Oscar-nominated film/filmmaker coming to Wichita in February
“Incident in New Baghdad” filmmaker James Spione to speak and teach at Tallgrass events on Feb. 10 and 11 in Wichita
Call for Submissions: 10th annual Tallgrass Film Festival
Tallgrass Film Association announces the call for submissions for the 10th annual Tallgrass International Film Festival. The anniversary celebration will take place all year long and culminate at the 10th annual festival, Oct. 18-21 in and around downtown Wichita, Kansas. As the premier film association in America's Heartland region, TFA is dedicated to fostering and enhancing the cinematic arts through year-round programming and the flagship Tallgrass Film Festival, the largest independent film festival in the state of Kansas.
Whiners of all nations, unite in song!
Tallgrass & Ulrich Museum present February’s Tallgrass Third Thursday at the Murdock: COMPLAINTS CHOIR
WICHITA, KAN — Tallgrass Film Association, the Ulrich Museum of Art and the Murdock Theatre have partnered to present February’s Tallgrass Third Thursday at the Murdock screening of COMPLAINTS CHOIR, followed by the debut performance of Wichita’s own Complaints Choir.
The event takes place at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 16 at the Murdock Theatre, 536 N. Broadway. Tickets are $10 GA, $8 students, seniors, military, TFA members and WSU faculty/staff; free for Ulrich Museum members.
What are you complaining about? Cell phones and bosses? Bad drivers and crummy weather? Director Ada Bligaard Søby’s docu-musical tells the story of two Finnish artists traveling the world, setting gripes to music. They aim not to pour salt in the wounds of the world’s grumps, but to let everyone vent dissatisfaction in a liberating chorus. Søby takes us from the artists’ home in Finland to Chicago and Signapore where community choruses confront issues as serious as free speech and as mundane as loud neighbors, with compelling frankness and humor.
INCIDENT IN NEW BAGHDAD returns for Special Screening
"An important insider's glimpse into the WikiLeaks video that shocked the world, as told by one of the soldiers on the ground. James Spione's terrifying and powerful film and Ethan McCord's bold act of speaking out is an urgent call to all of us, soldier and civilian alike, for a national conversation on the real tragedy and costs of the post 9/11 wars. It jolted me awake." — Josh Fox, director, “Gasland”
WICHITA, KAN — The Tallgrass Film Association has partnered with Wichita State’s Ulrich Museum of Art to present a special screening of the short film INCIDENT IN NEW BAGHDAD, at 6 p.m., Friday, Feb. 10 at the Murdock Theater, 536 N. Broadway. Tickets are $10 general admission; $8 students, seniors, military, WSU faculty and staff; and free for Tallgrass Film Association and Ulrich Museum members. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.
The film won Best Documentary Short at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival, Grand Prize Documentary Short at the 2011 Rhode Island International Film Festival and the Audience Award at the 2011 Tallgrass Film Festival. It is shortlisted for a 2012 Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Short Subject. Both director James Spione, and the film’s subject, former U.S. Army Specialist and Wichita resident Ethan McCord will attend the screening.
Award Winning Filmmaker Kicks Off the 2012 Tallgrass Filmmakers Lab series
The 2012 Tallgrass Filmmaker Lab series debuts on Saturday, Feb. 11 with Making and Marketing An Independent Documentary In the Digital Age led by award-winning filmmaker James Spione. Spione’s most recent short film INCIDENT IN NEW BAGHDAD won Best Documentary Short at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival, Grand Prize Documentary Short at the 2011 Rhode Island International Film Festival the Audience Award for Best Short Film at the 2011 Tallgrass Film Festival and is shortlisted for a 2012 Academy Award nomination for Best Documentary Short Subject.
The class will be from 1:30 to 4 p.m., Feb. 11 at the Wichita Art Museum in the Howard Wooden Lecture Hall. Advanced registration is $20 for general admission; $15 for students/teachers/seniors/TFA Members. Admission is $25 at the door. For advanced registration, click here.
Following the extraordinary trajectory of this award-winning film, Spione reveals how the power of 21st-century social media has radically transformed the creation, marketing and distribution of independent film. By comparing his previous filmmaking experience before the emergence of today's online tools, Spione's candid presentation will offer a rare and detailed behind-the-scenes look at how the interconnected power of Facebook, Twitter and Kickstarter, in conjunction with established venues like film festivals and television, helped bring his latest film from his home editing suite to an international stage.
Third Thursdays starts 2012 in new home
Tallgrass Film Association and Murdock Theater partner to present “Tallgrass Third Thursdays at the Murdock”
WICHITA, KAN, Dec. 20, 2011 — Tallgrass Film Association has partnered with the Murdock Theater, 536 N. Broadway, to present its monthly independent film series throughout 2012. “Tallgrass Third Thursdays at the Murdock.” KPTS is media sponsor.
“We’re very excited to be partnering with the Murdock,” said TFA Director of Programming Nick Pope. “It’s a beautiful historic, downtown venue and our new partnership will allow us to program independent films of the highest caliber and some months, screen them for an extended engagement.”
“And because we know that independent film sparks dialogue,” Pope continued, “We’ve created the ‘Tallgrass Cinema Salon’ — a discussion group lead by Tallgrass Programmers — where attendees will have the chance to join fellow audience members in an informal conversation following the film.”
Tallgrass Road Show Pulls Into McPherson In January
WICHITA, KAN, Dec. 16, 2011 — Wichita’s Tallgrass Film Association will kick off its 10th year with a screening of the Tallgrass Film Festival Road Show, 7 p.m., Jan. 12, at the McPherson Opera House, 221 S. Main, McPherson. Tickets are $3 at the door.
Presented by TFA and the Kansas Historic Theater Association, the Tallgrass Film Festival Road Show brings a program of the festival’s best short films to historical theaters throughout the state of Kansas.
Give the Gift of Tallgrass
(Trouble viewing the video? Click here.)
Thank you for attending Tallgrass Film Association events throughout 2011. This year’s festival was the most successful to date with, 9,500 attendees, 130 sponsors, 112 independent films from around the world 60 visiting filmmakers, and one Mr. Elliott Gould.
We couldn’t be more excited about 2012, which marks our 10th anniversary, and TFA has many reasons to celebrate: a grant awarded to us from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, new partnerships with other local organizations, unique screening locations, the Tallgrass Film Festival Road Show which will travel the state of Kansas, and of course hundreds of incredible independent films from around the world.
This holiday season, we’d like to remind you that you can give the gift of Tallgrass — it’s the gift that keeps on giving all year-round. Throughout 2012, Tallgrass Film Association will present 10 Cinema Alfresco Screenings, nine Third Thursday Screenings, six Special Screenings and Events, five Tallgrass Filmmaker Lab Workshops, four Tallgrass Film Festival Road Shows across the state of Kansas and one TallgrassX: 10th annual Tallgrass Film Festival.
Tallgrass among 2012 Academy grant recipients
The Academy Foundation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has awarded $455,000 to 25 U.S. film festivals for the 2012 calendar year and Wichita’s Tallgrass Film Festival, a program of the 501(c)3 Tallgrass Film Association, is among the recipients.
