Tallgrass Press Releases

Film composer Rolfe Kent to be awarded the 2010 Ad Astra

The Tallgrass Film Festival is awarding the 2010 Ad Astra to Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated composer Rolfe Kent. Kent is an award-winning composer who has scored over 40 films which include small independent films and large Hollywood productions. Some of his most recent work includes the Zac Efron film "Charlie St. Cloud" (released July 30, 2010) and both 2009 George Clooney films: the Oscar-nominated "Up In The Air" (for which Kent won a Satellite Award from the International Press Academy) and "Men Who Stare At Goats." Kent has won numerous BMI Film Music awards for his work, including for the films "Legally Blonde" (2001), "Legally Blonde 2" (2003), and "Sideways" (2004). His score for "Sideways" was also nominated for a Golden Globe. Kent was also nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music for the original Showtime series "Dexter" (2006). [More]

Tallgrass Film Association presents eighth season of Cinema Alfresco: Films on the Fringe

The Tallgrass Film Association announces the line-up for Cinema Alfresco season. The series will take place Thursdays from May 27 through July 29. The Cinema Alfresco series will show under the stars at 8 p.m., at The Brickyard, 129 N. Rock Island. The event is free and open to the public and because the Brickyard has a covered outdoor area, the movies will show rain or shine.

This season’s theme “Films on the Fringe” will focus Cinema Alfresco on flapper-era dramas. They include the musical “Chicago” (Catherine Zeta-Jones, Renee Zellweger, Richard Gere), the Oscar winning “Splendor In The Grass” (Warren Beatty, Natalie Wood), the original 1932 version of “Scarface” (Paul Muni) and Julie Andrews as a young lady from Salina in 1967’s “Thoroughly Modern Millie.” [More].

WAMPA becomes the Tallgrass Film Association

WICHITA — The board of directors for the Wichita Association for Motion Picture Arts (WAMPA) has officially changed the organization's name to the Tallgrass Film Association.

The Tallgrass Film Association was founded as WAMPA in 2003 by the late Timothy Gruver as the parent organization of the Tallgrass Film Festival. It is a non-profit 501(c)3 arts organization dedicated to entertaining and enlightening audiences from America's Heartland. Through the festival, Third Thursday Film Series, Cinema Al Fresco Series, the Tallgrass Filmmaker Academy, and Special Screenings, the Tallgrass Film Association spotlights the city's venues, cultural attractions and artistic communities. [More]

WAMPA names new executive director

The Wichita Association for the Motion Picture Arts has named Mike Marlett as Executive Director for 2010. Marlett has been a board member of WAMPA since 2005, when he was the editor-in-chief of the Wichita-based alternative weekly newspaper F5 and later The Wichita City Paper. He is the first person to formally hold the title since festival founder Timothy Gruver died unexpectedly in 2005. Lela Meadow-Conner will return for a fourth year as director of the Tallgrass Film Festival. [more]

Tallgrass 2010 now taking submissions

Wichita, Kan. - The Wichita Association for the Motion Picture Arts (WAMPA) and the Tallgrass Film Festival announced their call for submissions for the 8th Annual Tallgrass Film Festival which will be Oct. 22-24 in Wichita. In the last seven years, more than 25,000 local and regional attendees and over 200 filmmakers from Kansas and all over the world have enjoyed the region’s premiere independent film festival. [More]

Tallgrass Announces Lineup And Event Details For 2009 Film Festival

The 2009 Tallgrass Film Festival lineup and event details were announced today at the festival’s press conference at The Orpheum Theatre.

Celebrating its seventh year, Tallgrass Film Festival will feature nearly one hundred films from throughout Kansas, across the U.S. and around the world during the three-day event, Oct. 23-25 at venues in and around downtown Wichita. [More]

Also ...
2009 Event & Screening Schedule
2009 Tallgrass Film Festival Official Selections [1.4 Mb pdf]
2009 Festival Event Grid [838k pdf]
Filmmakers and Special Guests Attending the 2009 Tallgrass Film Festival
The Ad Astra Astra Award Recipient 2009: Seymour Cassel
2009 Festival Ticket Prices
Full 2009 Tallgrass Film Festival press kit [7.9 Mb zip]

Tallgrass Film Festival Announces Ad Astra Award Recipient

Wichita Association for the Motion Picture Arts today announced that the 2009 Tallgrass Film Festival Ad Astra Award recipient will be legendary independent film actor Seymour Cassel.

Well-known as a contemporary and fellow traveler of John Cassavetes, Cassel was nominated for the 1968 Academy Award® for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Cassavetes' Faces.. Spanning more than 40 years and over one hundred films, Cassel's career also includes notable roles in The Killers, Dick Tracy, Honeymoon in Vegas, myriad films by Cassavetes, and, more recently, a number of Wes Anderson films including Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.
[More]

2009 Tallgrass Film Festival to Light Up Broadway

Wichita Association for the Motion Picture Arts (WAMPA) announced highlights of the 7th annual Tallgrass Film Festival, which will take place at locations in and around downtown Wichita, Oct. 23-25, 2009. This year's festival will showcase two of the city's downtown districts. The "Historic District" will feature screenings and events at venues including The Orpheum, Wichita Scottish Rite Temple, and Bank of America. The "River District" will feature screenings at Century II and the Garvey Center.
[More]

Cinema Alfresco lineup announced

The 2009 Cinema Alfresco season will take place at 8 p.m. Thursdays from May 28 through July 9 with the exception of June 18. All screenings are presented at The Brickyard, 129 North Rock Island, and are free of charge.

The theme, “Roadside Attractions: It’s the Journey, Not the Destination,” includes films that feature brothers on a mission and sisters in crime, as well as the five-Oscar-winning classic It Happened One Night (1934) starring Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, and the John Cusack favorite, The Sure Thing (1985). A complete season schedule follows.
[Complete Schedule]

Wichita’s, MPAA’s Dan Glickman to be honored with Ad Astra Award at the 2008 Tallgrass Film Festival

August 27, 2008 – Dan Glickman, Chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, Kansas Congressman and Wichita native, will be honored with the Ad Astra Award at the 2008 Tallgrass Film Festival. [More]

WAMPA and Tallgrass Film Festival Special Screenings Present Medical Marijuana Documentary

August 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. [More]

Robert Redford Addresses YPW Members At Tallgrass Cinema Alfresco Screening Of All The President’s Men

August 14, 2008 – Independent film pioneer and screen legend Robert Redford through a written statement addressed the Young Professionals of Wichita (YPW) at tonight’s special Cinema Alfresco screening of the Academy Award winning film, ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN. [More]