By Lindsey Howald
Photos By L.G. Patterson

In school, true/false exam questions were no-brainers. You knew you at least had a 50/50 shot at getting it right, and the teacher would never say that the answer was somehow both true and false.

It's a good thing David Wilson and Paul Sturtz aren't teachers.

Wilson and Sturtz are the proud parents of Columbia's True/False Film Festival, which has gone from grassroots project to widely respected documentary festival in five short years. The two knew from the start that they wanted to challenge the conventions of the documentary genre. True/False films, therefore, are a far reach from the dry, no-nonsense style that has always characterized the form.

When reviewing submissions, "I ask first, 'Does this look like it belongs on PBS?' " says Director of Submissions Robin Griswold, a 24-year-old who splits her time between tending bar or helping with promotion at the Ragtag Cinema and the True/False office, poring over hundreds of film submissions. "We don't want something that is too instructional or traditional. We are always looking for a fresh new style, whether it's using interesting forms of animation or telling a story in a different way."

"I take a very open view about nonfiction," says Sturtz, 43, who along with Wilson gets the final word in every film the submissions team earmarks. "I think that for too long there have been these really dogmatic lines drawn in the sand about what's permitted, and these categories are being blown to bits right now. The whole field is in the midst of a great debate about where the line is between fiction and nonfiction. We're making great films right now, and most of the time they're in the middle. The name of the festival is a playful reflection of that."

It all began at Shattered, the now-closed nightclub perhaps better known for a slightly seedy atmosphere favored by the not-quite-21 crowd. Wilson and Sturtz met there a little more than 10 years ago, when it was still a concert venue. They were introduced by a mutual friend aware of their respective interests in beginning a film society. Together they launched the Ragtag Cinema, and then, encouraged by Columbia's brimming arts community, developed an ironclad plan for a truly unique festival.

"It all boils down to being very clear about what you're seeking to do, and we've had that clarity from the get-go," Sturtz says. "We said at the very beginning, we don't want the biggest festival, we don't want to play the most films, we don't want to attract movie stars to Columbia, we don't want to give out a ton of awards."

What they do want, he says, is to be a downtown-focused, artistic, "homegrown" festival with passionate, fresh films that provoke thought and conversation.

"We want to be a festival that our local audiences can stay in love with and look forward to each year," says 33-year-old Wilson, who makes his own films when not working on the festival. He laughs. "We want people to be saying that True/False weekend is like Christmas."

The festival is the dynamic fusion of Wilson, with his passion for filmmaking and curious Midwestern culture, and Sturtz, with his journalistic eye for detail and nearly philosophical thematic ties. Add to that enthusiastic volunteers-turned-staff members like Griswold and Operations Manager Justin Arft and it's easy to see how True/False became such a successful event. The team sorts through hundreds of submissions and scouts renowned film festivals such as Sundance, Slamdance, Toronto and even international fests to turn up the most imaginative, extraordinary and unexpected documentaries available today.

The film schedule will be finalized the first week of February, and some early bookings include: "Shake the Devil Off," which dives deep into post-Katrina New Orleans to tell the powerful tale of a priest and his congregation fighting to save their parish; "Lucio," which uses edgy, intercut archive images, reconstructed impressions and interview fragments to recall the life of a Spanish bricklayer turned anarchist, forger and bank robber as he struggled to stay one step ahead; "Joy Division," an in-depth look at the English rock band; and "Forbidden Lie$," which winds its way through author Norma Khouri's claims about the horrors of Jordanian life described in her book, Forbidden Love, while publishers, neighbors and FBI agents call her a liar and fame-seeker.

"I think that because of the festival, Columbia has one of the most sophisticated documentary-watching communities in the U.S., and we're really proud of that," Sturtz says. "We try to bring the cream of the filmmaking crop to Columbia over the last four years, and over 250 filmmakers have been in town. They are the ones pushing the limits of what's possible in the form right now, and we're tremendously proud of our part in bringing that here."

Sometimes True/False films can blur the line and stir up the type of heated controversy that made filmmaker Michael Moore ("Fahrenheit 9/11," "Sicko") famous. The fault, perhaps lies not with filmmakers such as Moore, Sturtz says, but with an audience unwilling to see the gray area.

"What [Moore] does is make essay films, and like any great written essay, Michael has a point of view he's pushing forward," Sturtz says. "Does he do a lot of things traditional documentary filmmakers — who have this ideal of setting up a camera in the corner of the room and letting things unfold — have a problem with? Yes. But even someone who just wants to plunk down his camera in a hospital or a courtroom, who isn't going to try to manipulate his audience, still has to see the lack of intervention for the artifice it really is. This filmmaker chose where to set up, he decided what characters he wanted to focus on, so although it feels like he's not interacting, we have to acknowledge that his subjects are not living their lives as if no one else is there. There is a certain degree of artificiality embedded in every image."

One hope is that viewers will develop their own sense of the true and false beyond the festival screens.

"It could be the nightly news or "Harry Potter," but we should be thinking critically about what we're told." Wilson says. "We want our audiences to be wondering: Am I being manipulated? Is this honest? And to always be thinking that way and embrace film along those lines."

Films will be screened in more venues this year, including The Blue Note, Ragtag, Tiger Ballroom, Cherry Street Artisan, and several Stephens College auditoriums. The downtown festival, arranged so that each event is within walking distance of the others, will also bring more volunteers, filmmakers and filmgoers than ever to Columbia.

"It makes Columbia into a New York or San Francisco for the weekend," says the self-proclaimed "nuts and bolts guy" Arft. "Every corner you turn, there is a group of people having a conversation. It creates this incredible conference feel to downtown."

Much like the day last year when Sturtz asked Arft if he could figure out a way to build and hang a 24-foot giant squid from the Missouri Theatre, people said it just couldn't be done. A modestly sized film festival, in the middle of what coast-dwellers call the "flyover" states, run entirely by a handful of friends and film-loving, unseasoned volunteers, is hardly an equation for success.

Maybe it's the idealism behind it all — like the whimsy of a gigantic squid which Arft did, in fact, manage to hang from the Missouri Theatre — that makes it all work.

True/False Faves
Get In The Mood For This Year's Festival By Watching These Staff Picks

Not documentary savvy yet? Check out a few of the True/False staff's favorites from previous years. These films are available at 9th Street Video.

Operations Manager Justin Arft and festival co-founder David Wilson:
"Touching the Void"
Directed by Kevin MacDonald

Based on a book of the same title, a pair of ambitious mountain climbers recount the day disaster struck while scaling the 12,000-foot Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes in 1985.

Wilson: "It's sort of a sentimental favorite for me. It was the very first film we ever showed, and it's one of those absolutely incredible, truth-is-stranger-than-fiction stories. Not only was it a great film, but it also announced from the beginning that we were interested in work that challenges traditions."

Arft: "It's a really powerful film, absolutely larger than life. I saw this and thought, here is an actual event that is more impacting than any feature film. It made me wonder, why don't we start to pay more attention to these real films — why do we even watch fiction?"

Director of Submissions Robin Griswold:
"The King of Kong"
Directed by Seth Gordon

In this Critic's Choice Award nominee for Best Documentary, diehard video gamers play Donkey Kong to beat out all the rest for a page in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Griswold: "It's about these two guys fighting to win the most points in Donkey Kong, and somehow, it also develops into this totally quintessential story of good versus evil."

Festival co-founder Paul Sturtz:
"The Chances of the World Changing"
Directed by Eric Daniel Metzgar

Manhattan writer Richard Ogust gives up his life's work to care for endangered species of turtles, struggling to keep more than a thousand of them alive in his home.

Sturtz: "I have affectionate favorites from each year, films that I somehow connected with on some level beyond just pure entertainment. I think I tend to respond to films that have really strong, eccentric characters at their heart, and those characters are followed over many years by the filmmaker and we get to see changes that happen over an arc of time."

The Second Experience
Musical Acts Add To Festival Fun

At the True/False Film Festival, part of the magic happens off-screen and on the stages and in the streets of downtown Columbia. Operations Manager Justin Arft calls this "the second experience" of the festival, where filmmaker Q&A sessions, parties and concerts immerse theatergoers in the entire experience.

Since its start, the festival has also hosted a diverse group that Arft describes as "busker" musicians, or "mobile, ragtag bands that are quirky, lively and fun." These musicians perform before and after the films in a multitude of area venues. Keep an eye out — and an ear open — for these notables and more.

They Might Be Giants: Brooklyn-based, catchy and eclectic, these punk rockers are set to perform at The Blue Note on closing night.

Ssion: Hailing from Kansas City, Ssion — whose lead, Cody Critcheloe, has been described as a campy, male version of early Madonna — puts on a bizarre and crowd-pumping performance, usually in full costume and makeup.

Pine Hill Haints: An indie folk band with the flavor of its Huntsville, Ala., roots backing every chord, the Pine Hill Haints will steal the show.

Baby Gramps: Perhaps the original busker, this bearded, seemingly ancient and undeniably talented solo musician is known for his fast guitar-plucking, gravelly voice and deeply original folk/jazz/blues style.

Mucca Pazza: With more than 20 members and instruments as varied as the mandolin, accordion and trumpet, this costumed punk rock marching band brings the party no matter where they go. The wild Chicagoans return this year to kick off the festival weekend.

Glenn David Andrews & The Lazy Six: Young Andrews and his trombone fuse New Orleans-style jazz with a unique new sound, paying homage to an old tradition while keeping it alive.

The New Ragtag

The Ragtag Cinema has long been Columbia's favorite living room, where locals enjoy drinks, friends and, most of all, unique and fascinating films. Eight years after its very first screening of "Waiting for Guffman," the Ragtag's anti-big box office, thought-provoking films draw such crowds that the worn, cozy couches on 10th Street have gotten a bit crowded.

After sweating through the last few months of construction to reach completion in time for the film festival, the Ragtag Cinema will open the doors of its new location, the reinvented Kelly Press building on Hitt Street, at the beginning of March.

According to general manager Sarah Bantz, the new location will have two theaters, the combined seating of which is about three times that of Ragtag's current capacity. The first, nicknamed "Big Ragtag," will have tiered seating like that seen in traditional movie theaters. With a capacity for 150, Big Ragtag will be perfect for big opening nights of popular indie flicks such as "Little Miss Sunshine," which used to premiere first at the Missouri Theatre to larger audiences.

Loyal regulars need not fear, however. To preserve the homey feel that's made the film society a favorite, "Little Ragtag" was created. It's a cozy, intimate screening room nearly identical to the current 10th Street space. Both theaters will feature new Dolby 5.1 surround sound systems and refurbished projectors and 35mm equipment.

The added space will let the Ragtag stretch its legs, according to David Wilson.

"It gives us so much more programming flexibility. It lets us go bigger and smaller at the same time. We can show bigger movies we've always wanted to show, but also do more traveling filmmakers, do-it-yourself video screenings and locally produced stuff," he says.

Two other local darlings, Uprise Bakery and 9th Street Video, are also uprooting from their locations on Broadway and Ninth Street, respectively, to join the Ragtag in the new building, which is located between Diggit Graphics and First Presbyterian Church. With a cafe/bakery/bar and video rentals on the spot, the Kelly Press building is soon to become downtown's mecca for cultured Columbians.

Get Involved In The Movie Biz

The Ragtag Cinema attained nonprofit status in 2005 in order to "do things that are not, from a pure business standpoint, good ideas, but are good for the community," according to Wilson. The organization launched a capital campaign to make this move possible. Read more at www.ragtagfilm.com, or call 573-441-8504 for more information about donating funds for new seating, new projection and sound equipment, an updated box office and dazzling marquee.