Film critic Nick Pinkerton and Nicolas Rapold had an amusing conversation in SundanceNOW about their first trip to our small mid-western town.

Nicolas Rapold: I too was suspicious, especially when I heard the verb “experience” applied to True/False in lieu of “attend.” But fortunately the high quality of the programming never put me in the awkward position of praising the hospitality for want of anything else to say. Some of my increased feeling of well-being came from seeing theaters packed for the likes of a Chilean film featuring old folks in a nursing home waiting to die. It made me vaguely ashamed of the single-digit audience turnouts not infrequent at challenging programs back home in bonnie New York. Obviously the festival is a special event, but where are these curious moviegoers of many ages when I sit nearly alone at something awesome at Anthology Film Archives, wiping last-minute-samosa grease off my hands? Are my eating habits perhaps driving away potential waves of repertory enthusiasts?

Nick Pinkerton: The movie you are referring to, of course, is Cristian Soto and Catalina Vergara’s The Last Station, which, with its highly composed images—a face perfectly framed in a small mirror at the bottom of a drawer comes to mind—and lack of the instructive graphics and contextualizing voiceover that mark the infotainment documentary, is fairly representative of True/False’s programming. As for the cinema savvy of the average Columbian (Columbianite?), I must agree—the only time anything like “Oh my stars” prudery emerged was in a screening of Peter Whitehead’s The Fall, when a Destructionist theater group pummeled a live chicken to pieces against the wires of a piano they’d already chopped into kindling with an axe, after which half of the crowd walked out to protest the senseless death of some poultry in 1968. This played as part of a sidebar called Neither/Nor hosted by Columbia’s one FULL-TIME cinema, The Ragtag. The bill-of-fare was made of historical precedents to the festival’s signature dish, neither-fish-nor-fowl documentaries that blur the boundary between… well, you know the rest. Jim McBride was there with David Holzman’s Diary, while the Neither/Nor series was curated by some New York critic called Eric Hynes, who sort of looks like the Hip, Concerned Teacher in an after-school special from 1981. Where did they get that guy?

Critic Eric Hynes, who curated our first ever Neither/Nor chimera series, described True/False as “some kind of monster” in an excellent piece for Cinemascope. Among many other things, Eric wrote on what he sees as our unique critical slant.

With these films as a kind of standard for docu-cinematic delirium, it becomes tempting to judge all of True/False programming according to that standard. While this may be a somewhat reductive or misguided impulse (the implications of which I’ll explore shortly), it nevertheless speaks to True/False’s unique place within the festival landscape. Not just another doc survey, industry marketplace, or act of small-town self-promotion, T/F has a genuinely critical slant—and one that, by now bringing critics into the curation process, implies an ongoing interrogation of the art (and act) of documentary filmmaking rather than just a showcasing of the year’s more appealing fare. At least potentially, it’s programming as scrutinizing rather than cheerleading, inviting critical engagement not just with the chosen films but also with the choosing of those films.

Ben Kenigsburg at Time Out Chicago said of his weekend:

I wanted to write about T/F almost immediately after I arrived, because it’s clearly one of the best-managed and enjoyable film festivals within extended driving distance of Chicago. (The trip takes about seven hours, though various permutations of flying and busing are also available.) Compressing a heady mix of filmgoing and socializing into a long weekend—this year’s edition ran February 28 through March 3—the event seems both intensely curatorial and casually eccentric. Or to put it another way: Never did I dream that one day I could order borscht from a Missouri cinema concession stand and then take it into a screening of Jim McBride’s landmark docu-fiction David Holzman’s Diary (1967).

Vadim Rizov crafted two excellent dispatches for Filmmaker Magazine, briefly reviewing films he saw here in Columbia. The first reflects on These Birds Walk, The Garden of Eden and The Machine Which Makes Everything Disappear, while the second ponders Sleepless Nights and Computer Chess. Vadim also gave us a shout out in the Onion AV Club’s best festival experiences.

Other outstanding responses included Kevin B. Lee’s “Funner Than Fiction” Video at the British Film Institute, Tim Grierson’s report at Paste Magazine, Brian Brooks’s coverage for The Film Society of Lincoln Center, Basil Tsiokos’s post at What (Not) To Doc, Tom Roston’s capsule reviews at PBS’s Doc Soup blog and IndieWire‘s list of 8 things we are doing right. Locally, The Columbia Daily Tribune and Vox Magazine expanded their coverage further than ever before, digging deep into every nook and cranny of the festival.

On the audio side, Adam Schartoff of Brooklyn’s Filmwax Radio recorded a series of dispatches from Columbia featuring conversations with Gabriela Cowperthwaite of Blackfish, film producer Esther Robinson, T/F co-conspirator David Wilson, Omar Mullick and Bassam Tariq of These Birds Walk,  Maxim Pozdorovkin of Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer and Judith Helfand about our SWAMI program. KBIA also created an eleven-part series titled True/False Conversations which offers both audio and transcripts of brief interviews with filmmakers and fest-goers.

Support for the True Life Fund comes from outreach and fundraising events within the Columbia community and generous donations from True/False attendees. A portion of the proceeds from the True Life Run also supported the fund. This year, four subjects from Bully joined the run, including Alex Libby, Philip Libby and Bobby Johnson, who ran in honor of all the victims of bullying, and David Long, who ran in honor of his son Tyler Long and all the families who have lost loved ones to bullying. The Bertha Foundation also matched $15,000 of the funds raised for the True Life Fund. This combined effort resulted in $30,000 for the 2012 True Life Fund, doubling the amount raised last year.

The film’s director Lee Hirsch, producer Cynthia Lowen and an “extended family” of subjects from Bully, including Alex Libby, Philip Libby, Jackie Libby, Maya Libby, Ethan Libby, Kelby Johnson, Londa Johnson, Bobby Johnson, David Long and Tina Long, visited Columbia public high schools for school-wide assemblies on March 2 to discuss the film and their experiences with bullying. Hickman High School presented a donation of $3,000 to the subjects of Bully from fundraising events such as the Hickman Purple Cow Lip-Sync contest.

Bully is expected to return to Columbia at Ragtag Cinema later this spring.

The recipients of the 2012 True Life Fund wrote in to share their experience at the Fest:

“I really enjoyed my time in Columbia. I have been to several film festivals on behalf of Bully, and True/False stood out for me. The participation and support from the community was overwhelming at times, and the local high schools were awesome and welcomed us with open arms. I felt very privileged to get to be there and to be a part of something so important. To be chosen to receive the funds raised by the True Life Fund and matched by the Bertha Foundation is truly an honor. Your generosity will be used to continue the fight to eliminate bullying, with trips already on the schedule for this spring and summer. This money will help me to realize my goal of making life better for kids everywhere.”

—Kelby Johnson, subject of Bully

“I wanted to take a moment and thank you for allowing us the pleasure of attending your event and for making us a part of the True Life Fund. We had a wonderful time and Jessica and her team of Liaisons went above and beyond for us while we were there. As I was telling you at the time, we have been to a number of festivals and this was by far our favorite. The commitment from the community, the attitude of everyone involved, the proximity of the venues to one another and never lacking for anything to do all made for a great time. It is obvious that this is a very well planned and executed event. I didn’t want any more time slipping by without giving you and your team a heartfelt thank you. It was truly a pleasure meeting you.”

—Bobby Johnson, father of Kelby Johnson

“We all had such a wonderful weekend in Columbia at the T/F Film Fest; it was more than we could’ve hoped for. Thank you all again for everything.”

—Philip Libby, father of Alex Libby

“Everyone in the town of Columbia was so gracious.  We all felt loved and supported.”

—Tina and David Long, subjects of Bully and parents of Tyler Long, who took his own life after being bullied

“We are so floored by this. Thank you guys so much! We will use whatever funds come to go to more schools and speak to more kids. We so appreciate this!”

—Kirk Smalley, subject of Bully and father of Ty Smalley, who took his own life after being bullied

“Thank you. God bless you all.”

—Barbara Primer, mother of Ja’Meya Jackson, subject of Bully

“Thank you so much, I can’t believe how much love Columbia showed us all—it was such an incredible weekend. It meant so much to have Bully and all of the families who created this film together with us honored at True/False in such a way.”

—Cynthia Lowen, producer of Bully

For more information, see the T/F True Life Fund page, or visit the True Life Fund on Facebook.

• The film website Hammer to Nail posted this zesty recap;
• Filmmaker magazine’s Vadim Rizov covers the fest in two thoughtful reports;
• and last but not least, Eric Hynes at Cinema Scope wrote a wonderful dispatch on the weekend.

We’re seriously honored. For real. But we also must point out that the venerable St. Louis Film Festival is a great event, albeit with a wholly different mission and form than T/F. So let’s give thanks to the RFT for the high praise and props to all the fests around our fine state that keep the spirit of independent film vital.