True/False 2026: “Phenomena,” “Time and Water,” “The Oldest Person in the World”

In keeping with the theme of the True/False Film Fest’s 23rd edition, You Are Here, many of the film’s screening in the annual celebration of non-fiction filmmaking in Columbia, Missouri dealt not just with our existence in physical spaces, but also our place in time. Many weave together both, from the vibes-heavy science doc Phenomena […]

True/False 2026: “First They Came for My College”

New College— the public liberal arts school located in Sarasota, Florida— sits on a picturesque campus right by the water. Its buildings are dominated by towering palm trees. Some of its students dedicate time to maintaining gardens that showcase the region’s native greenery. Its exterior beauty reflects its original mission; established in the early 1960s, […]

True/False 2026: “Pinball,” “What Comes from Sitting in Silence,” “To Hold a Mountain”

The True/False Film Fest— the esteemed non-fiction film festival held annually in Columbia, Missouri— always excels at elevating global perspectives that most Americans (let alone Midwesterners) aren’t exposed to. The following three films— the world premieres Pinball and What Comes From Sitting in Silence in addition to the recent Sundance premiere To Hold a Mountain— […]

True/False 2026: “A Place of Absence”

Halfway through her lyrical documentary A Place of Absence, director Marialuisa Ernst claims that ambiguous loss is the worst kind of suffering. The void your missing loved one leaves behind weighs you down. It’s a weight that only becomes heavier by the lack of answers or closure. But it’s the admirable women who push through […]

True/False 2026: “Landscapes of Memory”

Leah Galant’s slippery and sobering documentary Landscapes of Memory begins with two things: her father, and her pending move to Germany, where she intends to study Holocaust memory. Her dad, Allen, is the primary keeper of their family’s history; his parents— Galant’s grandparents— were Holocaust survivors, and few physical documents of their past remain. The […]

True/False 2026: “Who Moves America”

The title of Who Moves America, Yael Bridges’ galvanizing crowd-pleaser, poses the film’s central thesis statement with succinct clarity: that the world runs on the labor of the most underpaid and undervalued workers, whose inability to walk away from a consistent, decently paying job— regardless of the long hours and inhumane working conditions— keeps them […]

True/False 2026: “The Queen and the Smokehouse”

Łeba, the seaside resort town situated in northern Poland, is known for its verdant landscapes and sunny beaches, which attract 80,000 tourists every summer. Only around 1500 residents remain in the off-season, however. They’re the folks who run the many attractions that crowd the shoreline: the mock pirate ship that transports visitors back and forth, […]

True/False 2026: “How to Clean a House in 10 Easy Steps”

It’s like something out of a fairy tale: in 1998, in search of better opportunities, Beatriz Valencia immigrated to the United States from her home country of Colombia. She took on a job as a domestic worker in Florida, cleaning the absurdly spacious homes of the wealthy, sending most of her income to her husband […]

Review: “EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert”

There are few greater pleasures in life than watching Elvis Presley when he’s completely in the zone. And while the singer’s earlier career appearances in Hollywood musicals, concert specials, and TV shows such as The Ed Sullivan Show certainly capture the seductive charisma and animalistic physicality that sent teenagers’ hearts thumping and older folks’ moral […]

Berlinale 2026: “Papaya,” “Chimney Town: Frozen in Time,” “The River Train”

Journeys of self-discovery are always ripe material for children’s fare (and can be enjoyed by adults who feel similarly lost and confused). The following three films that premiered at this year’s Berlinale— the animated Papaya and Chimney Town: Frozen in Time from the youth-geared Generation sidebar and the impressive debut The River Train from the […]