The Tallgrass Film Festival returns October 16–19, 2025 for its 23rd edition, bringing more than 175 films, panels, parties, and special events to venues across downtown Wichita, under the theme “Cinema is in our DNA.”
The festival opens with It’s Dorothy! directed by Jeffrey McHale and Lesbian Space Princess directed by Emma Hough Hobbs, Leela Varghese as closing night film.
It returns to Old Town with screenings at the newly renovated Boulevard Theatre and continues its partnership with Century II, where select Gala screenings will once again be presented in the Mary Jane Teall Theater.
“As a Wichitan, Tallgrass has always been the place to celebrate filmmakers, diverse stories and create excitement around independent films,” said Sierra Franklin-Morton, Interim Executive Director of Tallgrass Film Association. “We’re thrilled to bring another incredible lineup to Wichita and can’t wait for our community to experience it.”
This year we are able to offer multiple screenings of most films which hopefully will elevate the overall festival experience for filmmakers and audiences alike. Our Gala Films offer something for everyone, so movie lovers of all kinds will be able to find a great film as a highlight of their evening during the festival week. – Andre Seward, Tallgrass Film Festival Programming Director
GALA FILMS
OPENING NIGHT GALA
IT’S DOROTHY!
Director: Jeffrey McHale
RT:97m/USA
Kansas Premiere
Documentary Feature Competition
Since Dorothy Gale started her epic journey down the Yellow Brick Road 125 years ago in L. Frank Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, she’s become a beacon for marginalized voices across our culture. IT’S DOROTHY! brings to life her timeless adventures in Oz through the human experiences of a new generation of star performers, infused with the spirit and influence of Judy Garland and others. With a chorus of cultural luminaries, unforgettable music, and a magical remix of archival and cinematic art, this film centers the perspectives of women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ voices. Exploring the meaning of a cherished character through the eras, we celebrate Dorothy as an enduring symbol of hope and a touchstone in our universal quest to fly over the rainbow and find home again.
FRIDAY NIGHT GALA
CORONER TO THE STARS
Directors: Ben Hethcoat, Keita Ideno
RT: 83m/USA
Kansas Premiere
Documentary Feature Competition
Coroner to the Stars chronicles the extraordinary journey of Dr. Thomas Noguchi, the former Los Angeles County Chief Medical Examiner-Coroner whose groundbreaking autopsies forever shaped American culture. From Marilyn Monroe and Robert Kennedy to Sharon Tate and Natalie Wood, Noguchi pushed forensic science into the spotlight—even as Hollywood elites and political adversaries sought to silence him. A Japanese immigrant who unwittingly rose to fame in a city driven by stardom, Noguchi’s fearless pursuit of truth often placed him in the crosshairs of controversy.
OUR HERO, BALTHAZAR
Director: Oscar Boyson
RT: 91m/USA
Regional Premiere
Narrative Feature Competition
From first-time feature filmmaker Oscar Boyson comes a thoroughly audacious coming-of-age story that fearlessly explores the impact of social media and American gun culture on modern adolescence through an incisive yet blackly comic lens. Hoping to impress an activist classmate, wealthy New York City teenager Balthazar “Balthy” Malone (Jaeden Martell, It, Knives Out) begins posting emotional videos on social media, pleading for stricter gun laws. But his tearful clips soon attract the attention of an online troll who claims he is planning a school shooting. Acting on impulse, Balthy heads to Texas to try to prevent the tragedy by befriending the potential shooter “IRL”—a term his crush used and Balthy misunderstood.
But the misguided teen’s journey to the south takes a turn for the surreal once he meets fellow lost soul Solomon (Asa Butterfield, Sex Education, Hugo) IRL. Together, the two boys from vastly different worlds must navigate a confusing and combustible set of misunderstandings, both absurd and terrifying. Even though they find genuine moments of connection, their path nevertheless moves them ever closer toward an all-too-preventable fate.
A masterful marriage of dark comedy and bracing, nuanced character drama, Our Hero, Balthazar stars Jaeden Martell, Asa Butterfield, Chris Bauer, Jennifer Ehle, Anna Baryshnikov, Noah Centineo, Becky Ann Baker, Avan Jogia and Pippa Knowles.
Co-written by Boyson and Ricky Camilleri, the film is also produced by Boyson and Camilleri, as well as Jon Wroblewski, David Duque-Estrada, Miles Skinner, Alex Hughes and Jaeden Martell.
THUMP (short) plays with OUR HERO, BALTHAZAR
Director: Katja Stirnemann
RT: 12m/USA
Kansas Premiere
Narrative Short Competition
A teen girl prepares to leave for prom when a sudden thump halts her. Marked by the experience, she and her mother retreat into unspoken rituals—until the past demands a reckoning they can no longer ignore. Inspired by true events, “Thump” is a raw, surreal descent into the unknown.
CLOSING NIGHT GALA
LESBIAN SPACE PRINCESS
Directors: Emma Hough Hobbs, Leela Varghese
RT: 87m/USA
Kansas Premiere
The introverted Princess Saira, daughter of the flamboyant lesbian Queens of planet Clitopolis, is devastated when her girlfriend, the bounty hunter Kiki, suddenly breaks up with her for being too needy. When Kiki is kidnapped by the Straight White Maliens – forgotten incels of the future – Saira must leave the comforts of gay space to deliver the requested ransom: her Royal Labrys, the most powerful weapon known to lesbian kind. The only problem is… Saira doesn’t have it! With just a 24-hour window to get the weapon and save Kiki, Saira finds herself on an inter-gay-lactic journey of self-discovery which includes encounters with a problematic spaceship and a new-found friendship with gay-pop runaway Willow. A riotous, candy-coloured animated comedy adventure through the vastness of queer space.
SHE RAISED ME (short) plays with LESBIAN SPACE PRINCESS
Director: Ben Lewis
RT: 14m/USA
Kansas Premiere
Narrative Short Competition
SHE RAISED ME is a dark comedy about a struggling playwright named Louie, whose plan to break up with his boyfriend goes awry, when he discovers his boyfriend’s mother is Marilyn Muff, an actress (and gay icon) that Louie grew up idolizing. Louie quickly clings to Marilyn like a childhood security blanket, but what lengths will he go to to hold onto her?
SPOTLIGHT FILMS
These films are not in juried competition but are selected to enhance the festival experience.
25 CATS FROM QATAR
Director: Mye Hoang
RT:95m/USA, Qatar
Kansas Premiere
When Katy McHugh, owner of Milwaukee’s Sip and Purr Cat Café, learns of the feral cat crisis in Doha, Qatar, she creates a brave and unsanctioned plan to fly 25 cats from Doha back to Wisconsin for adoption.
ATO NOTURNO [NIGHT STAGE]
Directors: Filipe Matzembacher, Marcio Reolon
RT: 117m/Brazil
Kansas Premiere
An actor and a politician start a secret affair and together discover their fetish for having sex in public places. The closer they get to their dream of fame, the more they feel the urge to put themselves at risk.
GOD AS MY WITNESS
Director: Lindsay Quinn Pitre
RT: 82m/USA
Kansas Premiere
Decades after the loss of his youngest brother, one man embarks on a relentless search for the truth, eventually unraveling a dark web of secrets contained within the Archdiocese of New Orleans (Louisiana, USA). What begins as a personal journey soon collides with one of the largest archdiocese bankruptcies in modern U.S. history. As survivors come forward, a haunting story of betrayal, corruption, and a generations-long cover-up inside the Crescent City finally begins to surface.
OUT OF THE PICTURE
Director: Mary Louise Schumacher
RT: 98m/USA
Kansas Premiere
“Out of the Picture” takes us inside the lives of some of the most relevant writers on art today, thinkers who are making sense of a period of unprecedented change to art and media. For more than a decade, the filmmakers turned their cameras on critics navigating these rapidly changing landscapes, including Carolina Miranda, formerly of the Los Angeles Times; Hrag Vartanian, of Hyperallergic; Jen Graves, formerly of The Stranger; Jeneé Osterheldt of The Boston Globe; and Seph Rodney, independent critic. “Out of the Picture” is poised to prompt a conversation about the nature of art, modern life, and how meaning gets made in the 21st century.
ROSEMEAD
Director: Eric Lin
RT: 97m/USA
Kansas Premiere
In a race against time, an ailing woman is stricken by the discovery of her teenage son’s violent obsessions and must go to great lengths to protect him, and possibly others, in this portrait of a Chinese American family. Inspired by true events, ROSEMEAD marks the feature directorial debut of acclaimed cinematographer Eric Lin, and showcases tour-de-force performances by Lucy Liu and newcomer Lawrence Shou.
ROW OF LIFE
Director: Soraya Simi
RT: 82m/USA
Regional Premiere
ROW OF LIFE is about renowned ocean rower Angela Madsen, a Paralympic medalist, Marine Veteran, and 14x Guinness World Record holder who attempted her final solo Ocean row from Los Angeles to Hawaii in 2020. The film is a poetic story of bravery, resilience, and love between Angela and her wife Deb—separated by a vast ocean—supporting each other’s dreams despite what became the ultimate cost.
Abseits – ein ungleiches Spiel [Offside – an unequal game] (short) plays with ROW OF LIFE
Director: Katja Stirnemann
RT: 14m/Switzerland
North American Premiere
Documentary Short Competition
The filmmaker is fed up, she questions gender codes in sports. Material from her personal family archives meets found footage. As old codes are dismantled, the remaining pieces are formed into new questions.
THE WAR BETWEEN
Director: Deborah Correa
RT: 97m/USA
Kansas Premiere
THE WAR BETWEEN tells the story of a Union soldier with amnesia stranded in the Sonoran Desert during the Civil War’s Southwest campaign. Joined by a Confederate soldier and an exiled Chiricahua Apache, the trio confronts survival, identity, and prejudice in a timeless tale of resilience and the forces that divide, and unite us.
WTO/99
Director: Ian Bell
RT: 100m/USA
Kansas Premiere
WTO/99 is an immersive archival documentary that reanimates the clash between the then- emerging World Trade Organization (WTO) and the more than 40,000 people who took to the streets of Seattle to protest the WTO’s impact on human rights, labor, and the future effects of continued globalization.
ملاذ (Sanctuary) (short) plays with WTO/99
Director: Mena Nasiri
RT: 8m/USA
Kansas Premiere
Documentary Short Competition
The Edward Said Lounge at the University of Michigan was created as a space for Arab and Muslim students on campus to gather and study, and the lounge walls are covered with a recognition of the immense impact of Palestinian activist and scholar Edward Said, as well as the beauty of Palestinian culture. Since the school administration has intensely struck down on student protests for divestment with violent police brutality and intense surveillance, this lounge on campus is no longer a welcoming space, but rather a hollow symbol that embodies the hypocrisy, greed, and hatefulness of the university.
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