrait of a band of outsiders who changed the way men would look – at themselves, at each other, and how the world would look at them.

We Were Famous, You Don’t Remember: The Embarrassment             World Premiere

Directors: Daniel Fetherston, Danny Szlauderbach 

Country: USA; Running Time: 103 min

It was the end of the seventies. Surrounded by wheat fields, cowboys, and cars, four bespectacled misfits in Kansas — Bill Goffrier, Brent Giessmann, John Nichols, and Ron Klaus — grabbed instruments and blasted out “a ravenous strain of rock ‘n’ roll” as tuneful, brainy, and enthralling as anything coming from the coasts. They worshipped the Stooges and witnessed the Sex Pistols bring punk to the Great Plains, igniting within them an uncontrolled prairie fire to do-it-themselves. As the Embarrassment, they threw a house-wrecking party and invited “a thousand loving friends” into their secret world of “weirdo new wave freaks” in Wichita and beyond. They played Chicago, D.C., and New York, drawing the attention of influential figures like Allen Ginsberg, John Cale, and Jonathan Demme — but their independence and refusal to sell out sparked tension within the group and kept mainstream success at bay. Through original interviews, restored concert footage, and appearances by fans including Evan Dando, Freedy Johnston, Grant Hart, and Thomas Frank, this documentary shows how the Embarrassment rose out of nowhere to become a post-punk legend that’s almost been forgotten — until now.

Saturday Centerpiece Gala Selection

Butterfly in the Sky                                                               Kansas Premiere

Directors: Bradford Thomason, Brett Whitcomb       

Country: USA; Running Time: 87 min           

Two seconds into the bubbling synth sounds of its theme song will have a child of the 1980s or ‘90s exclaiming “Reading Rainbow!” Such is the beloved and ubiquitous nature of the classic children’s literary television show that introduced millions of kids to the wonder and importance of books. Not only did the series insist on having kids speak to kids about their favorite stories, but Reading Rainbow introduced the world to one of the most adored television hosts of all time in LeVar Burton. Thanks to his direct, non-patronizing, and, most importantly, kind delivery, Burton became a conduit to learning for children of every background—an entrancing guide to subjects unknown.

Closing Night Gala Selection

Still Working 9 to 5                                                               Kansas Premiere

Directors: Camille Hardman, Gary Lane

Country: USA, Running Time: 96 min

When the highest grossing comedy of 1980, 9 to 5 (starring Jane Fonda, Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin, and Dabney Coleman) exploded on to cinema screens, the laughs hid a serious message about women’s inequality in the office.


Special Presentations

Planes, Trains and Automobiles (1987)    

Director: John Hughes           

Country: USA; Running Time: 93 min           

A Chicago advertising man must struggle to travel home from New York for Thanksgiving, with a lovable oaf of a shower curtain ring salesman as his only companion.

Donnie Darko (2001)

Director: Richard Kelly           

Country: USA; Running Time: 113 min         

After narrowly escaping a bizarre accident, a troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a man in a large rabbit suit who manipulates him to commit a series of crimes.


Spotlight Films

Case of the Mondays                                                                                  

Director: Brayden Frazier

Country: United States; Running Time: 6 min

Two friends down on their luck look to make a quick pay day by kidnapping a bigwig in the banking industry. 2022 Take 36 Audience Award Winner

Death and Bowling                                                               Kansas Premiere

Director: Lyle Kash

Country: United States; Running Time: 63 min

X is a white transgender actor who struggles with what it means to be seen, both as a representation of transgender identity on screen, and interpersonally as the beloved outsider to his queer community of amateur-bowling lesbians who meet as The Lavender League. When the captain of the Lavender League, Susan, asks X to speak at her funeral, X finds himself thrown into a time of not only intense grief, but also of desire. At the funeral, an unexpected and handsome stranger arrives. No one recognizes him. This is Alex, Susan’s estranged transgender son. Alex and X inherit Susan’s hand-drawn map of her desired location for her ashes and lead their community through a hot and slow march across the desert. When the mourning party arrives, they discover that there’s nothing there. On their journey, X and Alex are joined by Arnie (Susan’s widow), who dons her dead lover’s wig, Gio (Arnie’s son and X’s confidante), who is a queer Tamil-Sri Lankan-American butcher, and Joyce (Susan’s best friend), who is a Black body-positive gym dominatrix, to make their way through the fragmented and dream-like fugue state that follows Susan’s death.

Down Town Wolves                                                                         

Director: Judah Hansen

Country: United States; Running Time: 6 min

Two true crime podcasters tell the story of a woefully unprepared city invaded by wolves. Each misstep takes the populous further towards a wolf filled dystopia and no one knows how to stop them. 2022 Take 36 Grand Prize Winner

Hidden Letters                                                                      Midwest Premiere

Director: Violet Du Feng

Country: China, USA, Norway; Running Time: 86 min

Hidden Letters tells the story of two Chinese women trying to balance their lives as independent women in modern China while confronting the traditional identity that defines but also oppresses them. Connected through their love for Nushu—a centuries-old secret text shared amongst women—each of them transforms through a pivotal period of their lives and takes a step closer to becoming the individuals they know they can be.

Immediate Family                                                                            

Director: Denny Tedesco

Country: United States; Running Time: 101 min

Immediate Family tracks the rise and collaborations of a group of legendary studio musicians through the 1970s, 80s and onward, chronicling their illustrious partnerships and their formidable record of hit-making. Directed by Denny Tedesco, whose documentary The Wrecking Crew followed the first wave of studio musicians in the 60s, the film reveals the machinery behind the booming era of the singer-songwriter, when the talents of these four musicians were in furious demand. The foundations of their enduring friendship, formed on the road and in studios, is reminisced with fondness through intimate interviews with the guys themselves, as well as the memories of some of rock’s most iconic voices. Including commentary from legendary artists like, Carole King, James Taylor, Linda Rondstadt, Keith Richards, Don Henley, David Crosby, Jackson Browne, Lyle Lovett, Phil Collins, and more.

It Is In Us All                                                                          Kansas Premiere

Director: Antonia Campbell-Hughes

Country: Ireland; Running Time: 92 min

Hamish (Cosmo Jarvis) is forced to confront his self-destructive core when a violent car crash involving a precocious teenager, Evan (Rhys Mannion), challenges him to face his truth.

Little Satchmo                                                                                  

Director: John Alexander

Country: United States; Running Time: 61 min

To the world, Louis Armstrong is iconic — a symbol of musical genius, unparalleled success, and unassailable character. To Sharon, he was simply Dad. Armstrong’s wholesome, non-threatening image preserved his singular career as a black performer with unfettered access to a white man’s world. Yet he was more than a caricature; he had desires, he had longings, and in private, he held tightly to the things he loved. Perhaps closest to his heart was a child whom he hid from the world: a daughter sworn to a life of secrecy until now.

Lowndes County and The Road to Black Power              Kansas Premiere

Director: Geeta Gandbhir and Sam Pollard

Country: United States; Running Time: 90 min

The passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 represented not the culmination of the Civil Rights Movement, but the beginning of a new, crucial chapter. Nowhere was this next battle better epitomized than in Lowndes County, Alabama, a rural, impoverished county with a vicious history of racist terrorism. In a county that was 80 percent Black but had zero Black voters, laws were just paper without power. This isn’t a story of hope but of action. Through first person accounts and searing archival footage, Lowndes County and The Road to Black Power tells the story of the local movement and young Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) organizers who fought not just for voting rights, but for Black Power in Lowndes County.

Mama Bears                                                                         

Director: Daresha Kyi

Country: USA; Running Time: 90 min

Spread across the country but connected through private Facebook groups, they call themselves “mama bears” because while their love is warm and fuzzy, they fight ferociously to make the world kinder and safer for all LGBTQ+ people. Although some may have grown up as fundamentalist, evangelical Christians, mama bears are willing to risk losing friends, family, and faith communities to keep their offspring safe—even if it challenges their belief systems and rips their worlds apart. Mama Bears is an intimate, thought-provoking exploration of the journeys taken by Sara Cunningham and Kimberly Shappley, two “mama bears” —whose profound love for their LGBTQ children has turned them into fierce advocates for the entire queer community — and Tammi Terrell Morris, a young African American lesbian whose struggle for self-acceptance perfectly exemplifies why the mama bears are so vitally important.

No Place Like Home: The Struggle Against Hate in Kansas       Work In Progress Screening

Director: Kevin Willmott

Country: United States; Running Time: 57 min

Directed by Oscar winner Kevin Willmott, No Place Like Home: The Struggle Against Hate in Kansas takes you on a tour of a deep red state, to meet people who have found themselves in a battle for LGBTQ rights in the most unlikely places. In places like rural Trego County, Salina and Topeka, you’ll meet some of the people C.J. Janovy profiles in her book No Place Like Home: Lessons in Activism in LGBT Kansas (University Press of Kansas, January 2018). You’ll also meet emerging activists – ordinary people doing extraordinary things, all because they’re committed to securing justice for everyone in their home state.

The Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic                                                                        

Director: Teemu Nikki

Country: Finland; Running Time: 82 min

Jaakko is blind and disabled, tethered to his wheelchair. He loves Sirpa. Living far away, they have never met in person, but they meet every day over the phone. When Sirpa is overwhelmed by shocking news, Jaakko de- cides to go to her immediately despite his condition. In any case, he just needs to rely on the help of five strangers in five places: from home to taxi, from taxi to station, from station to train, from train to taxi and finally from taxi to… her.

Twenty: A Retrospective                                                     World Premiere

Director: Todd Ramsey

Country: United States; Running Time: 15 min

For the past 20 years, filmmakers from across the world have found themselves in Wichita Kansas for the Tallgrass Film Festival. From the start, Tallgrass embodied an ethic of stubborn independence – a desire to buck the status quo and celebrate the best films and filmmakers regardless of their budget, scope or distribution. This documentary will take a look back at where we’ve been, the personalities at the core of the festival’s origin, and what makes Tallgrass a favorite destination for independent filmmakers on the festival circuit.

What We Leave Behind                                                        Presented in Partnership with Array 

Director: Iliana Sosa

Country: Mexico, United States; Running Time: 71 min

At the age of 89, Julián takes one last bus ride to El Paso, Texas, to visit his daughters and their children — a lengthy trip he has made without fail every month for decades. After returning to rural Mexico, he quietly starts building a house in the empty lot next to his home. In the absence of his physical visits, can this new house bridge the distance between his loved ones? Over several years, director Iliana Sosa films her grandfather’s work, gently sifting through Julián’s previously unspoken memories brought up by the construction project and revealing both the daily pragmatism and poetry of his life. What We Leave Behind unfolds as a love letter to her grandfather, as well as an intimate and insightful exploration of Iliana’s own relationship with him and his homeland.


Narrative Feature Competition

Dogleg                                                                                    North American Premiere

Director: James “Al” Warren

Country: United States; Running Time: 80 min

A balding director named Alan loses his fiancé’s dog at a gender reveal party on the morning of an important shoot. A film critic named Nick Pinkerton gives candid observations on a series of interconnected shorts that Alan has spent his own money making. As the pursuit of the lost dog and the chaos of the short films begin to blend, Alan grows desperate for the day to be over.

Midday Black Midnight Blue                                               Midwest Premiere

Director: Samantha Soule & Daniel Talbott

Country: United States; Running Time: 88 min

In this cinematic poem, Ian (Chris Stack) lives alone in a house on the edge of Puget Sound, grappling with long-held grief and shame over the loss of Liv (Samantha Soule), a woman he loved dearly who died nearly two decades ago. As he moves though the world he’s created with visions and fantasies of their life together, he’s pulled further and further away from the present. Liv’s sister Beth (two-time Emmy winner Merritt Wever), a woman with ghosts of her own, is the first to see how far Ian has slipped away from reality. Their chance run-in begins a spiral which ultimately forces Ian to choose…lose himself completely or turn towards healing.

Quantum Cowboys                                                               Midwest Premiere

Director: Geoff Marslett

Country: United States; Running Time: 99 min

Two hapless drifters, Frank and Bruno, team up with Linde to recover her land and trek across 1870’s Southern Arizona to find an elusive frontier musician. The complex quantum time theory is blended with philosophical musings about art as the way we understand our history and memories, with gunfights, horses, dance halls, cacti, and saloons!

Shall I Compare You To A Summer’s Day                         Kansas Premiere

Director: Mohammad Shawky Hassan

Country: United States; Running Time: 66 min

Shall I Compare You to a Summer’s Day is a contemporary queer musical taking Arab folktales as its formal reference, and Egyptian pop music as its primary sonic material. It is based on the filmmaker’s personal love diary and told in the form of a “One Thousand and One Nights” tale, where stories playfully unfold through conversations.

Wes Schlagenhauf Is Dying                                                 Midwest Premiere

Director: Parker Seaman

Country: United States; Running Time: 78 min

After finding out their best friend Wes is dying, aspiring filmmakers Parker Seaman and Devin Das decide that the best gift for their ailing pal would be a personalized video message from Mark Duplass. But when this present ignites an artistic fire in the two of them, a selfless act becomes a potential source of money and fame. Setting off on a road trip to Wes’ Idaho home with nothing but a cheap camera, some aesthetically appealing maps, and a van that reminds them of Little Miss Sunshine, Parker and Dev decide to make the next great American indie on the way.


Documentary Feature Competition

The Art of Rebellion                                                             Kansas Premiere

Director: Libby Spears

Country: United States; Running Time: 78 min

The Art of Rebellion is a film that follows LA-based street artist, activist, and single mother, Lydia Emily, as she defies a crippling diagnosis that threatens to take away her livelihood. Fighting against an unforgiving healthcare system while she battles the symptoms of progressive multiple sclerosis, Lydia ties paintbrushes to her failing hands to create large-scale works of creative resistance.

The Pez Outlaw                                                                     Kansas Premiere

Director: Amy Bandlien Storkel & Bryan Storkel

Country: United States, Austria; Running Time: 87 min

Steve Glew, from rural Michigan, spent 10 years smuggling Pez dispensers into the USA from Eastern Europe, making millions of dollars. It was all magical until… his arch-nemesis, the Pezident, decided to destroy him.

That Thing That Sound                                                        Midwest Premiere

Director: Kelsey Hammer-Parks & Nathan M. Emerson

Country: United States; Running Time: 71 min

That Thing That Sound explores the uncertain future of the steel guitar, an instrument primarily played by older, white men. Because it’s an expensive and challenging instrument, most young and diverse musicians do not have access to steel guitars or instructors. The film follows a man’s journey to pass on his knowledge and keep the steel guitar alive. His inspirational story is a model for anyone looking to make a difference in the world.


Stubbornly Independent Competition (Sponsored by The Cotillion)

Attack, Decay, Release                                                        Kansas Premiere

Director: H.P. Mendoza

Country: United States; Running Time: 70 min

Attack, Decay, Release is a sci-fi musical piece featuring 18 electronic dance songs by H.P. Mendoza that chronicles the migration of humans after Earth is decimated by a deadly virus.

Disfluency                                                                             Kansas Premiere

Director: Anna Baumgarten

Country: United States; Running Time: 96 min

After failing her final college class, Jane returns home to her family’s lake house and comes to terms with the trauma that derailed her senior year.

East Bay                                                                                 Midwest Premiere

Director: Daniel Yoon

Country: United States; Running Time: 94 min

A micro budget comedy/drama about a Korean American man who at age 39 decides he’s had it with trying to be happy and successful. Suspicious that we’re all in a simulation anyway, he lazily explores spirituality. In the process his psyche unravels, and he blows up the lives of those around him.

Paris is in Harlem                                                                 Kansas Premiere

Director: Christina Kallas

Country: United States; Running Time: 110 min

On the eve of New York City’s controversial “No Dancing” Law getting repealed, the lives of several strangers are forever changed by a shooting at a historic jazz bar in Harlem.

The Civil Dead                                                                       Kansas Premiere

Director: Clay Tatum

Country: United States; Running Time: 103 min

A struggling photographer is forced to reunite with an old friend who ends up being more of a curse than a blessing.

The Unknown Country                                                         Kansas Premiere

Director: Morrisa Maltz

Country: United States; Running Time: 85 min

The Unknown Country follows a grieving woman (Lily Gladstone) as she travels from the Midwest to the Texas-Mexico border following an invitation to reconnect with her estranged Oglala-Lakota family. During her largely solitary and surreal journey towards an unknown destination, Tana (Gladstone) navigates a post-2016 election social climate against a natural landscape encountering familiar faces and strangers along the way.


Female Filmmaker Competition (Sponsored by Fidelity Bank)

A Place In The Field                                                                        

Director: Nicole Mejia

Country: United States; Running Time: 84 min

When Veteran Gio Scuderi receives a package and a letter from an old friend, he sets out on a journey across the American Southwest to fulfill a promise made long ago during deployment.

Deconstructing Karen                                                          Kansas Premiere

Director: Patty Ivins Specht

Country: United States; Running Time: 75 min

The premise is simple: What if white women could wake up and participate in ending racism? Watch out, Karen and Becky are coming to dinner.

God Save the Queens                                                          Midwest Premiere

Director: Jordan Danger

Country: United States; Running Time: 87 min

A dramedy about four Drag Queens who find themselves at the very same therapy retreat. In an effort to overcome issues holding them back, they dissect their problems, told in vignettes of their lives. They discover common ground; Perhaps, it wasn’t serendipity that brought them together. Maybe they’re not alone?

Klondike                                                                                 Kansas Premiere

Director: MARYNA ER GORBACH

Country: Ukraine, Turkey; Running Time: 100 min

The story of a Ukrainian family living on the border of Ukraine and Russia during the start of the war. Irka refuses to leave her house even as the village gets captured by armed forces. Shortly after they find themselves at the center of an international air crash catastrophe on July 17, 2014.

Me Little Me                                                                           Kansas Premiere

Director: Elizabeth Ayiku

Country: United States; Running Time: 84 min

Slice of life film about Mya, an ambitious young woman who learns the hard way that life doesn’t pause when one decides it’s time to heal.

(The film is also in the Gordon Parks Competition.)

Our Father, the Devil                                                            Kansas Premiere

Director: Ellie Foumbi

Country: France; Running Time: 108 min

An African immigrant’s quiet life is upended by the arrival of a charismatic Catholic priest who reminds the woman of her troubled past.

(The film is also in the Gordon Parks Competition.)

Refuge                                                                                    Kansas Premiere

Directors: Erin Bernhardt and Din Blankenship

Country: United States; Running Time: 76 min

A leader in a white nationalist hate group finds healing from the people he once hated – a Muslim heart doctor and his town of refugees. Chris is a husband and father, a veteran, and until recently, a leader in the KKK. He started hating Muslims when the planes hit the Twin Towers, but is forced to confront his hate when he receives a text from Muslim refugee, Heval.


Gordon Parks Competition (Sponsored by Cargill)

After Sherman                                                                       Kansas Premiere

Director: Jon-Sesrie Goff

Country: United States; Running Time: 91 min

After Sherman is a story about inheritance and the tension that defines our collective American history. The director’s exploration of coastal South Carolina as a site of pride and racial trauma through Gullah cultural retention and land preservation is interrupted by the shootings at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina.

Amansa Tiafi (Public Toilet Africa)                                     Kansas Premiere

Director: Kofi Ofosu-Yeboah

Country: Ghana; Running Time: 95 min

Years after her disappearance, a reticent Ama returns to the city where she was gifted to a white art-collector as a little girl. Her quest to pay an old debt quickly goes on a tailspin when she recruits an ex-lover. Evading capture, the lonely country road they travel is beset with a series of bizarre encounters, and their fate tied to that of two passengers they cross paths with.

Anastacias                                                                             Kansas Premiere

Director: Thati Almeida

Country: Brazil; Running Time: 81 min

Women who had troubled emotional relationships, but who still show deep affection for other people and for life. This is what connects the stories of Anair, Nega, Cenira, Janaina, and Márcia, but also the fact that they all live in the Jabaquara district, on the outskirts of the city of São Paulo. Different stories about abandonment, loneliness, and violence are the starting point to delve into the characters and their intimate and complex worlds. These women revisit past traumas and relationships, but also the good fruits of the present and their plans for the future. Their lightheartedness and good spirits in dealing with daily life events counteract their personal dramas. The film depicts social issues, but especially how these characters deal with emotions and feelings such as acceptance, self-love, and freedom.

Black Daddy: The Movie                                                      World Premiere

Director: Damon Jamal Taylor

Country: United States; Running Time: 83 min

Any man can father a child, but it takes a real man to raise one. Black Daddy: The Movie is a beautiful and captivating display of storytelling by black men as they journey through deep dialogue around experiencing fatherhood in America as well as their own experiences with their fathers. It is a very sacred space for the culture that was curated with the hopes that these type of conversations will become contagious throughout our communities and that the film will become the start of a necessary work as black men take to the forefront in their own healing.

Me Little Me                                                                           Kansas Premiere

Director: Elizabeth Ayiku

Country: United States; Running Time: 84 min

Slice of life film about Mya, an ambitious young woman who learns the hard way that life doesn’t pause when one decides it’s time to heal.

(The film is also in the Female Filmmaker Competition.)

Our Father, the Devil                                                            Kansas Premiere

Director: Ellie Foumbi

Country: France; Running Time: 108 min

An African immigrant’s quiet life is upended by the arrival of a charismatic Catholic priest who she reminds her of her troubled past.

(The film is also in the Female Filmmaker Competition.)


Kansas Feature Competition

It Started with a Horse                                                         World Premiere

Director: Joshua Dubois

Country: United States; Running Time: 79 min

M.T. Liggett was born in a claim-shack house outside of Mullinville, KS.  After attending four universities  including law school, M.T. joined the military and traveled the world.  M.T. left a trail of chaos in his tracks including multiple arrests in foreign countries, over 6 failed marraiges and multiple children before settling down as a folk-artist in his hometown. A freshly sober Liggett focused his chaotic nature on becoming one of the most prolific outdoor sculpture creator in the United States. His controversial, incredibly enourmous and weighty ‘totems’ can be found lining M.T.’s property on Highway 400. Hundreds of his pieces spin and twirl in the Western KS wind.

Mary Deboutez Zellmer Fenoglio                                        World Premiere

Director: Sam Huntley

Country: United States; Running Time: 90 min

An intimate portrait filmed across 10 years of Mary DeBoutez Zellmer Fenoglio; a charismatic and complex septuagenarian born and raised in rural Kansas, USA. Mary runs a curiosity shop out of her front yard, builds giant furniture, and dreams of becoming an artist one day. Mary is an incredibly engaging and unique character, whose life and story seem particularly pertinent given the current climate in the USA.

Once Was Lost: The 70-Year Search for Chaplain Emil Kapaun           

Director: Travis Heying, Roy Wenzl

Country: United States; Running Time: 59 min

Raised on the plains and farm fields of central Kansas, Emil Kapaun aspired from a young age to become a catholic priest. Later, his aspirations grew to include serving in the Army as a chaplain. During the Korean War, he repeatedly displayed bravery on the battlefield by running through gunfire to assist wounded GI’s, providing last rites and comfort to the dying and refusing to leave his fellow soldiers behind when capture was imminent. Through hellish death marches, freezing temperatures, starvation and sickness, Kapaun continued to be a beacon for his fellow prisoners during captivity. He stole food to feed the hungry, bathed the sick and continuously stood up to his captors. More than anything, he willed his fellow prisoners not to give up the hope that they would survive.

Personal History                                                                   World Premiere

Director: Tyler W. Moore

Country: United States; Running Time: 78 min

While researching for a grant, a history major and her documentarian friend discover a man who has not physically aged in over 100 years. They set out to learn everything they can about his life and to meet the phenomenon himself.

PPP Loan Gone                                                                                

Director: Devon Bray, Naiya Lilly

Country: United States; Running Time: 133 min

A worldwide pandemic has struck causing small businesses of all natures to struggle keeping their open signs, up and lit. That is until the government created a loan for these businesses that is totally forgiveable and didn’t have tight requirements to obtain it, the ppp loan.  Jacob Stone (Ke’Juan Moses) gets caught up in a scheme by influence of his best friend Shaun Murray (Zephaniah Moore), to use falsified information to get approved for the ppp loan. Having the right intentions but going about it the wrong way, Jacob endeavors to get the ppp loan money to keep his girlfriend’s Janelle (Brittany Culley) nail shop open and prove he is the man. At the same time, Shaun aides a gambling lord, Hitta (Hunnit K) in using the identities of all of those that owe in Hitta’s books, to get approved for the loan so that they both can make a profit. Shaun in his greed, never realizes the FBI is tracking and trying to pin him down with the help of someone in his inner circle. Meanwhile Big Smoke (Alonzo Ross) and Dred (Steven Espinoza) are popular plugs that are indebted to the neighborhood bully Need Moe (Scott Moore) due to the bad quality of the product they got from him.


Murmurations (Sponsored by WSU Diversity & Inclusion and Ulrich Museum of Art)

Finlandia                                                                                Kansas Premiere

Director: Horacio Alcalà

Country: Mexico, Spain; Running Time: 92 min

A devastating earthquake hits Oaxaca. After that, nothing will be the same for the lives of the Muxes, the so-called third gender.

Home Owners                                                                       US premiere

Directors: Pablo Aragüés, Marta Cabrera

Country: Spain; Running Time: 75 min

A young couple finds their dream house. Their new home ends up being a dream come true in more ways than one.

Mierda                                                                                     World Premiere

Director: Brett Allen Smith

Country: Spain; Running Time: 5 min

One woman’s furious odyssey as she wanders a vast, alien landscape in search of a way to make her fingernails grow backward. Produced under the guidance of legendary filmmaker Werner Herzog.

The Bathtub                                                                          

Director: Sergi Martí

Country: Spain; Running Time: 19 min

Ramon Riera is taking a well-deserved bath when his cell phone suddenly rings. On the other side of the line is Clara, a girl who insistently tries to sell him a life insurance.


SHORT FILMS

Narrative Short Competition

Ang Motel                                                                              Kansas Premiere

Director: Jon Matthews

Country: United States; Running Time: 10 min

Anniversary                                                                           Kansas Premiere

Director: Lain Kienzle

Country: United States; Running Time: 15 min

August Sky                                                                            US premiere

Director: Jasmin Tenucci

Country: Brazil; Running Time: 16 min

Blender                                                                                  World Premiere

Director: Sarah Adams

Country: United States; Running Time: 5 min

Bow                                                                                        Midwest Premiere

Director: Isaiah Smith

Country: United States; Running Time: 12 min

Bunny                                                                                     World Premiere

Director: Corey Clifford and Ryan Lagod

Country: United States; Running Time: 8 min

Bus Girl                                                                                  Kansas Premiere

Director: Jessica Henwick

Country: United Kingdom; Running Time: 11 min

Canceled                                                                                Kansas Premiere

Director: Christopher Guerrero

Country: United States; Running Time: 5 min

Convection                                                                            Midwest Premiere

Director: Stacey Davis

Country: United States; Running Time: 8 min

Could This Have Been An Email                                         Midwest Premiere

Director: Nicole Kemper and Sarah Alison Hodges

Country: United States; Running Time: 5 min

Cruise                                                                                     Kansas Premiere

Director: Sam Rudykoff

Country: Canada; Running Time: 39 min

Dance or Drive                                                                      Midwest Premiere

Director: Stephen Sanow

Country: United States; Running Time: 13 min

Datsun                                                                                   

Director: Mark Albiston

Country: New Zealand; Running Time: 15 min

de closin night                                                                      Kansas Premiere

Director: Shicong Zhu

Country: United States; Running Time: 19 min

Deep Clean                                                                            US premiere

Director: B Welby

Country: United Kingdom; Running Time: 15 min

Virtual: Global Geoblock

Deep Fears                                                                            Kansas Premiere

Director: Ryan Chu

Country: United States; Running Time: 3 min

Deliver                                                                                    Kansas Premiere

Director: Hannah Dweck

Country: United States; Running Time: 14 min

Desi Standard Time Travel                                                  US premiere

Director: Kashif Pasta

Country: Canada; Running Time: 19 min

Dinner Party                                                                          World Premiere

Director: Sam Findlay

Country: United States; Running Time: 6 min

Dog Lover                                                                              World Premiere

Director: Anne-Sophie Bine

Country: United States; Running Time: 13 min

Virtual: Global Geoblock

Dọlápọ̀ Is Fine                                                                       Kansas Premiere

Director: Ethosheia Hylton

Country: United Kingdom; Running Time: 16 min

Dollar Generals                                                                     Kansas Premiere

Director: Claire Downs and Brenden Gallagher

Country: United States; Running Time: 13 min

Down We Go                                                                         World Premiere

Director: Ryan Allsop

Country: United States; Running Time: 11 min

Drift                                                                                        World Premiere

Director: Caitlyn Cody and Robert Thomas

Country: United States; Running Time: 10 min

El Carrito                                                                               Kansas Premiere

Director: Zahida Pirani

Country: United States; Running Time: 15 min

Elevate                                                                                   Kansas Premiere

Director: Dylan Boom

Country: United States; Running Time: 15 min

F^¢k ‘€m R!ght B@¢k                                                          Kansas Premiere

Director: Harris Doran

Country: United States; Running Time: 12 min

Frank & Emmet                                                                     Kansas Premiere

Director: Carlos F. Puertolas

Country: United States; Running Time: 13 min

Gaydream                                                                              Kansas Premiere

Director: Brandon Wilson

Country: United States; Running Time: 7 min

(ha-ha)                                                                                   

Director: Alberto Acosta

Country: United States; Running Time: 6 min

Half                                                                                         Kansas Premiere

Director: Jacob Roberts

Country: United States; Running Time: 11 min

Hermie                                                                                    Kansas Premiere

Director: Jonathan Becker & Anthony Pitsilos

Country: United States; Running Time: 11 min

High Power                                                                            Kansas Premiere

Director: Joel Boyd

Country: United States; Running Time: 9 min

Hoar                                                                                        Midwest Premiere

Director: Jeanette Dilone

Country: United States; Running Time: 16 min

Homebird                                                                              

Director: Ewa Smyk

Country: United Kingdom; Running Time: 10 min

Hot Singles                                                                            Kansas Premiere

Director: Laura J. Hocking

Country: United States; Running Time: 9 min

How Not To Date While Trans                                                                                

Director: Nyala Moon

Country: United States; Running Time: 13 min

Human                                                                                    World Premiere

Director: Bill Watterson

Country: United States; Running Time: 9 min

Intimacy Workshop                                                              World Premiere

Director: Eddie Prunoske

Country: United States; Running Time: 10 min

Julian                                                                                     Midwest Premiere

Director: Vivian Kerr

Country: United States; Running Time: 7 min

Kiddo                                                                                      Midwest Premiere

Director: Paul Taylor

Country: United States; Running Time: 11 min

La Macana                                                                             Midwest Premiere

Director: Maria Mealla

Country: United States; Running Time: 10 min

Le Censeur Des Reves (Censor Of Dreams)                     Kansas Premiere

Director: Léo Berne

Country: France; Running Time: 18 min

Loves Baby Soft                                                                   Kansas Premiere

Director: Lanie Zipoy

Country: United States; Running Time: 14 min

Lucy                                                                                       Kansas Premiere

Director: Emma Sofia Fazzuoli

Country: United States; Running Time: 13 min

Maddie                                                                                   Kansas Premiere

Director: Zane Rubin

Country: United States; Running Time: 12 min

Make Me A King                                                                    Kansas Premiere

Director: Sofia Olins

Country: United Kingdom; Running Time: 16 min

Mama Retreat                                                                        Kansas Premiere

Director: Eileen Álvarez

Country: United States; Running Time: 16 min

Mamma                                                                                  Kansas Premiere

Director: Aslak Danbol

Country: Norway; Running Time: 15 min

Mickey Dogface                                                                    Kansas Premiere

Director: Zach Fleming

Country: United States; Running Time: 10 min

Milk Snake                                                                             World Premiere

Director: Jacob Shelton

Country: United States; Running Time: 15 min

My Summer Vacation                                                           Midwest Premiere

Director: Kelly O’Sullivan

Country: United States; Running Time: 9 min

Nigerian Letter                                                                      Kansas Premiere

Director: Preston Moss

Country: United States; Running Time: 3 min

Non-Negotiable                                                                     Kansas Premiere

Director: Mike Doxford

Country: United Kingdom; Running Time: 9 min

North Star                                                                              Kansas Premiere

Director: P.J. Palmer

Country: United States; Running Time: 30 min

OMI                                                                                         World Premiere

Director: Adam Lebowitz-Lockard

Country: United States; Running Time: 15 min

Out Of This World                                                                 Kansas Premiere

Director: Elia Petridis

Country: United States; Running Time: 17 min

Persimmon Branch                                                                         

Director: Hadley White

Country: United States; Running Time: 4 min

Placenta Pâté                                                                        

Director: Tia Salisbury

Country: UK; Running Time: 13 min

Red Line                                                                                 World Premiere

Director: Jake Bistrong

Country: United States; Running Time: 15 min

Riskfalling                                                                             Kansas Premiere

Director: Jonathan Faircloth Kirk

Country: United States; Running Time: 15 min

Shark                                                                                      Kansas Premiere

Director: Nash Edgerton

Country: Australia; Running Time: 14 min

Susan and Leslie                                                                  World Premiere

Director: Claire Barnett

Country: United States; Running Time: 5 min

Tank Fairy                                                                              Kansas Premiere

Director: Erich Rettstadt

Country: Taiwan; Running Time: 10 min

The Bottom                                                                            Kansas Premiere

Director: Morgan Ruaidhrí O’Sullivan, James Kautz

Country: United States; Running Time: 9 min

The Devil Will Run                                                                Kansas Premiere

Director: Noah Glenn

Country: United States; Running Time: 10 min

The Diamond                                                                         Kansas Premiere

Director: Vedran Rupic

Country: Sweden; Running Time: 14 min

The Dress                                                                              Kansas Premiere

Director: Marie Karkashadze

Country: Georgia (Country); Running Time: 9 min

The End of the Squirrel                                                        Kansas Premiere

Director: Michael Christensen

Country: United States; Running Time: 8 min

The Girl at the Motor Hotel                                                  Kansas Premiere

Director: Garrett Detrixhe

Country: United States; Running Time: 18 min

The Housesitters                                                                  Midwest Premiere

Director: Graham High

Country: United States; Running Time: 17 min

The Lonely Store                                                                  Midwest Premiere

Director: Amy Roy

Country: United States; Running Time: 15 min

The Man of My Dreams                                                        Kansas Premiere

Director: Tristan Scott-Behrends

Country: United States; Running Time: 5 min

The Manager Position                                                                                 

Director: Craig Trow

Country: United States; Running Time: 16 min

The Marigolds Listen                                                           World Premiere

Director: Jacob Figueroa

Country: United States; Running Time: 6 min

The Mountain                                                                         US premiere

Director: Clare Macdonald

Country: United Kingdom; Running Time: 14 min

The Nipple Whisperer                                                          Kansas Premiere

Director: Jan Van Dyck

Country: Belgium; Running Time: 15 min

The Plumber                                                                          Kansas Premiere

Director: Cate Carson

Country: United States; Running Time: 6 min

The Pulpit – Prelude                                                              Midwest Premiere

Director: Tosin Morohunfola

Country: United States; Running Time: 9 min

Three Points of Suspension                                                World Premiere

Director: Rahaf Jammal

Country: Lebanon; Running Time: 8 min

Time Cop: Justice Has a New Name                                  Kansas Premiere

Director: Ethan Hawthorne-Dallas

Country: United States; Running Time: 19 min

Twitching                                                                               Kansas Premiere

Director: Madelaine Moore

Country: United Kingdom; Running Time: 15 min

Unbound                                                                                Midwest Premiere

Director: Sarah Moshman

Country: United States; Running Time: 10 min

Valentine                                                                                Kansas Premiere

Director: Beck Kitsis & Chris McNabb

Country: United States; Running Time: 10 min

Valid Glitter                                                                           World Premiere

Director: Alexander Hagani

Country: United States; Running Time: 11 min

Warsha                                                                                  

Director: Dania Bdeir

Country: Lebanon, France; Running Time: 16 min

We Should Get Dinner!                                                        Kansas Premiere

Director: Eliza Jiménez Cossio and Lexi Tannenholtz

Country: United States; Running Time: 10 min

Wei-Lai                                                                                   Kansas Premiere

Director: Robin Wang

Country: United States; Running Time: 14 min

Wild Card                                                                               Kansas Premiere

Director: Tipper Newton

Country: United States; Running Time: 13 min

Two strangers are brought together by a video dating service.

Witchy                                                                                    Midwest Premiere

Director: Liz Manashil

Country: United States; Running Time: 10 min

You’ve Never Been Completely Honest                             Kansas Premiere

Director: Joey Izzo

Country: United States; Running Time: 11 min

Documentary Short Competition

$75,000                                                                                  

Director: Moïse Togo

Country: France; Running Time: 14 min

A Slice of Paradise                                                                          

Director: Liam Tangum

Country: United States; Running Time: 10 min

Art Chooses Us

Director: Tomas Kamphuis

Country: Sâo Tome & Principe; Running Time: 13 min

Black Beauty                                                                         Kansas Premiere

Director: Elle Moxley

Country: United States; Running Time: 27 min

Body Paragraphs                                                                  US premiere

Director: Erika Lobati

Country: United States; Running Time: 21 min

Elvis of Laos                                                                         Kansas Premiere

Director: Van Ditthavong

Country: United States; Running Time: 12 min

Free to Care                                                                          

Director: Chris Temple, Owen Dubeck

Country: United States; Running Time: 12 min

Gina                                                                                        Kansas Premiere

Director: Kathryn Prescott

Country: United States; Running Time: 10 min

Holding Moses                                                                      Kansas Premiere

Director: Rivkah Beth Medow; co-director: Jen Rainin

Countries: United States/Japan; Running Time: 17 min

In Search Of…Pregame                                                        Kansas Premiere

Director: Jason R.A. Foster

Countries: United States/Jamaica; Running Time: 25 min

Mama, I’m Through                                                                          

Director: Emma Morgan-Bennett

Country: United States; Running Time: 20 min

MATKA / POLKA [MOTHER / POLE]                                   US premiere

Director: Joanna Suchomska

Country: Poland; Running Time: 14 min

More Than I Want to Remember                                         Kansas Premiere

Director: Amy Bench

Country: USA/Chile; Running Time: 15 min

My Duduś                                                                               Kansas Premiere

Director: Tom Krawczyk

Country: USA; Running Time: 8 min

Opera for Earth Presents: the Arts Earth Festival                                                                       

Director: Tony King

Country: United States; Running Time: 17 min

Prolyfyck                                                                                Midwest Premiere

Director: Faith Briggs and Tim Kemple

Country: United States; Running Time: 9 min

Restoring Néške’emāne                                                       Kansas Premiere

Director: Loren Waters

Country: United States; Running Time: 12 min

Soldier                                                                                    Kansas Premiere

Director: Justin Zimmerman

Country: United States; Running Time: 22 min

Stories Within                                                                       Kansas Premiere

Director: PJ Raval

Country: United States; Running Time: 10 min

Stranger Than Rotterdam with Sara Driver                       Kansas Premiere

Directors: Lewie Kloster, Noah Kloster

Country: United States; Running Time: 9 min

Tapping Into Our Past, Tapping Into Our Future: Ayodele Casel           Midwest Premiere

Directors: Jennifer Burton, Ursula Burton

Country: United States; Running Time: 10 min

The Hairdresser (La Coiffeuse)                                           Kansas Premiere

Director: Lorraine Price

Country: Canada; Running Time: 13 min

Video Visit                                                                            

Director: Malika Zouhali-Worrall

Country: United States; Running Time: 23 min

Visions                                                                                   Kansas Premiere

Director: Karina Lomelin Ripper

Country: United States; Running Time: 10 min

We Dance                                                                              Midwest Premiere

Directors: Brian Foster, Ethan Payne

Country: United States; Running Time: 12 min

XAR – Sueño de Obsidiana                                                  US premiere

Directors: Fernando Pereira dos Santos, Edgar Calel

Country: Brazil; Running Time: 13 min

Vortex Competition

7LBS 8OZ                                                                              Kansas Premiere

Director: YOO LEE

Country: United States; Running Time: 7 min

Among the People                                                                           

Director: Jody Cleaver

Country: Australia; Running Time: 6 min

An Example of Lee-Roth Fog Isolated Under Laboratory Conditions   Kansas Premiere

Director: Ryan Betschart

Country: United States; Running Time: 3 min

Assaman                                                                               

Director: Katrina Brook Flores

Country: United States, Senegal; Running Time: 14 min

Bird in the Peninsula                                                            US premiere

Director: Atsushi Wada

Countries: France/Japan; Running Time: 16 min

Call It What You Will                                                             World Premiere

Director: Deanna Wardin

Country: United States; Running Time: 3 min

(Cathedral)                                                                             Midwest Premiere

Director: James Bascara

Country: United States; Running Time: 39 min

Cloud Boy: An Autistic Journey                                         Kansas Premiere

Director: Kieran Firth-Bernard

Country: United Kingdom; Running Time: 3 min

Empire of My Melodious Mind                                            Kansas Premiere

Director: Jeannette Louie

Country: United States; Running Time: 9 min

Everybody Goes to the Hospital                                                                            

Director: Tiffany Kimmel

Country: United States; Running Time: 9 min

In the Mountains                                                                              

Director: Wally Chung

Country: United States; Running Time: 5 min

Incursion                                                                                World Premiere

Director: Ajuan Isaac – George

Country: United Kingdom; Running Time: 7 min

land and flower                                                                                

Director: David Wayne Reed

Country: United States; Running Time: 11 min

May We Know Our Own Strength                                       Kansas Premiere

Director: Jih-E Peng

Country: United States; Running Time: 6 min

Memento Mori                                                                       Kansas Premiere

Director: Paul O’Flanagan

Country: Ireland; Running Time: 9 min

Omnipotent Glow                                                                            

Director: Dale Small

Country: United States; Running Time: 6 min

Phainesthai                                                                           Midwest Premiere

Director: Cyan Meeks

Country: United States; Running Time: 22 min

Shakespeare for all Ages                                                    Kansas Premiere

Director: Hannes Rall

Countries: Germany/Singapore; Running Time: 3 min

Slasher Squad                                                                       Kansas Premiere

Directors: Nathan Stone, Stuart Campbell

Country: Australia; Running Time: 5 min

The Body is a House of Familiar Rooms                           Kansas Premiere

Directors: Eloise Sherrid, Lauryn Welch

Country: United States; Running Time: 10 min

The Perfect Fit                                                                       North American Premiere

Director: Meinardas Valkevičius

Country: Lithuania; Running Time: 11 min

The Well                                                                                 Kansas Premiere

Director: Peter Stanley-Ward

Country: United Kingdom; Running Time: 9 min

Turning the World                                                                World Premiere

Director: Enrique Garcia

Countries: United States/Mexico; Running Time: 7 min

We Are Here                                                                          Kansas Premiere

Director: Doménica Castro, Constanza Castro

Country: United States; Running Time: 9 min

Where are the Files?                                                             North American Premiere

Director: Philip Davies

Country: United Kingdom; Running Time: 5 min

Emerging Filmmaker Competition

Burning Memories

Director: Kenneth Ha

Country: United States; Running Time: 9 min

Butterfly Playground

Director: Bryn Wright

Country: United States; Running Time: 2 min

Dare                                                                           

Director: Johanna Halbartschlager, Jasmin Pemmer

Country: Austria; Running Time: 7 min

Family Games                                                                       World Premiere

Director: Patricia Da Silva

Country: France; Running Time: 6 min

Game Plan                                                                             Kansas Premiere

Director: Sophia Winters

Country: United States; Running Time: 8 min

Gone                                                                                       Kansas Premiere

Director: Kyle Ward

Country: United States; Running Time: 5 min

Grizz                                                                          

Director: Cameron Staley, Shivnil Lal

Country: United States; Running Time: 5 min

holding hands with the moon                                             Kansas Premiere

Director: Sarah Blake

Country: United States; Running Time: 5 min

Hollow Home                                                                        

Director: Nina Rafique

Country: Canada; Running Time: 2 min

Invisible Gun                                                                         Midwest Premiere

Director: Reese Robers

Country: United States; Running Time: 3 min

Laephlexa                                                                             

Director: Madeleine Case

Country: United States; Running Time: 5 min

Lemonade                                                                             

Director: Colette Samek

Country: United States; Running Time: 3 min

Morning                                                                                 

Director: Alana Malingagio

Country: United States; Running Time: 4 min

Solar Flare                                                                             Kansas Premiere

Director: Kalea Blevens

Country: United States; Running Time: 9 min

Swept Away                                                                           World Premiere

Director: Braden Webb

Country: United States; Running Time: 5 min

Voices in Our Heads                                                             Kansas Premiere

Director: Brendan Egan

Country: United States; Running Time: 4 min

Kansas Short Competition

As the Crow Flies                                                                 World Premiere

Director: Sophia Baldwin

Country: United States; Running Time: 15 min

Better to Have Loved                                                           World Premiere

Director: Nora Graham

Country: United States; Running Time: 23 min

Bone Appetit                                                                         Midwest Premiere

Director: Zach T. Koehn

Country: United States; Running Time: 21 min

Call Me Snake                                                                       World Premiere

Director: Todd Norris

Country: United States; Running Time: 5 min

Death, by Koji                                                                                   

Director: Julian Liby

Country: United States; Running Time: 12 min

Fake Tools                                                                             World Premiere

Director: Patrick Duegaw

Country: United States; Running Time: 3 min

Good Night Mr Vincent Van Gogh                                                                         

Director: Lindsey Doolittle

Country: United States; Running Time: 7 min

Grand Nationals – The ’74 Fire                                            US premiere

Director: Patrick Mazur and Bobby Obermite

Country: United States; Running Time: 12 min

In The Waking Dust                                                              World Premiere

Director: Jordan Horsch

Country: United States; Running Time: 8 min

It’s OK to not be OK                                                             Midwest Premiere

Director: Andrew White

Country: United States; Running Time: 3 min

“jokes”                                                                                   World Premiere

Director: Micah Streeter

Country: United States; Running Time: 12 min

Kansas Honor Flight Documentary                                                                                   

Director: Corri Newman

Country: United States; Running Time: 12 min

Love, Barbara                                                                                   

Director: Brydie O’Connor

Country: United States; Running Time: 15 min

Ramen                                                                                    World Premiere

Director: Nathan Martin

Country: United States; Running Time: 15 min

Scream                                                                                   World Premiere

Director: J.S. Hampton

Country: United States; Running Time: 2 min

Searching for La Yarda                                                                               

Director: Marlo Angell and Lourdes Kalusha-Aguirre

Country: United States; Running Time: 15 min

Shaky Hands                                                                         World Premiere

Director: Caitlyn Cody

Country: United States; Running Time: 8 min

So That Others May Live                                                     Kansas Premiere

Director: Gregory Sheffer

Country: United States; Running Time: 7 min

Something to Fear                                                                           

Director: Brett Jones

Country: United States; Running Time: 8 min

The Cycle                                                                               World Premiere

Director: Olivia Herman

Country: United States; Running Time: 13 min

The Den                                                                                  Midwest Premiere

Director: Jessica Aquila Cymerman

Country: United States; Running Time: 15 min

The Messenger                                                                     Kansas Premiere

Director: Jessica W. Love

Country: United States; Running Time: 5 min

The Muse                                                                               Kansas Premiere

Director: Juliana Lee White

Country: United States; Running Time: 3 min

Vegan Apocalypse                                                                          

Director: Patrick Poe & Lolo Loren

Country: United States; Running Time: 5 min

Additional Narrative Shorts

Starfuckers                                                                            Kansas Premiere

Director: Antonio Marziale

Country: United States; Running Time: 14 min

Tallgrass Film Festival announced this year’s film lineup celebrating its 20th Anniversary, September 28-October 2.