#12. True/False
Our take: One of the most universally-beloved festivals on the circuit draws filmmakers to the middle of Missouri where appreciative sold out crowds and lovingly homemade activities await. True/False is one of the very few American festivals that pays for everything. Its reputation amongst filmmakers is nearly unmached: without the pressure of deals being made or competition status, filmmakers are able to spend quality time together. T/F is also one of the more innovative fests on the circuit, constantly re-imagining what panels and parties (and even parades!) can be. There's enough press and other programmers attending that it's also a place where a film can burst on the scene (OCTOBER COUNTRY last year, FORBIDDEN LIE$ the year before) and leap into the national documentary conversation.
The downside: You won't find us grumbling about the 2 hour drive from St. Louis or Kansas City but others do. There is pretty universal agreement that the fest hotel is one of (if not) the worst on the circuit. There's a question of whether the festival's long-standing policy of not promoting premieres is actually benefiting filmmakers who screen there, a few films had their first screenings at True/False and then effectively disappeared for months, caught in a kind of had-a-premiere/waiting-for-a-premiere limbo. Despite a handful of industry, T/F hasn't yet been able to translate its cred amongst filmmakers to the larger community in the way that Full Frame and Silverdocs have. The festival's heavy focus on titles just out of Sundance makes it awfully reliant on the quality of that year's Sundance films.
Important recent premieres: They don't call them premieres but they had one of the first public screenings of OCTOBER COUNTRY as well as films that screened "secretly" and would later show up in competition at SXSW and Tribeca.
Selection of films screened at 2009 Fest: BURMA VJ, WE LIVE IN PUBLIC, NO IMPACT MAN, THE HORSE BOY, ROUGH AUNTIES, LOOT, BIG RIVER MAN, SERGIO, AFGHAN STAR, REPORTER
Our coverage of True/False here.
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