The Tallgrass Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Wichita,

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...

, specializing in independent films. It was founded in 2003 by Timothy Gruver. Gruver was raised in Wichita. He studied filmmaking at Brigham Young University. After college, Gruver worked for the animation wing of Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks studio. Gruver had worked for other film festivals and modeled Tallgrass after the Telluride Film Festival. Tallgrass is operated by the non-profit organization Tallgrass Film Association. There were 190 features and shorts screened in 2012. The festival takes place at several locations in downtown Wichita including the Orpheum Theatre. In 2012, over 11,000 people attended. Since its creation in 2003, over 100,000 people have attended with approximately 200 filmmakers, actors and guests coming in for the festival from all over the world. The 2003 festival screened 40 features and 55 short films at several venues in the downtown & Oldtown area. 4,172 people attended the festival, including 28 filmmakers. The first public event hosted by Tallgrass was a screening of Y Tu Mama Tambien in Dodge City, KS. Academy Award nominee Gary Busey attended in conjunction with the screening of The Buddy Holly Story, a documentary. Cloris Leachman was a guest at the 2004 Festival. That year's festival included 24 feature films and 32 short films. Former baseball star Jose Canseco introduced the Opening Night Movie, the baseball documentary Up For Grabs. The 2005 Festival was shortened to a one-day event due to the death of Gruver. 2,500 people attended. 4,850 people attended the 2007 Festival, including ten filmmakers. Official Selections have included Audience Award winners

The Big Bad Swim ''The Big Bad Swim'' is a 2006 American independent film about a group of adults who enroll in an adult education beginner's swim class. The film takes place in southeastern Connecticut, in the town of Uncasville. It premiered at the 2006 Tribeca ...

and 39 Pounds of Love; as well as the 2006 Independent Spirit Award winner Conventioneers, the 2007 Independent Spirit Award nominee

Trials of Darryl Hunt In law, a trial is a coming together of parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, ...

as well as

Bomb The System ''Bomb the System'' is a drama film written and directed by Adam Bhala Lough, which was released to film festivals in 2002 and American theaters in 2005. It revolves around a group of graffiti artists living in New York City who decide to make a ma ...

, Manhattan, Kansas, Dreamland,

The Real Dirt on Farmer John ''The Real Dirt on Farmer John'' is a 2005 documentary film directed by Taggart Siegel about the life of Midwestern farmer John Peterson, operator of Angelic Organics. It tells the history of the eccentric farmer's family farm in rural Caledonia, I ...

Fat Girls In nutrition, biology, and chemistry, fat usually means any ester of fatty acids, or a mixture of such compounds, most commonly those that occur in living beings or in food. The term often refers specifically to triglycerides (triple est ...

Iraq in Fragments ''Iraq in Fragments'' is a documentary film directed by James Longley. Longley shot the film in Digital Video on a Panasonic DVX100 miniDV camcorder. The film premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival where it won three awards: "Directing Award ...

The Last Picture Show ''The Last Picture Show'' is a 1971 American coming-of-age drama film directed and co-written by Peter Bogdanovich, adapted from the semi-autobiographical 1966 novel ''The Last Picture Show'' by Larry McMurtry. The film's ensemble cast includes T ...

The Buddy Holly Story ''The Buddy Holly Story'' is a 1978 American biographical film which tells the life and career of rock and roll musician Buddy Holly. It features an Academy Award-winning musical score, adapted by Joe Renzetti and Oscar-nominated lead performan ...

and the popular High School Shorts Program and Timothy Gruver Spotlight on Kansas Filmmakers. 2003 Opening Night Film: Bomb The System 2004 Opening Night Film: Up For Grabs 2005 (Shortgrass) Opening Night Film: Conventioneers 2006 Opening Night Film: Manhattan, Kansas 2007 Opening Night Film: Kansas v. Darwin 2008 Opening Night Film: What's the Matter with Kansas? 2009 Opening Night Film: The Only Good Indian 2010 Opening Night Film: The Dry Land 2011 Opening Night Film: Der Sandmann 2012 Opening Night Film: Pablo 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Opening Night Film: Bathtubs Over Broadway. As a result of the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

, Tallgrass Film Festival held a virtual edition in 2020, instead of the usual event in Wichita. The opening night film was Eat Wheaties! starring

Tony Hale Anthony Russell Hale (born September 30, 1970) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his role in the Fox comedy series ''Arrested Development'' as Buster Bluth. Hale played Gary Walsh on the HBO comedy ''Veep'' from 2012 until its ...

and

Paul Walter Hauser Paul Walter Hauser (born October 15, 1986) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his supporting roles in the films '' Cruella'', ''I, Tonya'', '' Late Night'', ''BlacKkKlansman'', and ''Da 5 Bloods''. In 2019, Hauser had his breakout ...

References

External links

Tallgrassfilmfest.com

Fest21.com
Film festivals in Kansas Culture of Wichita, Kansas {{US-film-festival-stub