True/False Film Fest turns 20: Documentary debuts, art & live music to see in Columbia

In addition to hosting a Southeastern Conference school, Columbia is also home to one of the most unique film festivals in the United States.

The True/False Film Fest celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, bringing documentaries from all over the world to the Midwest for a weekend of premieres and good times.

Arin Liberman, the co-director of Ragtag Film Society, whose theater is hosting films this weekend, is excited to see everyone come by and visit the town. She said it’s a great mix of local, national and international visitors.

The festival starts on Thursday and runs until Sunday.

WHAT FILMS ARE MAKING THEIR U.S. DEBUT?

33 feature films and 25 short films are playing in Columbia over True/False weekend, and a few are making big screen debuts in the United States.

U.S. audiences will get to lay their eyes on these documentaries for the first time during the festival weekend:

• “Dogwatch,” about private armed guards who patrol the waters for Somali pirates.

• “Three Women,” documenting life in a rural Ukrainian village.

• “Ramona,” following an actress interviewing several pregnant teenage girls as she prepares for a role in an upcoming fictional movie.

• “Hummingbirds,” which features two filmmakers spending their final summer together in a town split by the Texas-Mexico border.

• “Mafifa,” following a filmmaker losing her hearing as she interviews people about a legendary conga musician in Cuba.

• “Guapo’y,” which is about a Paraguayan woman healing from the wounds of imprisonment and torture from her country’s dictatorship.

• “R 21 aka Restoring Solidarity,” which put together old films from a Palestinian movement, where it caught a captive audience in Japan.

These films are making their worldwide debut, right in the middle of Missouri:

• “Feet in the Water, Head on Fire,” which is about California’s Coachella valley.

• “La Bonga,” following the journey of Colombian community members making their way back home.

• “Tavuri,” telling the story of an infamous scam artist who’s given one last shot at redemption.

• “How to Have an American Baby,” which follows the lives of Chinese mothers staying in a California maternity hotel.

• “The Taste of Mango,” which follows a filmmaker’s journey to repair the relationship between her mother and grandmother.

• “Natalia,” detailing one woman’s journey to becoming a nun.

• “Time Bomb Y2K,” taking viewers through the final days of the 1990s as “Y2K” becomes a hot cultural topic.

• “Red Herring,” which is about a young filmmaker, who was diagnosed with a terminal illness, capturing the ways his friends and family cope with the news.

Liberman is excited about “Going Varsity in Mariachi,” a documentary showcasing the competitive nature of scholastic mariachi bands in south Texas. The film recently premiered at Sundance.

“There’s something for deep cinephiles, and there’s something for people who don’t watch documentaries,” Liberman said.

HOW DO I BUY TICKETS?

You can buy individual tickets for each film for $15 at the door. You can also buy these tickets online here.

Tickets that say “NRT,” stands for no reserved tickets. This means you will have to “Q” up to see the film.

In the “Q,” you will receive a numbered slip from one of the Q Queens — festival volunteers dressed up in flamboyant, royal costumes. Once you have your slip, you can leave the line and resume walking around, but you have to return 15 minutes before the film starts.

That’s when they start letting the “Q” slips into the venue, and they’ll let as many people in until the theater is full. If you get in, show your pass for free admission or pay for your ticket.

You can buy weekend passes if you don’t want to wait in line and risk missing a film. These passes range from $50 to $995 and come with many benefits, such as reserving spots ahead of time for films and access to concerts and activities throughout the weekend.

IS IT ONLY FILMS?

No.

Plenty of local and national musical acts are performing at Columbia’s venues over the weekend. Check out who’s performing here.

Art installations will also take over Columbia’s downtown streets. Sculptures, exhibits and more can be found as you wander through the town. Take a look at what’s on display here.