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.
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.
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.
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.
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/
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
