PRESS
If you are interested in attending True/False on assignment as press, you are required to fill out the press accreditation form. Keep in mind, media passes are available on a limited basis and provide free Q’ing for films and music. Come Fest season, this page provides you with press materials, the latest press releases, and key dates for True/False.
Press accreditation for True/False 2026 will open Fall 2025.
If you have any questions please reach out to [email protected].
INDUSTRY
If you’re interested in participating as an industry representative, please purchase a pass through our pass page! Questions? Contact us at [email protected].
Industry registration for True/False 2026 will open in Winter 2025. If you have questions about the festival, please direct them to: [email protected]. Or, if you are a journalist, please contact: [email protected].
INDUSTRY GUIDE
Welcome. We’re so glad you’ll be joining us! The following is a guide to making the most of your T/F experience. Whether you are attending for the first time or consider Columbia, Missouri a home away from home, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with any questions not covered below.
PREPARATION
GETTING A PASS & TICKETS
The Silver Circle pass is the closest thing we have to your typical P&I-type pass. Both that and Center passes allow for unlimited ticket reservations in advance of the festival, but Silver Circle will allow you smoother access at the Fest, with walk-up privileges to the two largest venues, and priority Q-ing at the smaller venues, as well as a fun swag bag.
Note – all T/F pass levels allow you to reserve advance tickets. Once you purchase your pass, you’ll receive a detailed email about when and how to go about reserving tickets via this website. Each pass type has its reservation window, all of which open at 6pm US Central time. To make the most of your Fest experience, we strongly encourage you to make ticket reservations as early as you can! If you forget, or need to make a change, we will make every effort to accommodate those requests in person at the T/F Box Office once ticket sales open.
If, prior to the festival, you need to reassign your pass to someone else from your office who needs to come in your stead, no problem. We can change that for you easily. However, T/F passes are intended for use by one individual, and the weekend-of the Fest they are not shareable.
We understand that plans go awry, so if you find yourself unable to attend the Fest, we’re happy to issue a partial refund (but we’re sad you can’t join us). Prior to ticket reservations opening in February, we can refund 50% of a pass purchase. No refunds will be issued after reservations have begun for your pass type. If the Fest is canceled due to factors outside of our reasonable control, 50% of the pass price is non-refundable.
GETTING HERE
TRAVEL & LODGING
If you can fly into the Columbia Regional Airport (COU), do! It’s close, it’s cute, and it’s convenient! Connect to COU via Chicago or Dallas on American Airlines. More likely, especially on those international flights, you’ll be coming into St. Louis (STL) or Kansas City (MCI). Both are great options, both require about a 2 hour car or shuttle ride to get you the rest of the way to us here in Columbia. Mo-X is the go-to airport shuttle for STL.
True/False partners with several area hotels that we recommend for attending industry. The Broadway, and the Tiger Hotel are both in downtown Columbia, right in the middle of the action. Not downtown, but conveniently on our shuttle route is the Drury Plaza Hotel (about 10 minutes from downtown).
We’re constantly working on partnerships and collaborations with industry groups, fellowships, and filmmaker-support programs to attend True/False. If you’re interested in bringing an industry group to True/False, please get in touch with us to inquire about potential resources for your group.
Educational institutions (high school, undergraduate, and graduate programs) and non-profits can read about opportunities here–we have an entire dedicated educational team at T/F to support programs that would like to visit the Fest.
DURING YOUR STAY
The festival footprint is relatively compact within downtown Columbia, MO. The two Fest venues that are furthest apart are less than three-quarters of a mile away from each other, and most fest venues are even closer; just a few blocks apart. For a map of Columbia, restaurants, and bus stops, see the festival map, here; many of our partnering restaurants have festival discounts or specials.
We do not have a video library, nor screening spaces for rent. We prefer that industry attend public screenings along with our enthusiastic Midwestern audiences. We hope you will enjoy the atmosphere more than you’ll miss the control of private viewing; we find the audience is an important part of the experience of the film that’s not replicable in a library. We also have high standards of projection quality, and aim to present each invited film in its best light (and sound).
We partner with many wonderful restaurants, cafes, bars, and hotels, and encourage you to utilize their spaces for meetings.
Recording any audio or video in any manner and through any medium is strictly prohibited in all venues of the True/False Film Fest and Ragtag Film Society. Anyone found to be making any such recording shall be subject to removal from the theater, revocation of any pass allowing entrance to the Fest without refund, confiscation of any equipment and storage media used in the recording and criminal and/or civil prosecution.
RINGLEADERS
True/False 2025
Steve Bognar, Ohio-based documentary filmmaker
Bedatri Datta Choudhury, Journalist and festival programmer
Brit Fryer, Filmmaker (Tessitura, The Script)
Chase Whiteside, Filmmaker
Daniel Hymanson, Filmmaker
Emily Mkrtichian, Filmmaker
Eric Hynes, Film Critic & Curator of Film at Museum of the Moving Image
Hillary Bachelder, Filmmaker
Inney Prakash, Curator of Film at the Asia Society/Artistic Director of Prismatic Ground
Ingrid Roettgen, Documentary Editor and Filmmaker
Julian Carrington, International Features Programmer, Hot Docs
Jasmín Mara López, Filmmaker
Katie Mathews, Filmmaker / Professor at Hunter College
Kayla Myers, Director of Programming at Indie Memphis
Kiyoko McCrae, Program Director, Chicken & Egg Films
Naeema Jamilah Torres, Filmmaker + Executive Director of Mezcla Media Collective
Ruun Nuur, Co-founder of NO EVIL EYE CINEMA and Features Programmer at Cleveland International Film Festival
Samah Ali, Festival and Inflight Entertainment Programmer
Seth Gadsden, Filmmaker & Educator + Co-Conspirator, Femme Frontera & Media Arts Center San Diego
Zuri Obi, Film & Conference Programmer at New Orleans Film Society
David Wilson, Co-Conspirator, True/False Film Fest
True/False Staff
AMBER LOVE Fest Programmer
AMADA TORRUELLA Fest Programmer
OUMA AMADOU Ragtag Cinema Programmer & Community Partnerships Coordinator
CHLOÉ TRAYNER RFS Artistic Director
& your friendly Programming Coordinator and Ringmaster MAYA BELL
RINGLEADER ALUMNI
2024 Ringleaders
Nell Augustin Director of Original Voices Documentary Films, NBCU
Steven Bognar Ohio-based documentary filmmaker
Julian Carrington Managing Director, Racial Equity Media Collective
Bedatri Datta Choudhury Journalist and festival programmer
Jason Fitzroy Jeffers Co-founder, Third Horizon
Brit Fryer Producer & Director (The Script)
Robert Greene Filmmaker / Murray Center
Daniel Hymanson Filmmaker (So Late So Soon, T/F 2020)
Eric Hynes Film Critic & Curator of Film at Museum of the Moving Image
Zara Meerza Screenwriter, Filmmaker & Publisher (Documentary -)
Luke W Moody Head of BFI Doc Society Fund & Producer at LONO
Kayla Myers Programmer & Black Creators Forum Manager, Indie Memphis Film Festival
Theresa Navarro Co-Director and COO at Catapult Film Fund
Inney Prakash Founder/Director of Prismatic Ground
Soheil Rezayazdi Nonfiction Programs Manager at The Gotham Film & Media Institute
Maria Santos Funds Program Officer, International Documentary Association
Amada Torruella Artist, Filmmaker and Film Curator
Stephanie Wang-Breal Filmmaker (Florence from Ohio)
David Wilson Co-Founder, True/False Film Fest
Farihah Zaman Filmmaker + Critic
2023 Ringleaders
Nell Augustin Film Fellowships & Artist Development Manager at NBC
Blair Barnes Former Curator at Vimeo
Julian Carrington Distribution Manager & Industry Funds Programmer at Hot Docs
Samara Chadwick Executive Director at The Flaherty
Todd Chandler Filmmaker (Bulletproof)
Bedatri Datta Choudhury Journalist and festival programmer
Sarah Dawson Programmer at International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA)
Devika Girish Co-Deputy Editor at Film Comment
Robert Greene Filmmaker / Murray Center
Patrick Hurley Distribution Producer at Sandbox Films
Eric Hynes Film Critic & Curator of Film at Museum of the Moving Image
Emily Long Director of Development at Kartemquin Films
Zara Meerza HBO TV writer and Documentary Filmmaker
Marángeli Mejía-Rabell Festival Director & Chief Curator, Philadelphia Latino Film Festival
Kayla Myers Programmer & Black Creators Forum Manager, Indie Memphis Film Festival
Bilal Qureshi Senior Editor at NPR
Ted Rogers Cinema Programmer, Ragtag Cinema
Josh Runnels Artist & Educator
haydée souffrant Manager of Filmmaker Programs, Kartemquin Films
Amada Torruella Independent Producer/Director and Film Programmer at New Orleans Film Festival
Nicole Tsien Director, Program Development at CNN Films
David Wilson Co-Conspirator, True/False Film Fest
Chloë Walters-Wallace Documentary Lab Manager, Firelight Media
Farihah Zaman Filmmaker + Director of Grants and Fellowships at Brown Girls Doc Mafia
2022 Ringleaders
Nell Augustin Manager of Film Fellowships and Artist Development at NBC Universal
Blaire Barnes Curator at Vimeo
Christianne Benedict True/False Screening Committee
Opal Bennett Co-Producer at POV
Brian Booton Ragtag Film Society Board Member
Julian Carrington Distribution Manager & Industry Funds Programmer at Hot Docs
Samara Chadwick Executive Director at The Flaherty
Sarah Dawson Film Programmer at IDFA
Mia Donovan Filmmaker (Dope Is Death)
Jason Fitzroy Jeffers Founding Director at Third Horizon
Liz Fornango True/False Screening Committee
Devika Girish Co-Deputy Editor at Film Comment
Robert Greene Filmmaker (Procession)
Dakota Hommes True/False Screening Committee
Eric Hynes Film Critic & Curator of Film at Museum of the Moving Image
Aisha Jamal Film Programmer at Hot Docs
Janaína Olveira Head Programmer at Zózimo Bulbul Black Film Festival in Rio de Janeiro
Delia Rainey True/False Screening Committee
Josh Runnels Artist & Educator
Zoé Samudzi Writer & Scholar
Stephanie Shonekan Associate Dean of the College of Arts & Science and Professor of Music at the University of Missouri
Chloë Walters-Wallace Director of Regional Initiatives for Firelight Media
David Wilson True/False Co-conspirator
2021 Ringleaders
Robert Greene Director, Procession
Kayla Myers Programmer & Black Creators Forum Coordinator, Indie Memphis Film Festival
2020 Ringleaders
Miriam Bale Artistic Director, Indie Memphis Film Festival
Kamau Bilal Director, Baby Brother
Sarah-Tai Black Film Programmer, The Royal Cinema
Lyric C. Cabral Director, The Rashomon Effect
Julian Carrington Distribution Manager, Hot Docs
Dessane Lopez Cassell Editor of Reviews, Hyperallergic
Jason Fitzroy Jeffers Festival Director and Cofounder, Third Horizon Film Festival
Jon-Sesrie Goff Executive Director, The Flaherty
Allison Glenn Associate Curator, Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art
Martine Granby Producer of Workshops and Labs, UnionDocs
Robert Greene Director, Bisbee ‘17
Alana Hauser Coordinating Producer, NYT Op-Docs
Roseli Ilano Director of Community Engagement and Partnerships, Pop-Up Magazine
Amber Espinosa-Jones Manager of Outreach & Inclusion, Sundance Institute
Darol Kae Programming Assistant, ARRAY
David Magdael President, David Magdael & Associates
Lydia Ogwang Coordinator, TIFF Cinematheque
Sierra Pettengill Director, Graven Image
Bilal Qureshi Culture Writer and Radio Journalist, Film Quarterly
Jason Silverman Publications Editor, Telluride Film Festival
Brett Story Director, The Hottest August
Paul Sturtz Co-Founder, True/False Film Fest
Nicole Tsien Associate Producer, POV
Chloë Walter-Wallace Documentary Lab Manager, Firelight Media
Steve Witzig Associate Professor, UMass-Dartmouth and former print traffic controller for T/F
Stacey Woelfel Director, Jonathan B. Murray Center for Documentary Journalism
2019 Ringleaders
Nell Augustin coordinator of the Sundance Institute’s Documentary Film Program
Miriam Bale artistic director of the Indie Memphis Film Festival
Cecilia Barrionuevo artistic director of the Mar del Plata International Film Festival
Nelson Carvajal video essayist and film critic
Samara Grace Chadwick senior programmer at Points North Institute and Camden International Film Festival
Ashley Clark senior repertory and specialty film programmer at Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) and 2018 T/F Neither/Nor programmer-critic
Rooney Elmi founding editor and curator of SVLLY(wood)
Chloe Gbai shorts and streaming producer at AmDoc (POV)
Micah Gottlieb assistant programmer at the Quad Cinema
Nikki Heyman co-producer at AmDoc (POV)
Eric Hynes curator of film at the Museum of the Moving Image and the inaugural T/F Neither/Nor programmer-critic in 2013
Jason Fitzroy Jeffers co-founder of Third Horizon and director of the Third Horizon Film Festival
Leigh Kolb programmer of the Riverside Short Film Festival and T/F screening committee member
Melissa Lyde founder and curator of Alfreda’s Cinema and the new media manager at Film Movement
Edwin Martinez filmmaker, cinematographer, and editor (To Be Heard, T/F 2011)
Nick Pinkerton film critic and 2016 T/F Neither/Nor programmer-critic
Tracy Rector filmmaker, producer, and co-founder of Longhouse Media
Jason Silverman cinematheque director at the Center for Contemporary Arts Santa Fe
Rea Tajari filmmaker, visual artist, and associate professor of Film Media Arts at Temple University
Chloë Walters-Wallace documentary lab manager at Firelight Media
Chase Whiteside filmmaker (América, T/F 2018)
Steve Witzig associate professor at UMass-Dartmouth and former print traffic controller for T/F
Stacey Woelfel director of the Jonathan B. Murray Center for Documentary Journalism
PRESS KIT
The True/False 2025 Press Kit is available here including logos, photographs, and press releases.
Questions? Clarifications? Email [email protected]