True/False Fest Day One

So I finally made it into Columbia, MO which I will call home for about four days while I attend their 9th annual True/False Film Fest.  For me this is a welcome vacation from work and necessary since I have an abundance of time off built up at work and what better way to indulge in my hobby than attend a film festival.  In my preivous post about what to expect film wise from the festival, I have been able to, in the span of a day, see what makes this festival so unique and vibrant.  Everything about the city (downtown to be precise) seems to come alive from the atmosphere of other film lovers.  Street performers belting out ballads and percussive sounds, to the oppulently dressed volunteers who have made the festival experience enjoyable for me during my first night here.  While I am excited and elated to see what the next several days have in store for me, I am more interested in what the organizers have in store for me when it comes to their fine selection of documentary and non-fiction films.

For my first night as a Lux Passholder (yeah badass I know), I was able to get two films scheduled for the first evening. The first film of my night, not the first of the festival mind you, was being held at The Blue Note, a venue that seems to be no stranger to being at capacity as the documentary that night drew out a heavy crowd which filled the balcony seating and floor seating as well. The documentary that evening is a compelling film that follows the artistic expression and suppression in Mainland China. A nation that seems to be going through the pangs of economic and social expansion, but finds a means to supress expression through limiting and imprisoning the artistic freedoms of the “intellectuals”.

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