True/False Film Fest

Overview

True/False Film Fest is a documentary-only festival held annually in early March in Columbia, Missouri, home of the University of Missouri. The 2026 edition ran March 5 to 8, marking the festival's 23rd year. The festival presents approximately 40 feature-length documentaries and 25 short works each year, programmed across multiple venues in downtown Columbia.

True/False treats documentary as a living artform rather than a genre. The festival's programming philosophy explicitly seeks films that "embrace rigor, risk, and a deep belief in nonfiction as art," including hybrid works that cross the boundary between fact and fiction. The festival is not a market festival and does not host an industry market, but it has become a must-attend event for documentary distributors, programmers, and filmmakers because of the quality of its curation and the intensity of its community engagement.

The festival transforms Columbia into a multi-day arts event with live music, art installations, parades, and community programming that surrounds the film screenings. The Ragtag Cinema, founded by True/False co-founder David Wilson, operates year-round as a permanent cultural institution.

For filmmakers: True/False offers a single award (the True Vision Award, given to a filmmaker for career achievement rather than to a specific film), personalized notification letters from the curation team for every submission, and a fee waiver program for filmmakers facing financial hardship or from countries with currency limitations. The trade-off is that the festival does not offer category-based competition prizes or cash awards for individual films.

Submission Details

True/False accepts submissions through its website, not through FilmFreeway.

Eligibility:

• Films must be produced within one year of the festival. For 2026, that includes work from 2025 and 2026.
• Features: 40 minutes and above
• Shorts: less than 40 minutes
• English subtitles required for non-English films
• Online screener required (Vimeo, Frame.io, Dropbox, CineSend, or similar)
• DCP required if selected, delivered by print traffic deadline

2026 Entry Fees and Deadlines:

• Regular deadline (October 31): Features $50, Shorts $30
• Regular student rate: Features $35, Shorts $20
• Late deadline (December 1): Features $95, Shorts $60
• Late student rate: Features $70, Shorts $45
• Notification: early February

Student discount: Email from a student email account to verify status and receive a personalized waiver code. Include full name, title, and runtime of the film.

Fee waiver program: True/False offers a limited number of fee waivers for filmmakers from countries with low production rates, currency exchange limitations, or facing significant financial hardship. The festival operates on an honor code: if you need a waiver, apply; if you do not, leave the spot for someone who does. The 2026 waiver deadline was November 24, 2025.

Each submission receives a personalized notification letter from the curation team, regardless of acceptance.

Key Sections

• Competition - creative documentaries and hybrid films competing for the True Vision Award program
• Special Presentations - high-profile documentary screenings outside competition
• True Vision Award Program - screenings of the award recipient's new film, a retrospective selection, and a film that influenced their filmmaking
• New Visions - hybrid and formally experimental nonfiction
• Trues - films with particular commitment to truth and verification
• Ambassador Program - local community guides who help audiences navigate the festival
• Live Music and Art Installations - community programming that surrounds the film screenings
• March of the Elephants - the festival's signature parade

What Filmmakers Should Know

For Documentary Filmmakers

True/False is one of the three most important documentary festivals in the United States, alongside Hot Docs (Toronto) and DOC NYC. A True/False selection delivers critical attention and distributor interest. The festival's audience is deeply engaged with documentary as an artform, not just as information delivery, and post-screening Q&As are substantive.

The festival's curation team values films where "form and content are in conversation" and where "style serves meaning." Films that treat subjects as evidence, symbols, or stereotypes are explicitly not of interest. The festival seeks work that "resists simplification and reflects reality with intention."

For Hybrid and Experimental Nonfiction Filmmakers

The New Visions section is one of the few festival programs dedicated specifically to formally experimental nonfiction. If your film blurs the line between documentary and fiction, or uses constructed or performative elements within a nonfiction framework, New Visions is a natural submission target.

The True Vision Award

The True Vision Award is the only award given by the festival. It is given annually to a filmmaker (or filmmaking team) whose work shows a dedication to the creative advancement of nonfiction filmmaking. It is a career achievement award, not a prize for a single film.

2026 recipient: Ross McElwee, whose latest film "Remake" screened at the festival alongside his classic "Sherman's March." McElwee also presented a screening of Ed Pincus's "Diaries" as a film that influenced his work. "Remake" received the Golden Globes Impact Prize for Documentary.

The award was originally cast in bronze each year by mid-Missouri sculptor Larry Young. It is now handcrafted by mid-Missouri artist Michael Marcum. The award is presented before the Saturday screening of the filmmaker's new feature.

Previous True Vision Award winners include:

• 2024: Hu Sanshou
• 2022: Victoria Linares Villegas
• 2023: Michaël Andrianaly
• 2012: Victor Kossakovsky
• 2011: James Marsh
• 2010: Laura Poitras
• 2009: Kim Longinotto
• 2008: Alex Gibney
• 2007: Brett Morgen
• 2006: Kirby Dick
• 2005: Stephen Marshall
• 2004: Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky

Venues

Films screen at multiple locations in downtown Columbia:

• Ragtag Cinema (year-round independent cinema, founded by David Wilson)
• Jesse Hall (University of Missouri)
• Missouri Theatre Center for the Arts
• The Picturehouse
• The Blue Note
• Rhynsburger Theater (University of Missouri)
• Forrest Theater (Tiger Hotel)

Pass and Ticket Information

The festival offers multiple pass levels, with early bird sales beginning in December. Weekend passes are recommended for the full True/False experience. Individual screening tickets are available online, at the box office, or day-of from the "Q" (rush line).

Festival History

True/False was founded in 2004 by Paul Sturtz and David Wilson, who had been running film exhibitions in Columbia for five years prior. The idea emerged in the summer of 2003, which some called "The Year of the Documentary" due to breakthrough nonfiction films like "Capturing the Friedmans" and "Spellbound."

The first year hosted filmmakers from around the world, including director Kevin Macdonald, who presented "Touching the Void" to a sold-out crowd of 1,200 people. Bruce Sinofsky received the first True Vision Award for his work with Joe Berlinger.

Attendance grew from approximately 4,000 in the first year to over 43,500 by 2013 (a ten-fold increase). The festival expanded to the Stephens College campus in 2008 when the Missouri Theatre was closed for renovations. After the theatre's restoration, it returned as a featured venue in 2009. The festival and Stephens College amicably ended their partnership after 2011.

The festival's True Life Fund has raised significant amounts for subjects of featured documentaries, including $30,000 for families in "Bully" (2012, with a matching grant from the Bertha Foundation) and $37,000 for RISC and the Milton Margai School for the Blind (2013).

See Also

Use the Festival ROI Calculator to compare submission costs against potential attendance and distribution interest returns. Use the Festival Acceptance Estimator to gauge your odds before submitting. For documentary filmmaking, see Documentary Filmmaking Guide. For Hot Docs, see Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival.