The 8th Annual True/False Film Festival kicks off tonight in Columbia, MO with the fest's new Jubilee event and a sneak preview of the French film BENDA BILILI!, a documentary about a group of paraplegics who play music in the DR. Congo. (The film screened last year at Cannes and Sheffield Doc/Fest and has its official US premiere at SXSW next week.)
Yesterday, we skimmed some of this year's True/False titles that already have premiered at Sundance and elsewhere. But True/False often offers land-locked Americans their first chance to sneak films that will later have official premieres at SXSW, Tribeca and elsewhere. Two years ago, Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher's OCTOBER COUNTRY famously had a sneak preview here, the year prior it was Anna Broinowski's FORBIDDEN LIES that made its mark in the midwest before heading on to Full Frame and Silverdocs.
Here's a look at some of the films that will have sneak previews at this year's T/F (film descriptions from the festival):
AT THE EDGE OF RUSSIA
Directed by Michael Marczak
Surrounded by the frozen tundra of Siberia, a young soldier comes of age at an almost-forgotten military outpost.
BENDA BILILI!
Directed by Renaud Barret and Florent de la Tullaye
A real-life fairy tale, Benda Bilili! is a five-years-in-the-making look at a group of paraplegic Congolese musicans who go from sleeping on cardboard boxes to worldwide attention.
Directed by Frank Piaseck Poulsen
T/F Alum Frank Piaseck Poulsen (GUERRILA GIRL) returns with an equally courageous work of journalism: an immersive, troubling investigation of the precious minerals used in cell phones. [Screened previously at IDFA.]
FAKE IT SO REAL
Directed by Robert Greene
In small town America, a ragtag federation of independent wrestlers put on a show.
FAMILY INSTINCT
Directed by Andris Gauja
An unpredictable, off-the-wall portrait of rural Latvia that recalls the greatest works of Harmony Korine. [Screened previously at IDFA.]
HABANA MUDA
Directed by Eric Brach
A complex love triangle between a deaf Cuban couple and a gay Mexican man.
HULA & NATAN
Directed by Robby Elmaliah
Two Israeli car mechanics living next to the Gaza Strip struggle to survive in this stunning tragiocomedy.
NORTH FROM CALABRIA
Directed by Marcin Sauter
A charming, whimsical portrait of a small Polish village as it puts on its annual festival.
SUBWAY PREACHER
Directed by Dennis Ho
A fiery New York subway preacher falls in love in this gritty, sharp portrait of fanaticism.
YOU ALL ARE CAPTAINS
Directed by Oliver Laxe
A Spanish teacher/filmmaker and his mischievous Moroccan students blur reality in this beautiful, wildly imaginative hybrid.
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