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In this episode of the True/False Podcast: a conversation from last year's festival between filmmakers Ursula Liang and Khalik Allah. Both were at True/False to show their latest features. Liang's film Down a Dark Stairwell documents the effects of a police shooting of an unarmed Black man. Allah's film I Walk on Water pushes the boundaries of the filmmakers' relationship with those they document.
We continue our dispatches from last year's festival with the final True/False Podcast episode recorded in-studio during 2020. The guests were filmmaker David France and Maxim Lapunov, who was imprisoned and tortured as part of the Chechen government's persecution of its LGBTQ community. Lapunov and the subjects of France's 2020 film, Welcome to Chechnya were the recipients of the True Life Fund, the festival's philanthropic effort which provides monetary support to those documented in the select film. Welcome to Chechnya co-producer Igor Myakotin provided translation.
Every year during the festival, True/False organizes field sessions: conversations between filmmakers about their films, experiences, and anything else that interests them. In this week's episode of the True/False Podcast, we’ll be listening in on one such conversation between filmmakers Meredith Zielke and Steve James. Zielke is an award-winning filmmaker and editor who co-directed A Machine To Live In, an impressionistic exploration of Brazil’s peculiar capital city that showed at True/False 2020. James, best known for directing academy-award-nominated films Hoop Dreams and Abacus: Small Enough To Jail, premiered four episodes of his new series “A City So Real” at the festival.
The 2021 True/False Film Festival will look completely different from any previous fest. In the interest of social distancing and safety, all of the films will screen outdoors, at Stephens Lake Park in the fest's hometown of Columbia, Missouri. The True/False Podcast spoke with fest organizers to explain what festival-goers can expect at the new venue, and how it's tried to keep some vestiges of normalcy from festivals past.
The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Missouri was announced on March 7. That was day two of last year's True/False Film Festival. During the festival, South by Southwest — one of the biggest film festivals in the world — announced it was canceling its March dates, and the world of film festivals plunged into a year of uncertainty. Now, the True/False Film Festival is returning, with a different look, a different size and a very different venue. The True/False Podcast sat down with festival leaders to track the long road that led to this year's upcoming festival.
It's been a long break, but the True/False Podcast is coming back, and soon! Before the new season starts in earnest on March 17, though, we wanted to preview True/False's online film retrospective called Hindsight. The series runs over eight weeks leading up to this year's festival, and it features films from True/False's past. Virtual attendees can buy passes and tickets to the series on the True/False website to gain access to the films, as well as discussion questions and prompts to accompany them. Ted Rogers, the programmer at Ragtag Cinema, selected the films, and sat down with the podcast to explain what festival-goers can look forward to.
The next season of the True/False Podcast doesn't start up for a few more months still, but we thought it was a good time to re-feature an episode from last season. The Edge of Democracy , which screened at this year's festival, is now streaming on Netflix, so we're bringing back our episode with the film's director, Petra Costa. In The Edge of Democracy Costa uses her own personal experiences – her memories, and family history as a lens through which to view Brazil’s recent political turmoil – the impeachment of Dilma Roussef and the election of Jair Bolsonaro. This episode features a conversation from this year’s fest between Costa and Nanfu Wang, who directed One Child Nation, which itself will be in select theaters in August.
The next season of the True/False Podcast doesn't start up for a few more months still, but we thought it was a good time to re-feature an episode from last season. The Edge of Democracy, which screened at this year's festival, is now streaming on Netflix, so we're bringing back our episode with the film's director, Petra Costa.
The next season of the True/False Podcast doesn't start up for a few more months still, but we thought it was a good time to re-feature an episode from last season. The Edge of Democracy , which screened at this year's festival, is now streaming on Netflix, so we're bringing back our episode with the film's director, Petra Costa. In The Edge of Democracy Costa uses her own personal experiences – her memories, and family history as a lens through which to view Brazil’s recent political turmoil – the impeachment of Dilma Roussef and the election of Jair Bolsonaro. This episode features a conversation from this year’s fest between Costa and Nanfu Wang, who directed One Child Nation, which itself will be in select theaters in August.
Bumpers are the short films that play before screenings at festivals. True/False has different bumpers for each day of the festival, each related to that year's theme. For this episode of the True/False Podcast, Allison Coffelt sat down with Chelsea Myers, of Tiny Attic Productions, which produced the bumpers for this year's festival.
Bumpers are the short films that play before screenings at festivals. True/False has different bumpers for each day of the festival, each related to that year's theme. For this episode of the True/False Podcast, Allison Coffelt sat down with Chelsea Myers, of Tiny Attic Productions, which produced the bumpers for this year's festival.
Bumpers are the short films that play before screenings at festivals. True/False has different bumpers for each day of the festival, each related to that year's theme. For this episode of the True/False Podcast, Allison Coffelt sat down with Chelsea Myers, of Tiny Attic Productions, which produced the bumpers for this year's festival.
Sometimes, documentary shorts can be seen as stepping stones for filmmakers who want to direct feature-length films, or as afterthoughts on a festival program. But, given their lower costs and shorter runtimes, shorts can allow for a wealth of experimentation, with narrative and format, that features couldn't sustain. On this episode of the True/False Podcast, filmmaker Charlie Lyne sits down to discuss the differences between the two forms, and the unique and varied offerings short-form filmmaking has to offer.
Sometimes, documentary shorts can be seen as stepping stones for filmmakers who want to direct feature-length films, or as afterthoughts on a festival program. But, given their lower costs and shorter runtimes, shorts can allow for a wealth of experimentation, with narrative and format, that features couldn't sustain. On this episode of the True/False Podcast, filmmaker Charlie Lyne sits down to discuss the differences between the two forms, and the unique and varied offerings short-form filmmaking has to offer.
Allison Coffelt lives and writes in Columbia, Missouri. She works as the director of education and outreach for the annual documentary-based True/False Film Festival, as well as hosting the fantastic True/False Podcast, featuring interviews and commentary with documentary filmmakers, available anywhere you get podcasts. Her writing has appeared in The Los Angeles Review of Books, Oxford Public Health Magazine, and more. She won the 2015 University of Missouri Essay Prize. The topic of today’s conversation is her new book, Maps Are Lines We Draw: A Road Trip Through Haiti, out now from Lanternfish Press (2018). Greg Soden is the host of “Classical Ideas,” a podcast about religion and religious ideas. You can find it on iTunes here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Allison Coffelt lives and writes in Columbia, Missouri. She works as the director of education and outreach for the annual documentary-based True/False Film Festival, as well as hosting the fantastic True/False Podcast, featuring interviews and commentary with documentary filmmakers, available anywhere you get podcasts. Her writing has appeared in The Los Angeles Review of Books, Oxford Public Health Magazine, and more. She won the 2015 University of Missouri Essay Prize. The topic of today’s conversation is her new book, Maps Are Lines We Draw: A Road Trip Through Haiti, out now from Lanternfish Press (2018). Greg Soden is the host of “Classical Ideas,” a podcast about religion and religious ideas. You can find it on iTunes here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Allison Coffelt lives and writes in Columbia, Missouri. She works as the director of education and outreach for the annual documentary-based True/False Film Festival, as well as hosting the fantastic True/False Podcast, featuring interviews and commentary with documentary filmmakers, available anywhere you get podcasts. Her writing has appeared in The Los Angeles Review of Books, Oxford Public Health Magazine, and more. She won the 2015 University of Missouri Essay Prize. The topic of today’s conversation is her new book, Maps Are Lines We Draw: A Road Trip Through Haiti, out now from Lanternfish Press (2018). Greg Soden is the host of “Classical Ideas,” a podcast about religion and religious ideas. You can find it on iTunes here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Allison Coffelt lives and writes in Columbia, Missouri. She works as the director of education and outreach for the annual documentary-based True/False Film Festival, as well as hosting the fantastic True/False Podcast, featuring interviews and commentary with documentary filmmakers, available anywhere you get podcasts. Her writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Review of Books, Oxford Public Health Magazine, and more. She won the 2015 University of Missouri Essay Prize. The topic of today's conversation is her new book, “Maps Are Lines We Draw,” out now from Lanternfish Press. Buy the book from Lanternfish Press Brevity Magazine review of "Maps Are Lines We Draw"