WAMPA and Tallgrass Film Festival Special Screenings Present Medical Marijuana Documentary

Aug. 19, 2008 — Wichita Association for the Motion Picture Arts and Tallgrass Film Festival announce a special screening of “Waiting to Inhale,” a feature length documentary addressing the medical marijuana issue. The screening will take place at 7 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 5 at the Louise C. Murdock Theater in the 20th Century Center, 536 N. Broadway. Tickets are $7 for general admission and $6 for students and seniors and will be sold at the door the night of the screening (cash only). A discussion will follow featuring the filmmaker, Jed Riffe; former Kansas Attorney General Bob Stephan, an advocate for the legalization of medical marijuana; Kansas State Senator Susan Wagle, an opponent of the legalization of medical marijuana; and other speakers. The screening is sponsored by the Sheppard Foundation.

“Waiting to Inhale,” explores the battle between patients, doctors, activists and the U.S. government over the legalization of medical cannabis. The filmmaker takes viewers inside a world where critically ill patients are arrested at gunpoint and patients speak powerfully of the relief that cannabis has provided them from the debilitating symptoms of terminal illnesses, including cancer, epilepsy, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, and glaucoma.

“The film presents a unique opportunity for members of the public to learn both sides of this important issue, and make up their own minds about whether or not marijuana is indeed medicine,” said Laura A. Green, director of Kansas Compassionate Care Coalition and a participating organization for the screening. “Our organization welcomes constructive debate on this issue and informing the general public is a large part of our mission.”

Founded in 2003 by the late Timothy Gruver, the Tallgrass Film Festival is a program of the Wichita Association for the Motion Picture Arts (WAMPA), a non-profit 501©3 arts organization dedicated to entertaining and enlightening audiences from America’s Heartland. Through the Festival, the Cinema Al Fresco Series, WAMPA Filmmaker Academy and Special Screenings, WAMPA spotlights the city’s venues, cultural attractions and artistic communities. WAMPA strives to foster the ever-growing local filmmaking community, sparking a dialogue among filmmakers and enhancing artistic expression.

Sponsors for “Waiting to Inhale” include The Sheppard Foundation, John Salem, Stella Artois, Jabara Liquor, O’Naturals and Sugar Sisters Bakery & Café. Sponsors for the 2008 Tallgrass Film Festival, which will take place in and around downtown Wichita October 23-26, include Warren Theaters, Emily Bonavia Trust, Integrated Media Group, Clear Channel Radio/Wichita, City of Wichita, Spirit AeroSystems, Kansas Arts Commission, Stella Artois, House of Schwan, Spangenberg Phillips Architecture, Greater Wichita Convention and Visitors Bureau, Heavy Weather Entertainment, Wichita Downtown Development Corporation, WichitaTIX.com, JET Printing, National Endowment for the Arts, Scholfield Honda Presenting GreenGrass, Standard Beverage, Kansas Film Commission, The Brickyard, The Orpheum Theatre, KMUW, KPTS, Kansas Film Commission, Naked City, Wichita Magazine, Ulrich Museum of Art, CityArts, Showbiz Software, Cricket Communications, Rock Island Studios, Specs, Liberty Press, Old Mill Tasty Shop, Rock Island Studios, AT&T, Jean Garvey, Art Allen, WSU Shift Space, Old Town Association, Tangent Lab, The Sheppard Foundation, Bentley Meadows, Susan Moneypenny, Steve Anderson, Classic Real Estate, Emprise Bank, and 360wichita.com. For more information on the festival, go to www.tallgrassfilmfest.com or contact Lela Meadow, lela@enzymeent.com or (323) 810-6909.