A brand new Algerian co-production fresh from the 2026 Rotterdam International Film Festival screens at the Free State Festival in celebration of the Algerian soccer team's home base in Lawrence, Kansas this summer. This free screening is made possible by support from the Lawrence Public Library. ABOUT THE FILM An old man from Oran claims … [more]
One of the most influential films in history, The Battle of Algiers, by Gillo Pontecorvo, vividly re-creates a key year in the tumultuous Algerian struggle for independence from the occupying French in the 1950s. Shot on the streets of Algiers in documentary style, the film is a case study in modern warfare, with its terrorist … [more]
Headliner Boots Riley returns to the Free State Festival for a screening of his new film, I Love Boosters, and a post-screening Q&A. This event was made possible by support from the KU Department of African and African-American Studies, KU Film and Media Studies and the Hall Center for the Humanities at KU. ABOUT THE … [more]
A screening of the feature documentary, The Return of the Sacred Red Rock, and the short documentary, Healing Ribbons: One Stitch at a Time. ABOUT THE FEATURE FILM After being separated from their sacred stone for nearly a century, the Kaw (Kanza) Nation reunites with In ́zhújé waxóbe, a 28 ton quartzite boulder, marking a … [more]
ABOUT THE FILM An entire football match filmed from the perspective of soccer hero Zinedine Zidane (father of this year's Algerian goalie, Luca Zidane). High-art comes to the pitch for this ambitious project hailed widely as a groundbreaking new direction in sports films. At a 2005 match between Villarreal versus Real Madrid, seventeen cameras were … [more]
ABOUT THE FILM An auteur emerges from America’s underclass: from migrant farmworker to revolutionary artist, Luis Valdez changed American culture. In the 1960s, his El Teatro Campesino performed on flatbed trucks and helped mobilize workers to win the first farmworker union contract. His Zoot Suit was the first Chicano play on Broadway. Despite critical rejection … [more]
Four short documentaries capture people, places and things in Kansas and beyond. Experience the films on the big screen and head to the lower lobby for pizza and conversation! Lend Me A Hand by Kat King (14 min) Welcome to Dollar Country by Michael Suter (24 min) Land Back to the Future by Brendan McInerney … [more]
ABOUT THE FILM Executive produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, Shannon Kring’s wrenching, vital documentary tells the story of a family’s decades-long fight for acknowledgement, justice, and healing after the abuses they suffered in the American Indian boarding school system. In 2008, the nine Charbonneau daughters sought restitution for the appalling physical, emotional, and sexual abuse that … [more]
Experience bite-sized films thoughtfully paired with culinary selections. A favorite event at every festival, this pass-holder only screening is peppered with community and conversation. One More Time by Jessie Van Der Vyver (5 min) Yoga Girl by Kaitlyn Furey (9 min) Home by Kelvin Garvanne (11 min) Puzzles Brett Eitzen (9 min) Benchless by Galiam … [more]
ABOUT THE FILM In 1971, artist Faith Ringgold created a monumental painting “For the Women’s House” for the women incarcerated at Rikers Island jail. Fifty years later, artist Mary Enoch Elizabeth Baxter, who gave birth in prison 15 years ago, finds herself banding together with an eclectic group of activists, politicians, artists, corrections officers and … [more]
