About the Festival
“It is unique and refreshing to find a group of people that so genuinely care about Independent film...That is what I found the moment I landed in Wichita...– Emily Lou (Director, The Selling)
"The Tallgrass Film Festival experience is truly a filmmaker's delight... I would advise producers and directors NOT to overlook this gem in the middle of America... they run the tightest ship in the festival business. And, oh yes - they know how to throw a party." - Fred A. Sayeg (Director, The Encore of Tony Duran)
“What a wonderful job everyone does, really love supporting your work with Tallgrass.” - Gordy Hoffman (Screenwriter/Filmmaker)
About the Tallgrass International Film Festival
In 2012, the Tallgrass FIlm Festival will celebrate its 10th anniversary as the largest independent film festival in the state of Kansas. Taking place in and around downtown Wichita every October, the internationally recognized four-day event has become a hallmark of the city's cultural landscape and the festival is internationally renowned or its world-class cinematic programming.
Each year, the festival showcases more than 100 films from around the world, including foreign, documentary, short, GLBT, retrospective and premiering films. The festival strives to serve as a venue and a voice for independent films and filmmakers, spotlighting films that would otherwise not have a proper theatrical screening in the region.
Every year, filmmakers from around the country and the world are invited to Wichita to participate in the festival, which is packed with educational panels, legendary parties and renowned in the indie filmmaking community - an accessable audience with a voracious appetite for independent film More than 10,000 people gathered for the "Tallgrass Experience" in 2011 (it's true, Johhny Depp!) Known as a breeding ground of entrepreneurs - the city is home to corporations including Pizza Hut, Hawker Beechcraft, Learjet, Cessna and Coleman - filmmakers, take note: your next Executive Producer could be right here in our audience.
Also as accessible at Tallgrass, are the visiting filmmakers. Due to the city’s authentic nature it’s common to find an Academy Award-nominated actor or a Golden Globe-nominated filmmaker deep in conversation with a high school documentarian or a local movie buff. More than 300 indpendent filmmakers have attended the Tallgrass Film Festival over the last nine year, from major US cities as well as international locales including Israel, Switzerland, Canada and Norway.
Selected by a local programming committee, Official Selections from the last two years have included Just Like Us, We Need to Talk About Kevin, Happy,Happy, We Were Here, Project Nim, Made In China, Last Train Home, The Tillman Story, Wasteland and Louder Than A Bomb, as well as many Independent Spirit and Academy Award nominated and winning films.
About the Tallgrass Film Association
As the premier film association in America's Heartland region, TFA is dedicated to fostering and enhancing the cinematic arts. In addition to the flagship Tallgrass FIlm Festival, TFA also offers year-round programming including Tallgrass Third Thursdays, Cinema Alfresco, Tallgrass Filmmaker Lab workshops, Tallgrass Film Festival Road Show, as well as special screenings and events.
About Wichita, Kansas
A growing Midwestern city that truly represents the spirit and hospitality of America's Heartland, Wichita was recently described in the Boston Globe’s Sunday Travel Section as “on-the-cusp America, a place where old ways and new styles are beginning to blend, where empty downtowns are being revived, museums founded, and unexpected treasures lie waiting in antiques stores...”
Located in the South Central portion of the state, Wichita, is known as the "Air Capital of the World” and is the largest city in Kansas in terms of both land area and population, with an estimated populace of more than half a million people in the greater metropolitan area. Known as a breeding ground of entrepreneurs, the city is home to corporations including Pizza Hut, Hawker Beechcraft, Learjet, Cessna and Coleman.
Wichita is also home to a large art & music community, a growing filmmaking community, and generous patrons of the arts making Tallgrass audiences a hallmark of the festival. Sophisticated movie-goers of all ages and backgrounds - hungry for quality independent film - audiences are receptive, opinionated and genuine. Screening a film at Tallgrass is a catalyst for generating awareness and buzz in the epicenter of the country that radiates throughout the region. Tallgrass is changing the world's perception of Kansas as a "flyover" state and a bastion of conservatism.
