For four days, moviegoers, music-players, and filmmakers flocked to Columbia, Missouri, for True/False Film Festival. Thousands of us laughed, cried, drank, mused, and barely slept just so we wouldn’t miss a beat. I’ve split up the event into four non-scientific categories (film, music, art, and partay) for easier perusal.
Film

Inside the Missouri Theater before the closing night film, Last Train Home.
Only two of the eight T/F venues actually screen films year round, and the others run the gamut of a rarely seen Odd Fellows Temple to a university lecture hall. But the amazing thing is that all of them felt as if they did this kind of thing every day. The staff kept film rolling, snacks on the ready, and lights dim. For me, my favorite films of the weekend bashed straight through my usual go-to genre. While I usually enjoy lighter premises, Restrepo won out as the top showing for me. It follows a platoon in one of the most dangerous war zones (Korengal Valley, Afghanistan), and though it left me feeling very raw, it was also refreshing to witness someone’s story of war that didn’t rely on partisan politics.
The Mirror, about a small Italian town that doesn’t get sunlight for 83 days of the year because of a pesky mountain peak, had me rooting for the innovative—and optimistic—mayor and his giant mirror project.
I left this next film not really knowing if I liked it or not, but the fact that The Red Chapel brought us into North Korea and allowed the audience access to a country that is notoriously shut off made me sway to the “yes” side. The director, along with two Danish-Korean comedians, enter the country under the premise of performing a Danish cultural exchange. Devilish manipulation, breakdowns, and a rather disturbing anti-American march round out the film and leave you to rant and rave about what you just saw to anyone that will listen.

(Clockwise, top left) Director Lixin Fan and festival Co-Conspirator David Wilson take part in a Q&A during the closing night; the ever-helpful guidebook; (inexpensive) merch; Andy, Kyle, Kalei, and Tim enjoying the closing night reception’s free food and booze; tearing tickets in the Missouri Theater.
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