Tallgrass Film Festival announces the first wave of films for the 22nd annual event

The Tallgrass Film Festival has announced the first wave of films for its 22nd annual event, to be held Oct. 24-27 in downtown Wichita.

Highlights of this year’s festival are the world premieres of three Kansas-directed feature films, “Arrive Alive,” “Meet Me at Mahic Hour” and “The Sunshine Dreamer.” Another highlight is that about half of all feature films are directed by women. The festival overall will screen more than 129 films, culled from 1,700 submissions from around the world.

With a mix of free and paid events and extensive educational programming, the festival annually brings thousands of visitors to Wichita. Tickets and TallPasses are now on sale at https://tff24.eventive.org/welcome for these events, with more announcements coming later this month. For ticket information, visit www.tallgrassfilm.org.

The festival will celebrate Kansas cinematic history ties with a special tribute to Hattie McDaniel, a Wichita native who was the first Black actor to win an Oscar, for supporting actress for “Gone With the Wind” in 1939. Tallgrass is partnering with the Kansas African American Museum for these events.

Here are some categories announced so far (details are subject to change, check website for updates):

Spotlight films

These films are not in juried competition.

“In This Our Life” (Directors: John Huston, Raoul Walsh) The day before her wedding, a pampered young woman absconds with her sister’s husband. Her sister begins seeing the woman’s former fiancé. Part of the Hattie McDaniel celebration. Showing at 4:30 p.m. Oct. 26 at the Orpheum Theatre. A special presentation to McDaniels’ family will follow.

“Metropolis” (Director: Fritz Lang) Wichita Wurlitzer teams with Tallgrass to present this 1927 silent film classic, accompanied by organist Donnie Rankin. 7 p.m. Oct. 25, Century II Exhibition Hall.

“The Wizard of Oz” (Directors: Victor Fleming and King Vidor) The classic Kansas tale of Dorothy and her dog, Toto. 7 p.m. Oct. 23 at Naftzger Park. Free admission. Accuweather will be on hand for a special presentation about the flying objects of Oz.

“I Needed Paris” (Director: D. Michael Cheers) This documentary follows nine middle school photo students from the Gordon Parks Academy in Wichita who reimagine how Parks photographed fashions, portraits and street photography during his tenure in Paris as a photographer in the Life magazine bureau. 11 a.m. Oct. 24 at Century II’s Mary J. Teall Theater.

The Timothy Gruver Spotlight on Kansas Filmmakers

In addition to the annual short film showcase, these feature programs also will be screened:

“American Underdog” (Director: Gustavo Martin-Benites) An Indian-American immigrant and amateur MMA fighter redeems himself. 4 p.m. Oct. 27 at Century II’s Mary Jane Teall Theatre.

“Arrive Alive” (Director: Gina Bryant) This world premiere follows several violent stories that collide in a small Kansas town. 3 p.m. Oct. 25 at the Orpheum Theatre.

“Meet Me at Magic Hour” (Director: Monica Honey) This world premiere follows a man who, after the death of this mother, is tasked with managing the family-owned movie theater. 1 p.m. Oct. 27 at Century II’s Mary Jane Teall Theatre.

“Startup” (Director: Shane Konicki) This world premiere follows a pair of brothers who will do anything to ensure that their brand-new make-up startup succeeds. 2 p.m. Oct. 26 at Century II’s Mary Jane Teall Theatre.

“The Sunshine Dreamer” (Director: Shawn Rhodes) This world premiere documentary follows a young musician afflicted with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, which carries an average life expectancy of age 16 to early 20s. An uplifting portrait of an artist who dreams big against all odds. 5 p.m. Oct. 25 at the Orpheum Theatre.

These films play in one program at noon Oct. 25 at the Orpheum Theatre:

“Unwarranted: The Senseless Death of Journalist Joan Meyer” (Directors: Travis Heying, Jaime Green) This documentary explores the police raid of a small-town newspaper in Kansas and the death of the newspaper’s owner a day later that brought worldwide condemnation and attention to attacks on press freedoms in the United States.

“Color Me Wichita” (Directors: Charity and Sara Harmon) This world premiere documentary follows Gary Pendergrass, the creator of an outdoor museum called Steampunk Village.

“Black Enough” Season 2 (episodic short) (Director: Micah Ariel Watson) This web series follows an insecure dancer who struggles to find her place in the Black community at a predominately white college.

The fourth annual Gordon Parks Award for Black Excellence in Filmmaking

This competition provides a $5,000 cash prize and a $10,000 camera rental package from Panavision.

“Albany Road” (Director Christine Swanson) On her way to the most important meeting of her career, a New York executive is forced to share a rental car with her ex-fiancé’s mother, only to discover that the mother is hiding a major secret. 8 p.m. Oct. 26 at the Orpheum Theatre.

“Othelo, the Great” (Director: Lucas H. Rossi dos Santos) Documentary about Sebastião Bernardes de Souza Prata, a.k.a. Grande Othelo, one of Brazil’s greatest actors and comedians. 3 p.m. Oct. 24 at Century II.

“The Fight for Black Lives” (Director: Micere Keels) This documentary shows how racial stress and the U.S. healthcare system disadvantage the health of Black Americans. 4:30 p.m. Oct. 27 at Century II.

Jake Euker Stubbornly Independent competition

In this category, films must have a production budget under $750,000 and must be domestic narrative features.

“Paper Marriage” (Director: Jeff Man) A Chinese immigrant desperate for a green card pays a man to be her fake husband. 2 p.m. Oct. 26 at Century II.

“The Paper Bag Plan” (Director: Anthony Lucero) A high-functioning alcoholic learns of his cancer diagnosis and tries to set up his disabled son to begin a life of independence. 1 p.m. Oct. 24 at Centuy II.

“To Kill a Wolf” (Director: Kelsey Taylor) On the fringes of the Oregon wilderness, two strangers with troubled pasts are brought together when a reclusive woodsman discovers a teenage runaway, hypothermic and barely conscious, in the woods. 5 p.m. Oct. 26 at Century II.

Woman Filmmaker Spotlight

“El Vaquero” (Director: Emma Rozanski) The arrival of a stray horse triggers a series of events in a woman’s life that alters her world as she slowly takes on the persona of a cowboy. 11 a.m. Oct. 26, Century II.

“If that Mockingbird Don’t Sing” (Director: Sadie Bones) After a brutal dumping, a 17-year-old girl realizes she is pregnant and tries to use that as a chance to get her ex back. 4:30 p.m. Oct. 25 at Century II.

“The Major Tones” (Director: Ingrid Pokropek) A teenage girl discovers that the metal plate she has in her arm from an accident she suffered as a child is now receiving a strange message in Morse code. 11 a.m. Oct. 27 at Century II.

Reach Rod Pocowatchit at rodrick@rawdzilla.com.