Entering its eighth year, the True/False Film Fest has seen its reputation spread around the world. Demand for this weekend’s festival is so high that its volunteers have organized additional screenings and even a new venue for the occasion.
The newest True/False venue will be the Globe Theater, a creation of the First Presbyterian Church, which is working with the festival to hold additional movie screenings.
True/False Press Liaison Elliot Reed said the additional venue was added to account for higher audience demand for the festival.
“People don’t get to see all the films that they want to see each year necessarily because their schedules won’t allow it,” Reed said.
He said this change should enable more flexibility to the average viewer.
True/False Co-director David Wilson said organizers realized last year they would need more space.
Ragtag Cinema, located next to the First Presbyterian Church, watched as the church completed construction of its new social hall in 2009 and decided it was a convenient location for the festival. Around 11 films will be shown there throughout the weekend.
“We have a clear directive with the festival: keep it walkable, keep venues close to each other, and that means we’re constantly using some sort of non-traditional venues,” Wilson said.
A “downtown church,” the First Presbyterian Church opens its doors to Columbia events frequently, such as hosting events for First Night Columbia this past winter and the Central Missouri Humane Society’s Spay-ghetti Dinner last week.
Betsy Garrett, an MU professor of clinical medicine and elected elder of the church’s ruling body, said she has always been a fan of the film festival and jumped at the opportunity to help organize her church’s participation.
“We’re a downtown church intentionally,” Garrett said. “We’ve chosen to stay a downtown church. So, that means we have a desire and a responsibility to be involved in the community and be good neighbors to Ragtag.”
After a drunk driver crashed his car into the front of the church Friday night, there was some trepidation as to whether the Globe Theater would still be available for the festival, but Garrett said it will not be a problem.
“We think it will go off without a hitch,” she said. “There will be a boarded up window that would’ve been nice see-through glass, but I don’t think it’s going to affect the quality of the film viewing or the venue.”
There will be a temporary barrier put up around the column the driver hit, which contained ventilation ducts and water pipes.
“Hopefully, it is going to be a real win-win,” Garret said. “We have an incredibly convenient location right next to Ragtag and within walking distance of all the other venues.”
True/False has also added screenings for three films in high demand this year. The “Pruitt-Igoe Myth,” “Zielinski” and “Troll Hunter” all have additional showings that can be found at truefalse.org.
“We added those three screenings because of audience demand,” Wilson said. “We were seeing the need to have additional screenings at certain times throughout the fest, and we were also seeing a really, really high interest in those films.”
“Zielinski” and “The Pruitt-Igoe Myth” were both created by local filmmakers.
“They’re both about subjects that are Missouri subjects: one a St. Louis story, one a kind of Columbia story,” Wilson said. “Anytime topics or filmmakers are that close to home, it creates an interest, and they’re great films.”