True/False Film Fest announces 2025 lineup

The True/False Film Fest announced its collection of feature and short films Wednesday, totaling 56 documentaries. These include 30 feature films, 24 short films and two repertory titles by directors from around the world. Seven of these films are making their world premieres, one is making its international premiere and three are making North American debuts.

Several of the films reexamine the past through the lens of archival footage, whether that be home videos or wildlife recordings. Other shared themes include family tension and reclaimed history.

Now in its 22nd year, the Film Fest, a project of Ragtag Film Society, will take place Feb. 27 to March 2 in downtown Columbia. For more information about tickets and schedules, please visit truefalse.org.

Director: Angelo Madsen (USA), 2025
Story: An exploration of the life of Fakir Musafar, an American performance artist, and his role in the body modification movement. The film will be making its world premiere at True/False Film Fest.
Reviews: Not available.

Director: Myrid Carten (Ireland), 2024
Story: Director Myrid Carten returns to her hometown of London after her mother goes missing. Her search results in this first-person account of family feuds, contested houses and what it means to love and lose. The film will be making its U.S. premiere at True/False Film Fest.
Reviews: Variety, Screen Daily

Director: Bassam Mortada (Egypt, Germany), 2024
Story: Director Bassam Mortada, the son of a political prisoner, turns the camera on himself and his family history to investigate why and how everything fell apart. The film showcases how political arrests in Egypt affected the lives of prisoners and their families.
Reviews: Cineuropa, The Film Verdict

Director: Derek Jarman (U.K.), 1993
Story: A portrait of life during the AIDS crisis that premiered four months before director Derek Jarman passed away from the immunodeficiency syndrome. By the film’s release date, Jarman was partially blind and could only see in shades of blue, which inspired both the title and static blue backdrop that encompasses the film.
Reviews: The New York Times, In The Seats

Directors: Nyle DiMarco and Davis Guggenheim (USA), 2024
Story: In 1988, Gallaudet University, a school for the deaf and hard of hearing, was rocked by student protests calling for a deaf president at the institution. The film reunites four of the Gallaudet graduates who organized the demonstrations to reflect on and reignite their reasons to fight for change.
Reviews: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter

Director: Laura Casabé (Argentina), 2024
Story: Using archival photos and interviews, we learn about the life and work of Claudia Pía Baudracco, an Argentinian activist for transgender rights.
Reviews: Not available.

Director: Eleanor Mortimer (U.K.), 2025
Story: Biologists converge to explore the deep sea and uncover undiscovered species, all the while asking the question — how deep is your love for your oceans? The film will be making its world premiere at True/False Film Fest.
Reviews: Not available

Directors: Maia Lekow and Christopher King (Kenya), 2025
Story: In downtown Nairobi, two women attempt to transform a rundown colonial library. With hope for the future and the courage to confront the past, they take power back from the local government and into their own hands.
Reviews: Variety, IndieWire

Directors: Michael Almereyda and Courtney Stephens (USA), 2025
Story: The life and times of John C. Lilly, American neuroscientist and psychonaut, are detailed in this documentary on counterculture science that rails against the grain. Narration by Chloë Sevigny overlays archived footage to compose a poetic approach to science.
Reviews: The Hollywood Reporter, IFFR

Director: Maxime Jean-Baptiste (Belgium, France, French Guiana), 2024
Story: This coming of age story follows Melrick, a 13-year-old boy spending the summer with his grandmother and drumming in memory of his late uncle. Fiction and documentary footage intertwine as Melrick begins to understand his family’s tragic past.
Reviews: Variety, Cineuropa

Director: Tamar Lando (USA), 2025
Story: New Mexico’s last cowboys ruminate on their lives spent cattle ranching as they face the idea that they may be the last generation to carry on the craft. The film will be making its world premiere at True/False Film Fest.
Reviews: Not available.

Director: Misha Vallejo Prut (Ecuador, Germany), 2024
Story: When he finds an abandoned photo collection from a grandfather his family never mentioned, director Misha Vallejo is pushed to explore the life of a stranger with a close connection. The film confronts the effects of neglect through a mixture of the old photos and new family interviews.
Reviews: Film Fest Report, Cineuropa

Director: Danial Shaw (Pakistan, Belgium, Netherlands), 2024
Story: Photojournalist Danial Shaw tells the story of a photographer who sells photoshopped images to people dreaming of a better life. As the two photographers converse, they parse out what is real by exploring what is fake. The film will be making its U.S. premiere at True/False Film Fest.
Reviews: Not available.

Director: Yehui Zhao (USA, China), 2024
Story: A forgotten, remote Chinese village used to house generation after generation of filmmaker Yehui Zhao’s ancestors. In a time of rapid urbanization, she returns to the town to unearth those buried bonds. The film will be making its world premiere at True/False Film Fest.
Reviews: South China Morning Post

Directors: Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine (USA), 2025
Story: In 1991, a student film class taught at Middletown High School accidentally unearthed a toxic waste scandal in their town. Directing duo Moss and McBaine, the creators behind “Girls State” and “Boys State,” return to True/False Film Fest with this story on teenage tenacity and telling the truth.
Reviews: Variety, POV Magazine

Director: Hu Sanshou (China), 2013
Story: After many visits to his grandparents home in Xiangzidian village, director Hu Sanshou finally brings his camera along. Through the elderly couples’ everyday activities, we learn about their experience with the Great Famine. This is one of two of Sanshou’s films showcased in this year’s True/False Film Fest, the second being “Resurrection.”
Reviews: Not available.

Director: David Osit (USA), 2025
Story: A fan community on Reddit with raw and unaired footage from “To Catch a Predator” blossomed into a documentary. Director David Osit takes viewers through the rise and fall of famed NBC series, “To Catch a Predator,” which captivated audiences across the country from 2004 to 2007. The documentary premiered at Sundance Film Festival on Jan. 25.
Reviews: Variety, IndieWire

Director: Marjan Khosravi (Iran, Spain, Qatar), 2024
Story: Director Marjan Khosravi’s film follows a 55-year-old woman named Hajar in the Bakhtiari tribe, located in southwestern Iran. Hajar is abandoned by her family, forcing her to live a nomadic lifestyle.
Reviews: Variety

Director: Hu Sanshou (China), 2024
Story: Director Hu Sanshou returns to his hometown in the Shaanxi province of China to document how a highway cutting through the town forced the unearthing of graves. Sanshou aims to “sketch portraits for the deceased” and interviews villagers in the town about their memories of the dead, using his photography as a form of “rebellion and silent testimony.” This is one of two of Sanshou’s films showcased in this year’s True/False Film Fest, the first being “Mountain Village.”
Reviews: Not Available.

Director: Sasha Wortzel (USA), 2025
Story: An ode to the Florida Everglades told through the eyes of the writings of Marjory Stoneman Douglas and those who call the region home. The film takes a look at the locals who live to protect the ecosystem. The film will be making its world premiere at True/False Film Fest.
Reviews: Not available.

Director: Cristina Costantini (USA), 2025
Story: The story of American astronaut Sally Ride — one of the first women to join NASA’s space program — told by her life-partner, Tam O’Shaughnessey. The film goes in-depth into Ride’s facial images and supports her accomplishments with first-hand accounts of those who worked with her.
Reviews: Variety, The Utah Review

Director: Brittany Shyne (USA), 2025
Story: Seeds is a portrait of centennial farmers in the geographical South. Shyne uses lyrical black-and-white imagery to create a meditative film that illustrates the decline of generational Black farmers and the significance of owning land.
Reviews: Hindustan Times, The Film Stage

Director: Violet Du Feng (USA, U.K., Norway), 2025
Story: China is home to the one-child policy, creating a reality where men severely outnumber women. Three men struggle to find contemporary love in this competitive climate.
Reviews: Variety, IndieWire

Director: Manuel Acuna (Mexico), 2024
Story: Rosa and Saira are two Mexican deaf women in love who can only communicate in sign language. An unforeseen illness impacts their relationship as the two struggle with the language barrier and other distances between them.
Reviews: Not available.

Director: Ryan Sidhoo (Canada, Bosnia), 2025
Story: Amid the calamity of postwar Sarajevo, three Muslim teenage boys chase their dream of becoming Olympians. Their secret weapon, an abandoned luge track from the 1984 Olympic Games, is the foundation of a coming-of-age story. The film will be making its world premiere at True/False Film Fest.
Reviews: Not Available

Director: Macu Machín (Spain), 2024
Story: Macu Machín’s debut explores a plot of land on the Canary Islands near a volcano, where three sisters grapple with the burden and promise of their inherited property amid a matriarchal society and the region’s elemental forces. The film, which blends documentary observation with staged reconstructions, uses evocative imagery to reflect on time, heritage and the beauty of everyday life. The film will be making its U.S. premiere at True/False Film Fest.
Reviews: Cineuropa, el Hype

Director: Gabrielle Brady (Mongolia, Australia, Germany), 2024
Story: After a severe sandstorm forces a young Mongolian herder couple and their four children from their countryside home to Ulaanbaatar’s overcrowded Ger District, they reluctantly transition from rural life to the urban landscape. Director Gabrielle Brady, alongside co-writers Dagvasuren and Dashzeveg, captures the quiet heartbreak and cultural dislocation as the family confronts the loss of a life rooted in a deep connection to the land.
Reviews: The Guardian, Screen Daily

Director: Francesca Scalisi (Italy, Switzerland), 2024
Story: Valentina, a 27-year-old living with her parents in rural Sicily near a high-profile U.S. military base, dreams of independence while grappling with responsibility for her increasingly frail parents. The film documents the family’s measured daily routine, interweaving these moments with the looming presence of military antennas and the subtle soundscape of radiation. The film will be making its U.S. premiere at True/False Film Fest.
Reviews: Cineuropa, Journey Into Cinema

Director: Peter Kerekes (Italy, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Austria, Croatia), 2024
Story: Director Peter Kerekes’ film blends the cinematic feel of fiction with raw emotions as it follows 63-year-old Neapolitan astrologer Luciana de Leoni d’Asparedo in a crumbling castle near the Venetian Lagoon. Using her method of selecting transformative travel destinations based on horoscopes, the film weaves themes of coincidence, personal desire and the interplay of the human soul with the cosmos.
Review: Screen Daily, POV Magazine

Director: Najiba and Rasul Noori (France, Netherlands, Qatar, Afghanistan), 2024
Story: Afghan filmmaker Najiba Noori presents an intimate portrait of her mother Hawa, a Hazara woman married at 13 who fights to improve her life amid systemic gender discrimination and geopolitical violence. When the U.S. troop withdrawal from Kabul in August 2021 triggers a rapid Taliban takeover, family members face urgent, life-altering decisions and consider fleeing to Paris.
Review: Cineuropa, Screen Daily

Director: Ian Bell (USA), 2025
Story: The 1999 Seattle World Trade Organization protests are chronicled entirely through first-hand archival video, capturing the raw energy of the demonstrations. The footage shows the clashes between protesters and authorities as they voice opposition to global trade policies and corporate influence. The film will make its world premiere at True/False Film Fest.
Review: Not available.

Director: Charlie Shackleton (USA, U.K.), 2025
Story: Filmmaker Charlie Shackleton reflects on his failed attempt to make a Zodiac Killer documentary in a self-aware exploration of the true crime genre. Using Bay Area landscapes, reenactments, TV clips, and voice-over narration, he examines how familiar genre conventions continue to evoke complex emotions despite their predictability.
Review: The Hollywood Reporter, Dread Central

Director: Carlo Nasisse (USA, Costa Rica), 2024
Story: Scientists and philosophers confront the limits of human perception by exploring how animals see the world. This multi-textured reflection examines our complex relationship with the nonhuman world.

Director: Daniel Murphy (USA), 2024
Story: Telegraph operators harness the sun’s radiant energy to send warbling messages inscribed in tree rings.

Director: Bentley Brown and Tahir Ben Mahamat Zene (Chad), 2025
Story: Amid a historic drought in southern Chad’s Sahara Desert, a local well-goer recalls losing his cattle and considers a change in livelihood.

Director: Martin Andre and Gael Jara (Chile), 2024
Story: A nonbinary person watches the handover of Chile’s first nonbinary ID. While completing the paperwork, they face the challenges of legal bureaucracy.

Director: Hao Zhou (Germany, USA), 2025
Story: Zhou chronicles their family’s use of spiritual interventions to erase their queer identity, driven by a grandmother’s belief that they are possessed by a “demon girl” — the unborn child their mother was forced to abort.

Director: Ting Su (USA), 2024
Story: In the heart of Manhattan, international student Ting Su digitizes archival film negatives from the Daily Worker newspaper. As she uncovers ties to her mother’s labor history, she reflects on her own future in the rapidly changing city.

Director: Humberto Flores Jáuregui (Mexico), 2024
Story: In the Mayan town of San José Oriente, David and his friends spend their days riding motorcycles, exploring the jungle and playing soccer. David struggles with a secret desire to leave for the city, facing the difficult decision of how to say goodbye.

Director: Dominic Yarabe (Côte D’Ivoire, USA), 2024
Story: Director Dominic Yarabe’s father recalls the 10 days he spent in hiding as a young boy during a war in his West African village. Together, they work to complete the book he never finished, uncovering memories the Ivorian government sought to bury.

Director: Bryn Silverman (USA), 2024
Story: After a routine follow-up, Bryn discovers her treatment isn’t over, prompting a deeper investigation into the thoroughness of her health care. What begins as a personal inquiry expands into a broader reflection on how we measure well-being and the role of community in healing.

Director: Aurora Brachman and LaTajh Simmons-Weaver (USA), 2025
Story: Queer Black women Corinne and Tiana navigate life’s highs and lows together in their shared home. As they experience both joy and heartache, their deep bond is tested, revealing the complexities of their relationship.

Director: Lily Franck (USA), 2024
Story: In this poignant, four-minute stop-motion animation, a mother’s hope chest sparks her daughter’s reexamination of traditional gender roles.

Director: Sarah Garrahan and Sue Ding (USA), 2025
Story: Visitors at a photography studio in a Wild West theme park pose as modern interpretations of the American West.

Director: Angello Faccini Rueda (Colombia, Mexico, USA), 2024
Story: Colombian rituals swirl together through the eyes of a young boy after a community member disappears.

Director: Liberty Smith (U.K), 2024
Story: A long lost film sits at the finish line of a quest taken on by director Liberty Smith and her mother, as they search for the movie and what it means to them.

Director: Enrique Pedráza-Botero (USA, Colombia), 2024
Story: An endless search for the American dream envelops Miami in an era of immigration mass mobilization.

Director: Daniel Larios (USA, El Salvador), 2025
Story: This explanation of the complex, widely unknown history of piñatas intermingles with director Daniel Larios’ family history.

Director: Matthew Salton (USA), 2024
Story: An investigation into man’s history with UFOs, based on filmmaker Matthew Salton’s childhood fascination with them.

Director: Maryam Tafakory (U.K., Iran, Italy), 2024
Story: Collage intersects with film to tell this story of Zan, Iran’s first women’s newspaper. Although the newspaper’s run was short-lived, its impression on its readers lasts forever.

Director: Jyllian Gunther (USA), 2025
Story: A love story between renowned jazz pianist Junior Mance and his manager Gloria Clayborne. It begins not when the pair meet, but when they may have to start saying goodbyes, as Mance is diagnosed with dementia.

Director: Berenicé Brino (USA, Dominican Republic), 2024
Story: The film sits in the middle of a tense relationship between mother and daughter as they take on the balance between love and resentment, and try to find similarities in their differences.

Directors: Lydia Cornett and Brit Fryer (USA), 2024
Story: This history of gender-fluid performances is told from the perspective of three trans opera singers, through song and story alike.

Director: Theo Panagopoulos (Scotland, U.K.), 2024
Story: A reinterpretation of archival footage of wildflower fields in Palestine — an act of reclamation as the land’s future looms over the narrative.

Director: Gonçalo Loureiro (Portugal), 2024
Story: Straddling the edge of youth and adulthood, the dreams of three aspiring trap stars are rocked by a harsh reality check.

Director: Ahmad Al-Zu’bi (Jordan), 2024
Story: The mother of filmmaker Ahmad Al-Zu’bi secretly kept an unusual archive of his childhood. When she finally reveals it, he’s sent on a journey of family history scattered across a global diaspora.