Truthtelling

eople are talking about the True/False Film Festival. Not just talking — effusing. And letting others in on the secret: Hey, did you know that one of the hottest film festivals in North America is in ... Columbia, Missouri? The all-documentary fest started strong in 2004, gained momentum in 2005 and this weekend offers another world-class slate of films. People in the industry aren't just taking notice; they're championing the event.

"We've been very lucky to have this niche of documentaries," says Paul Sturtz, who, with David Wilson, founded the festival. "We've been able to get some of the best filmmakers to come to [Columbia]. People like Kevin MacDonald [Touching the Void, One Day in September], Bruce Sinofsky [Metallica: Some Kind of Monster] — they've become our ambassadors."

Praise from well-respected filmmakers is quite a boon for a still-young festival. But True/False's success is rooted squarely in Sturtz and Wilson's persistence of vision. The process: Find the highest-quality documentaries in the world, create a festival environment where screenings are convenient for everyone, then bring in the filmmakers. The formula sounds simple, but the logistics can get tricky. This year, the festival welcomes filmmakers and documentary subjects from Denmark, the United Kingdom, Cameroon and China. (Some of the most promising titles are previewed on page below.)

"If the filmmaker can't come, we cross them off the list," he explains. "It's part of the fest's whole ethos — to have it be a communal experience for filmmakers to share their films with other filmmakers and with the public."

For three days in February, Sturtz and Wilson's vision comes alive in Columbia. Sure, it isn't Los Angeles or New York, or even Toronto — but it just might be better.

"We play up the romantic notion of coming to the Midwest," Sturtz says. "This is a place people know nothing about. They think there's nothing going on, but then they see the thriving downtown. They come away saying, 'This is one of the best festival environments we've been in.'

"When you go to Sundance, you spend a quarter of your time on a shuttle bus," the co-founder continues. "In Toronto, there's a good half-mile between venues. Here, there are four venues [close together] — it definitely creates a kind of dynamism."

Less time in transit means more time at screenings, and this year's schedule includes some not-to-be-missed films. Sturtz is particularly fond of Chances of the World Changing, which he describes as a "very engrossing profile of an obsessive character.... [Chances] has a larger resonance; this story about a guy who's saving turtles opens us up to the whole unwieldy subject of extinction, brings it to a very life-size level where everyone can relate."

Sturtz reserves his highest praise for the buzz-generating Why We Fight, which he calls "the most important film we're playing." (The movie opens in Kansas City March 3.) And he says he's thrilled to have booked Refugee All-Stars, which centers on a band formed in the refugee camps of Sierra Leone. The musicians are still working to get visas, but if all goes according to plan, the All-Stars' first American show will be in Columbia.

"We want to show that just because you live in a small town in the Midwest doesn't mean your worldview has to be parochial and small-minded," Sturtz says. "Our goal is to bring a wide group of filmmakers to mid-Missouri and open the window on the big, wide world."

The True/False Film Festival, Thursday, February 23, to Sunday, February 26, at the Missouri Theatre (203 South Ninth Street, 573-875-0600), the Blue Note (17 North Ninth Street, 573-874-1944), the Ragtag Cinema (23 North 10th Street, 573-443-4359), the Forrest Theater in the Historic Tiger Hotel (23 South Eighth Street) and the Cherry Street Artisan (111 South Ninth Street, 573-817-3274) in Columbia. See www.true false.org for details.

American Blackout John Lewis, a Democratic congressman from Georgia, believes that if Florida's ballots had been properly counted during the 2000 presidential election — and if several members of the African-American populace hadn't been denied their legal voting rights — George W. Bush would not have been elected president, the nation would not be at war in Iraq, and the makeup of the Supreme Court would be vastly different today. Instead, that contest, along with the 2004 election, brought to light a far-reaching government conspiracy to enact modern-day Jim Crow laws via electronic glitches and intentionally labyrinthine red tape. In what is essentially a full-length (and very persuasive) campaign commercial, longtime Democratic Georgia Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney plays David to the Bush administration's Goliath. Long before Michael Moore and George Clooney, McKinney questioned what pre-9/11 warnings the government may have concealed and what role media conglomerates and special-interest groups play in keeping white Republicans in office. It's not that black voters are disenfranchised, McKinney says — it's that they are being deliberately targeted. Screens at 10:30 a.m. Feb. 26, at the Missouri Theatre. Director Ian Inaba attends. (Julie Seabaugh)