2026 SHOW ME TRUE/FALSE FILM
The sixth annual Show Me True/False title is Seized, directed by Sharon Liese. The film captures the fallout after a small-town newsroom becomes the target of state power.
In August 2023, police raided the Marion County Record, confiscating computers and cell phones from the newsroom. Officers also searched the home of a city councilwoman and the residence of editor-publisher Eric Meyer. At Meyer’s home, bodycam footage captured his 98-year-old mother and co-owner, Joan, rising from her walker to confront the intruders. She died the following day.
The raids were based on what would later be revealed as a nonexistent crime and violated federal and state laws protecting journalists. Days later, the staff pulled an all-nighter and published their weekly paper under the headline, “Seized… but not silenced.”
Sharon Liese’s film stays in Marion long after the headlines, lingering in a community deeply divided over what really happened. Some residents rallied behind the paper, while others believed Meyer had it coming. As major outlets face billion-dollar defamation suits and reporters are arrested covering protests, Marion’s story increasingly feels less like a small-town anomaly—and more like a warning.
In an effort to remove barriers to entry, all tickets for the Show Me T/F screening on Saturday, March 7th are offered at a discounted rate of $6 and can be purchased in person at the Ragtag Cinema Box Office beginning Feb. 9.Â
In the same spirit as the collaborative year-round Show Me series at Ragtag Cinema, Show Me True/False creates space at the Fest for post-film community conversations that transport audiences beyond content to interrogate form and intention, evolving our film-centric space into one that embraces our communities.
This year’s selection, Seized, tells the story of a newspaper in Marion, Kansas, which becomes the microcosm mirroring the nation-wide fight between democracy, the free press, and repression. Following the Saturday screening of the film, there will be an extended Q&A with the filmmakers that all ticket holders can attend.Â
Tickets can be purchased in person at the Ragtag Cinema Box Office beginning Feb. 9; online starting Feb. 23; or the day of the screening through the “Q” system.Â
Individual tickets to this screening for non-passholders will go on sale:
Monday, February 23 at 10AM CST
Show Me True/False began in 2021, created as a way to honor our Community Partners, and offer community members who have not joined us in the past the opportunity to get acquainted with the Fest. The program’s title is a nod to both our long-established proclivity as Missourians to approach new things with a hint of skepticism (until we see it for ourselves, of course), as well as a challenge to show our community all the possibilities shared experiences with film can hold.Â
The annual Show Me True/False screening carves out a community-centric space at the Fest around a film that reflects the collective hurdles and hopes of our locale. Recognizing that True/False would not be what it is without the community that hosts it, it is designed to celebrate our Community Partners and offers all Columbia residents an opportunity to experience the joys of the Fest.
Show Me T/F is part of the year-round Show Me Series—a key part of Ragtag Film Society’s audience-development and community-engagement initiatives.
