True/False 2012 came to superb finish at the historic Missouri Theater with Searching for Sugar Man, Swedish director Malik Bendjelloul’s telling of the stranger than fiction story of Detroit based singer-songwriter Rodriguez. Releasing a mere two records in the early 70s, Rodriguez attracted only a cult following in the States, but improbably inspired the anti-apartheid movement half a world away through his haunting, soul searching music. Then he disappeared, leaving in his wake a host of rumors and myths.
Now, both the film and Rodriguez himself are coming to Columbia. Searching for Sugar Man opens on Friday, September 14th at Ragtag Cinema and Rodriguez himself will be headlining the opening night of Roots N Blues N BBQ one week later on September 21st.
Bendjelloul and Rodriguez have given a number of interviews, including one with Little White Lies magazine where they explain how the film came to be. Sugar Man’s soundtrack is available streaming on Spotify or for purchase on Amazon. And just a few weeks back Rodriguez performed “Crucify Your Mind” on the Late Show with David Lettermen.
The 2012 Boone Dawdle was a rip-roaring success, and, we hope a real hoot for all who participated. Thanks everyone who made the day hum. We’d like to thank our guests Jodie Wille and Isis Aquarian for sharing the fascinating story of The Source , music headliners CAVE for a far-out open-air concert + Jerusalem and the Starbaskets, The Onions, Creek Bottom Dwellers, Dubb Nubb, The Flood Brothers, Yod Squad, Mr. Nasti, and Sean Witzman for sharing music along the trail. Thank you Curtis, Chelsea, and Aaron at Les Bourgeois, gracious hosts who offered up delicious food and drink.
Once again, a dedicated, exuberant army of volunteers came together and donated a day of hard work. To all who volunteered, please know that True/False would not be possible without you. In addition, our Boone Dawdle core staff put in the even longer hours at the lab and along the trail. Thank you to Doug Sonnenberg (tech and production), Camellia Cosgray (trailside surprises), Amanda Rainey (music), Rob Gaskin (logistics & volunteers), Tom Seagraves (bike load), Arin Liberman (registration & raffle), Tracy Lane and Sarah Waddill-Miller (sponsorship), Glenn Rice, Tracy Greever-Rice, Jamie Kroll, Justin Arft (production), Josh Oxenhandler (sherpa team), and Amanda Vandertuig (merch).
Finally a big tip of the hat to our generous sponsors for keeping True/False pedaling along the trail – bravo Boone Hospital Center, Delta Systems, Walt’s Bicycle, Mountain Valley Spring Water, Les Bourgeois Vineyards, Hampton Inn and Suites, 102.3 BXR, and the Columbia Daily Tribune. We’ll see you all at T/F 2013 in just 189 days!
And be sure to mark your calendars for next year’s Boone Dawdle: August 17, 2013.
Here’s another glimpse of The Source, the film playing under the stars at the 2012 Boone Dawdle in just eleven days. This clip introduces the The Source Family’s musical experimentation.
Come see the whole story on Saturday, August 18th. Ticket prices increase this Friday, so get yours soon.
Campfire Stories has quickly become an essential part of True/False. Each fest a crowd gathers in the Odd Fellows Lodge to eat smores and listen as filmmakers swap tales of the scene that got away. This cozy little gathering is made possible by the support of our friends at HBO Documentary Films. If you have yet to experience this event, you’re in luck. Campfire Stories 2012 is now available on Vimeo.
This year, seven presenters step forward into the intimate glow of our not so real fire. Starlee Kine of This American Life muses about the first day of Junior High and the lifelong upside of a moment getting away. Valerie Veatch of Me at the Zoo recounts a creepy ghost at the periphery of her film. Rachel Grady of Detropia reads some of her correspondence with an African dictatorship. Karim El Hakim of 1/2 Revolution tells the harrowing tale of his arrest during the Egyptian revolution. Katherine Fairfax Wright and Malika Zouhali-Worrall talk about how the scene they never shot became an internet meme. And Matthew Akers of Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present explains how the lost scene can help to change a film for the better.
In just nine months from now, on February 28, 2013, the tenth iteration of the True/False Film Fest will begin. Words cannot capture the gratitude we feel for the community, attendees, volunteers, and sponsors that have allowed our crazy dream to continue growing over the course of a decade. To celebrate we are launching DocuMemories: A True/False Retrospective at our sister theater, Ragtag Cinema. On the last Monday of each month between now and T/F 2013 we will be screening a film from a previous Fest that we feel repays another look. The screenings will be introduced by members of the True/False staff and feature a post film Skype chat with filmmakers and/or subjects.
DocuMemories will kick-off this Monday, June 25 at Ragtag Cinema’s 14th birthday party with a free screening of The King of Kong (T/F 2007). Festivities begin at 5:30pm, with Sparky’s-ice-cream-Uprise-cookie-sandwiches, Schlafly beer, Golden Barrel wines, and Mountain Valley spring water for all. The film will follow at 6:30.
The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters tells the timeless story of the struggle betwixt good and evil, carried forth on the stage of the most challenging classic arcade game of the early 80s, Donkey Kong. Two men compete to achieve an all-time world record as they guide Mario on the impossible task of rescuing the princess from a giant barrel wielding gorilla.
Our hero is the mild-mannered Steve Wiebe: devoted husband, father, science teacher, and video game savant.
Our villain is Billy Mitchell. It is probably best that he introduce himself.
Judging their contest is Walter Day, amateur folk musician and founder of Twin Galaxies, the self appointed record keepers of all video games.
The film also features a superb cast a supporting characters, men dedicated in body and soul to the lost golden age of the early 80s arcade.
Swing by Ragtag this Monday and bear witness to this epic struggle. Did we mention it’s free?
Join True/False for the third annual Boone Dawdle on Saturday, August 18, 2012. The Boone Dawdle brings together some of the best things in life — biking, music, food, nature, and film. It’s also a fun, outdoorsy way to show your support of True/False in the off-season.
To dawdle means to take one’s time, to proceed slowly — and that’s a fine way to describe this lazy summer expedition from our cozy downtown Columbia home to the Missouri River, specifically the beautiful limestone blufftops of Rocheport. We’re retaining the elements you loved last year and interjecting some fresh surprises that will unfold over the course of the day.
Some of us will leisurely ride our bikes along the MKT and Katy Trails–finding intriguing spots to stop along the way while enjoying the sounds of T/F-style busking musicians–while others will hop in their jalopies or catch a shuttle to the Blufftop Bistro at Les Bourgeois vineyards. Out there before sunset, we’ll serve up a delicious local food picnic-style dinner, along with Schlafly beer, wine and other drinks, and listen to one of our favorite bands, Cave. And then, after the sun has dropped, we’ll kick back on the hillside to enjoy an outdoor screening of The Source, all while looking out over the Missouri River valley. Then it’s on to waiting buses and back home to wait out the days until True/False 2013.
THE FILM: THE SOURCE
In popular mythology, Altamont and the Manson Family marked a disturbing end to the endless Summer of Love. But an uber-60s experience was still swinging in Los Angeles. Here a charismatic former Marine named Jim Baker began a commune that attracted beautiful young followers who called him “Father Yod.” In a sprawling mansion, flower children meditated, made psychedelic music and free love, and worked as bean-sprout soldiers at the beginning of the health food revolution. And it was all captured on Super 8 film by the sharp eye of a woman named Isis Aquarian, designated Keeper of the Records. Forty years later Aquarian worked with co-directors Jodi Wille and Maria Demopoulos to unlock the archive and tell the outrageous story of The Source. Wille and Aquarian will join us after the film to expand on the film’s revelations and answer your questions.
THE BAND: CAVE
Birthed in Columbia and now based in Chicago, Cave play shamanic psychedelia. With ecstatic rhythms and spacey yet tight jams, expect them to open your third eye.
SCHEDULE
2:00-3:00 pm Bike Clinic by Walt’s Bike Shop in the parking lot of Shiloh
3:00-4:00 pm Registration and bike ride departures from Shiloh
5:30 pm Shuttle leaves from Shiloh for Les Bourgeois for Party Pass ticket holders who reserved a spot
6:00 pm Doors open for the party at Les Bourgeois
6:00-8:30 pm Dinner buffet open
7:30-8:45 pm Cave concert
9:00-10:30 pm Screening of The Source
10:30-11:00 pm Q&A with Jodi Wille and Isis Aquarian
11:00 pm-12:00 am Shuttles depart from Les Bourgeois for Shiloh
Yesterday I ran into Milwaukee-based artist Paul Kjelland, who was installing a piece in the window of the Ragtag Theater. Listen below to find out who Paul is and what he’s doing for the Fest.
Now ready for download: the 2012 True/False App for Android. Browse the schedule, read film descriptions, late-breaking updates, and explore an interactive map of film, panel, and party venues.
(iPhone users: download your T/F app in the iTunes store.)
Something that T/F tries to do is challenge your notions of just what a documentary is. One of the stranger events this year is pushing that definition right off the screen: the Third Coast International Audio Festival is bringing seven audio documentaries to Columbia and “screening” them in a darkened theater. It’s called the Third Coast Breakfast Club and it’s playing Saturday at 10 a.m. in Little Ragtag.
I caught up with Julie Shapiro, Third Coast’s artistic director, who gave me a preview of what to get excited for in this year’s program.
—Scott Pham
TRUE/FALSE: You’re calling this the Third Coast Breakfast Club. Are we talking weekend detention in the ’80s? Or will there actually be breakfast?
JULIE SHAPIRO: Ha! I mean that Breakfast Club is a signal that there will be coffee and cereal served.
T/F: What kind of cereal?
JS: Well, we’ve been trying to poll our audience to ask what cereal goes best with listening to radio. I haven’t gotten as much response as I’d like, so if you’re hearing this and you have an idea, send a tweet @truefalse and mention @thirdcoastfest as well.
T/F: So what can we expect at the Breakfast Club?
JS: We’ll be in a theater setting at the Little Ragtag Cinema. The lights will go down and you’ll see a video trailer which we were inspired to create after attending T/F for the first time, years ago. And then you’ll see the credits and some animation to tie everything together. But as the radio stories play, there’s nothing on the screen except for a still image.
There’s still time to enter this year’s True Life Run, a 5-K footrace through Downtown Columbia that differs from your average running event: it’s interlarded with unusual levels of fun. Throughout the course, participants encounter zany—and quite possibly wacky—tasks, obstacles, and challenges, the successful completion of which combines with your race time to determine your overall score. This means, in plain English: the fastest don’t necessarily finish first. This year, racers will look forward to a trivia challenge, a tire toss, hula hooping, and a challenge known only as the “Mega Garage.”
In addition to desirable prizes donated by local businesses, the male and female winners of the race will receive a Lux pass to next year’s True/False.
The race begins Saturday, March 3, at 8:00 a.m. in Flat Branch Park. The entry fee of $30 includes the run, official T-shirt, and a quick & hearty breakfast at the end. A portion of the proceeds from the Run will be donated to T/F’s philanthropic effort, the True Life Fund. Participating in the run also qualifies you for a special $5 ticket price to a screening of this year’s True Life film, Bully. More information on all of the above lives over on the True Life Run page.
True Life Run organizer Pat Hanson reports: “Last year we had the stars of the 2011 True Life Film, The Interrupters, run part of the race with us—they had a great time, and so did we. They even jumped in on the Hokey Pokey at the end! This year it looks like we’ll have the director of Bully, Lee Hirsch, at the event, along with several of the film’s subjects. Hopefully they are ready to get crazy!” And hopefully, dear reader, so are you ready—ready to get crazy, that is. Register now on the T/F Passes Page.
