This year's True/False Film Fest lineup is set. Get a preview before you reserve seats

Aarik Danielsen, Columbia Daily Tribune
The teens elected to the Missouri Girls State mock Supreme Court take a celebratory selfie in the documentary "Girls State."
The teens elected to the Missouri Girls State mock Supreme Court take a celebratory selfie in the documentary "Girls State."

An eagerly-awaited lineup of coming attractions is here, with the True/False Film Fest revealing its 2024 roster of films Wednesday afternoon.

This year's festival, to be held Feb. 29-March 3 in venues around downtown Columbia, will present 31 feature-length films and 25 shorts, curated from around 1400 submissions and "hundreds more scouted from festivals around the world," True/False said in a news release.

Entering its 21st year, True/False has earned a reputation for curating a deep and wide program of nonfiction films; here, more conventional documentaries mingle with artful dodgers playing in and around categories of empirical and emotional truth.

"These films all carry the fingerprints of their authors and use the nonfiction form to reflect on the breadth of the human experience, whether that be on a macro or micro scale," artistic director Chloe Trayner said in the release.

"These filmmakers all utilize their gaze in surprising and transformative ways, and this manifests in a multitude of forms; by bearing witness, acting as a catalyst, pushing for accountability or offering reconciliation. These films are full of heart, prompts and paradoxes, and we can’t wait to share them with our audiences."

More: True/False Film Fest is less than a month away. Here's what to know before you go

While True/False historically isn't caught up in the race to premiere films, this year's fest counts six world premieres, one international premiere and eight American premieres.

Among the world premieres: director Lance Oppenheim's "Spermworld," self-described as "a road movie set inside the new wild west of baby making"; Rachel Elizabeth Seed's "A Photographic Memory," which brushes against matters of family, memory and art within the world of photography; Elizabeth Nichols' "Flying Lessons," about the life of artist-activist Philly Abe; and Michael Toledano's "Yintah," about a First Nations leader pushing back against the encroaching oil and gas industry.

As is its custom, True/False also turns to titles already making waves in the documentary world. Angela Patton and Natalie Rae's "Daughters" received the U.S. Documentary Audience Award and Festival Favorite Award at this year's Sundance Film Festival; the film follows four girls preparing "for a special Daddy Daughter Dance with their incarcerated fathers, as part of a unique fatherhood program in a Washington D.C. jail," Sundance noted.

"Union," from veteran fest directors Stephen Maing ("Crime and Punishment") and Brett Story ("The Hottest August"), won this year's U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for the Art of Change at Sundance.

"Without oversimplifying the struggle — both inner and outer — this film reminds us that we do have a choice, that we can organize and fight for what is just," the Sundance jury said of the labor film.

Director Jazmin Jones seeks the whereabouts of the Haitian-born cover model of a popular typing game from the 1980s and '90s in the documentary "Seeking Mavis Beacon," which will play this year's True/False Film Fest.
Director Jazmin Jones seeks the whereabouts of the Haitian-born cover model of a popular typing game from the 1980s and '90s in the documentary "Seeking Mavis Beacon," which will play this year's True/False Film Fest.

Films will arrive in Columbia from locations across the globe, including Iran, Germany, Denmark, Brazil and more.

As previously announced, several True/False films and filmmakers will receive special attention. Set in Missouri, "Girls State" is the natural follow-up to directors Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss' acclaimed "Boys State" and is this year's Show Me True/False film.

This year's True Life Fund film, which draws viewers into a significant story and then asks them to aid the subject through tangible means, is director Yousef Srouji's "Three Promises."

And Madagascar-born filmmaker Michaël Andrianaly will bring his latest, "Gwetto," as well as previous work as part of his designation as this year's True Vision awardee.

More:Here's a closer look and listen at this year's True/False Film Fest music roster

Of the 65 filmmakers who will be represented at this year's festival, "35 self-identify as women or non-binary filmmakers, and 30 of the filmmakers self-identify as people of color," the fest noted.

True/False pass-holders will be able to reserve seats for screenings, beginning Sunday, depending on their pass level. The reservation queue is as follows:

  • Feb. 11: Super Circle reservations

  • Feb. 13: Silver Circle

  • Feb. 14: Center and Stay Up Late (the latter is music showcases only)

  • Feb. 16: Spring

  • Feb. 17: Classic

Once pass-holders take turns, tickets will go public to general audiences at 10 a.m. Feb. 19. To find a full film program, and learn more, visit https://truefalse.org/.

Aarik Danielsen is the features and culture editor for the Tribune. Contact him at adanielsen@columbiatribune.com or by calling 573-815-1731. He's on Twitter/X @aarikdanielsen.

This article originally appeared on Columbia Daily Tribune: True/False Film Fest announces deep, wide 2024 lineup

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