2024 Tallgrass Film Festival Film Screenings at Advanced Learning Library

Friday, Oct. 25th

Documentary Shorts Presented by Fidelity Bank and Evergy
 

Beginning at 11:30 AM 

Days of Hate

A broken-hearted filmmaker finds meaning as he documents punk band Show Me the Body record their latest album.

ENCHUKUNOTO (The Return)

As the first female Maasai filmmaker, Laissa Malih initially set out to document the land-based practices of her forefathers and ways in which climate change is reshaping Maasai communities. In returning to the IL-Laikipiak Maasai village that her parents left when she was a child, Malih experiences an epiphany: her own life is a reflection of the myriad challenges between Maasai youth and elders, women and men, ancestral ways of passing down essential knowledge and modern methods of education.

In ENCHUKUNOTO (The Return), Malih’s singular perspective also challenges ways in which the Maasai peoples have long been seen and documented by tourists and other outsiders. “Many tourists come to our Maa lands to film the lions, the gazelles,” she observes. “The camera takes and takes. I wonder what my camera can give my people in return?”

Interweaving verite with Malih’s insights, Malih offers a heretofore unseen perspective as an insider and an outsider, a woman among men, a filmmaker carrying on sacred Maasai traditions of storytelling in an era defined by uncertainty.

Fantoomwijk

FANTOOMWIJK is the urgent, unsettling, and experimental work by director Ravi Sandberg, about the Tweebosbuurt in Rotterdam. The bespoken neighborhood was demolished to make way for luxury housing, forcing residents to leave their homes. By using different styles of filming like infrared and drone shots, the viewer keeps shifting between opposite perspectives - between the system and those affected by it.

FANTOOMWIJK gives voice to the evicted locals of a neighborhood that was once a bustling part of the city. A gripping short film about the human cost of urban development, representing the global issue of gentrification in big cities.

I Don't Need Adult Conversation

Harnessing the archetypal imagery of motherhood that proliferates our culture, this surrealist essay film explores the staggering counterpoint between the light and shadow sides of my experience of becoming a mother. The Good Mother is one of the oldest mythic figures of all. She offers protection and solace from the harshness of the world and provides not only emotional support, but also spiritual and physical sustenance. Conversely for centuries the Dark Mother has been one of our culture’s most untouched taboos. But recently women have started speaking out about the duality of their experience. We are now weaving an entirely new tapestry of the unspoken, previously unspeakable but painfully familiar aspects of our mothering journeys. ‘I Don’t Need Adult Conversation’ explores the absurd contrast between the pristine, selfless narrative of motherhood we are comfortable with and the reality of a much more complex, imperfect and tainted spectrum of emotions.

The Big Wait

In a remote desert town in Australia, population two, a couple manages an emergency airport and keeps vacant cottages in pristine condition, waiting for visitors who never seem to arrive.

The School of Canine Massage

The Ojai School of Canine Massage provides professional training in the art and science of dog massage therapy. With a mix of whimsy and tenderness, "The School of Canine Massage" offers a portrait of this unique school and its dog-loving participants revealing how people heal dogs and dogs heal people.

The Waiting

Karen Lips is researcher and lives for several years in a tiny little shack in Costa Rica to observe frogs. When she leaves the cloud forest for a short time and returns, the frogs are gone. All of them. Karen sets out to find them – and encounters a horrible truth.

Outcast Shorts Presented by Fidelity Bank and Evergy
 

Beginning at 2:00 PM 

Chispa

At a shopping mall, an electrician meets an ornery security guard who is skeptical of her capabilities. She brushes him off and gets to work repairing a junction box. Suddenly, she experiences a peculiar shock of electricity, knocking her unconscious. When she awakes, she is possessed to dance throughout the mall. But not all is as it seems, as the security guard discovers there's a creature lurking on the premises.

Cut Me If You Can

Stuck in the loop of a horror B-movie, a hyper-sexualized black female character decides to reject her fate and rebel against the script. Along with her boyfriend, token black guy who always dies first, they throw the entire movie off course. They try to outwit the serial killer and escape in order to break free... but the film has other plans.

Deep in My Heart is a Song

An aging country musician who’s struggling to make ends meet receives an offer for an unusual private gig. Based on the life of cowboy singer Johnny Bencomo, who plays himself in the film.

Inkigai

Based on and inspired by true events, “Ikigai” follows 9-year-old Mayumi as she tries to find balance in her Japanese identity and American nationality. Hanako, her mother who celebrates their culture through Nihon Buyo (Japanese dance), sees Mayumi’s new school as an opportunity to share their culture with the white students. When Mayumi is assigned a show-and-tell presentation, she takes it as a chance to prove to her classmates that she is not that different from them. But, that plan is soon ruined when Hanako unexpectedly shows up and teaches the class a Japanese dance, embarrassing and exposing Mayumi’s cultural background. After coming home ashamed of her mother and Japanese identity, Mayumi receives guidance from her parents that motivates her to return to school and redo her show and tell in a way that would make her ancestors proud.

The Astronaut Who Lost His Helmet 

As twelve year old Tay slips between the waking and spirit worlds, his family works to ease his suffering. While his loved ones celebrate his life, we're reminded of the power of community. Drawing on Southern Black traditions this film carves a path through grief with tenderness, love and hope.

Ultraveloci

Dodo, a 50-year-old man suffering from a form of partial paralysis that limits his motor skills, finds himself alone for the first time having to defend the family workshop.

WEGEN HEGEL

Philosophy student Ping just moved to Germany, when caught in the lockdown. Through online dating he matches Max, who invites him on a "social distance hookup". But when it's about to get spicy, a certain philosophy book ruins their plans.

Saturday, Oct. 26th

Thane Chastain Emerging Shorts Presented by Fidelity Bank, Evergy and Moeder & Associates
 

Beginning at 11:00 AM 

Drought 

A comedic animated short about a happy go lucky raindrop named DEW, Drought is a story about teamwork, the power of positivity, and the importance of a little creativity. We first meet Dew on his treadmill in the sky. Dew takes his job seriously, and runs to collect his daily dose of sweat that eventually makes its way down to Earth as rain. Once he realizes that the collection is low for the day, he notices that none of his fellow raindrops are taking their jobs seriously. Drops are sleeping on the job, reading on the job, and slurping drinks with no cares. Not to mention, Dew’s arch nemesis, PATRICIA, stops by his treadmill to brag about winning Employee of the Month again (just like every month for the past three years). Dew, visibly frustrated with how lazy his cloud has become, sets off to find his best friend, VIOLET. However, he must ask the demanding COMMANDER first to discover where Violet is hiding.

Violet, an overdramatic rainbow, is found on the edge of the cloud. Emo music and poetry writing has ensued as Violet is frustrated that she has lost her light. Dew and Violet quickly realize that it will take the whole cloud running together to bring back Violet’s light, finally beat out Patricia, and save the drought on Earth.

Dew returns to his side of the cloud with a plan. Dew, with the help of his friend, STEVE, attempts to start a dance party lit enough to shake even the best meteorologist’s weather forecast. The other raindrops love this change of pace, and begin to dance. As with any good dance party, the dancers begin to sweat and the collection bins begin to fill up. Enough water is collected to create a downpour on Earth and the drought is saved. Violet ditches the emo gig, and blasts the sky with her full rainbow colors. Dew impresses the Commander enough to win Employee of the Month, and Patricia shakes her head in annoyance. All in all, Dew saves the meteorological event of the season.

Breaking Plans

Emma, Sarah, and Amelia are best friends navigating their way through 5th-grade life together. The friendship is tested when Sarah seemingly abandons Emma, Amelia and their school project for reasons that shock Emma and Amelia. The story explores the struggles of children who encounter family challenges, the avenues of support and the importance of genuine and strong friendships in our lives.

Daniel

Daniel is a kid who feels increasingly disconnected from the world around him. Struggling with the loss of his best friend and the life he once shared with him, Daniel becomes trapped in a maze of loneliness and memories. He finds solace in a small octopus figurine that symbolizes their unbreakable bond and dreams of escaping to a brighter, more peaceful place.

The Lake in the Sky

Warren is a nostalgic teenager stuck in his worst nightmare: the present. He attempts to relive every day over and over again, scouring for moments & memories worth recording. The only memories he does have that are worth preserving are locked away inside a mysterious machine…

Sarah meets Warren at the lake; his only other respite from his grim surroundings. After she sees his memory machine, she begins to wonder…could it be used for more than just his memories? As they explore their pasts, they realize that tampering with memories can have unexpected consequences, blurring the lines between reality and the past…

Nightstands and Daydreams

A psychosis patient struggles to find friendship while battling his reoccurring delusions.

Macaroni and Cheese-Fish Stew

A young man spends a day in town. He hopes to find the perfect meal for his afternoon date. Thus, he gathers all of the ingredients he needs for a rather unique dish: Macaroni and Cheese-Fish Stew.

Delay

Daniel goes to what he expects to be a normal second date with a woman. As he's walking to the restaurant, he stops by a little shop to buy his date Elise a gift. He buys her a little china doll from the sale rack and accidentally cracks it as he leaves. Little does he realize that the small crack is just the start to his anxieties. As he goes about his date, the perspective follows him, the woman, and the doll as it progressively cracks more. And as it does, the world around him starts breaking reality and slowly delaying as the doll continues to crack. All ultimately leading to the tragic fate of Daniel's accident.

As You Wish

Jana, a determined adventurer, finds a magical lamp that houses a puppet genie. She quickly learns that she should be more careful with her wishes.

To The Max

“To the Max” follows Zen, a young black woman, on a quest to obtain the last tub of her mother's favorite hair product, Doo Grease, in a world where hair care is becoming increasingly commercialized. Believing Doo Grease to be the last bastion of true black liberation, Zen embarks on a journey to Gloamingdale, discovering a beauty supply store seemingly frozen in time.

Newman's Block

A successful teenage author with a serious bout of writer's block turns to his famous author father for guidance. The old man, however, proves to be unhelpful, increasing his need to take desperate measures.

Experimental Vortex Shorts Presented by Fidelity Bank and Evergy

Beginning at 2:30 PM 

Elefsina Notre Amour 

Deserted landscapes, ancient ruins and abandoned shipwrecks at sea. Elefsina's archaeological sites don't come close to being as hauntingly beautiful as these dead ships. They stand majestically like memorial sculptures and bring a magnetism to the eye. In fact, these are the neglected refugees of Elefsina. For how did they end up there, anyway? What's their story? That's the story I want to know. Elefsina Notre Amour is a short sci-fi essay, a timeless archive, filmed on 16mm color Kodak.

Institution

In this experimental documentary, filmmaker Jonathan Wysocki interweaves personal and historical audiovisual elements to raise questions about the past, present, and future of American institutions. Visually, the film juxtaposes Super 8mm footage from two eras: Wysocki’s parents’ “traditional” straight wedding in 1970 and his own “non-traditional” queer marriage in 2018. Aurally, it combines 1970 audio from the Apollo 13 mission with a Republican Representative’s fervent opposition to the Respect for Marriage Act in 2022. Through commentary and contradiction, the media amalgam contemplates the notion of “tradition” and “progress” within American institutions, which appear fixed to some but fluid to others.

Living Reality

A tonal shift occurs inside the world of an American sitcom resulting in the disruption of the show'€™s rhythm. As it evolves, a looming presence of banality casts a shadow on the show's bright lights and bubbly personalities.

Living Reality is an emotional exploration of television and the effects it has on its audience.

One Happy Customer

Set in the red-light district of a heightened world that mischievously blends live action and animation, One Happy Customer follows the daily routine of an older sex worker. Luring clients in, snatching up their cash, and using her special trick to leave them satisfied—and more importantly, to get them out of her hair as quickly as possible. She’s listless, even bored.

It’s business as usual, until one customer—an old, seemingly decrepit man—arrives looking for something more. And he’s got a trick or two of his own to impress the woman who’s seen it all.

Resonancia

In a world incessantly proclaiming its own "truth" and setting boundaries on possibilities, the old man's journey underscores that sometimes, tuning out dogmatic authority can unlock genuine freedom. For in doing so, one might discover that the impossible becomes possible. A metaphor for our creative journey as filmmakers in redefining cinema in our digital age, RESONANCIA was made under the guidance of Apichatpong Weerashethakul at the Creator's Lab 2023 in Yucatan, Mexico.

Tennis, Oranges

In a pandemic-era hospital, a robotic vacuum, overwhelmed by its demanding job and lack of friends, decides to quit. Seeking a more meaningful existence, it ventures to a serene and quiet street in Chinatown. There, it encounters two solitary rabbits, each trapped in their own quotidian loops. As the vacuum befriends one of the rabbits, it finds a sense of community and begins to explore a broader purpose beyond its programmed tasks. A dance ensues and for a time, things are good. But all good things in life can't last.

The Nectar Instead

A young fly wanders into a stop-motion studio and gets trapped in a glue trap. The wise fly who was already there, advises him that it's pointless to fight, to save his energy, and to accept his fate. The young fly, when faced with imminent death, realizes he has lived a pointless life. The wise fly, feeling pity for the young, incites other flies to help free the young fly so he might have a fighting chance in life. With the help of other flies, the young fly gets free only to succumb to the original fate.

Vision of Waves 

Water flows, it's constant -- it can be fast, but it can also be slow. It's all still overwhelming.

From birth to death the flow is constantly changing and moving. Being present, only when looking back at the memories, rather than the moments shown. These people, voices, and places will never stay the same.

behind the scenes

When Alexandra invites her friend Frank to have his likeness scanned into 3D, the discussion takes a turn to debating authenticity, reality, and self-hood.