Kansas City Film Fest International brings an independent cinema extravaganza to Ward Parkway
This Sunday, Kansas City Film Fest International brings its 27th year of programming to the Ward Parkway AMC. From March 26-29, you can check out over 100 features, documentaries and shorts from up-and-coming regional, national and international filmmakers, including work from a couple of familiar local filmmakers and actors.
As far as admission goes, this may be one of the best film fest deals you can find. $45 gets you an all-access pass with unlimited admission to films and access to the filmmakers’ lounge so you can congratulate the artists in person. Individual tickets are $10. You can find the full schedule for the festival at kcfilmfest.org.
Offerings at the 2023 festival include everything from nonfiction filmmaking to drama, comedy and horror. Here are a few of the highlights:
The Sisters Karras
Directed by KC-born filmmaker Micah Stathis, this heartwarming tale focuses on a pair of estranged half-sisters thrown together in a less-than-ideal situation. Helen (Clare Louise Frost) and Maria (Lauren Kahn) must join forces to save their family’s rare and precious collection of historic Greek textiles from the mysterious man (Dennis Rubin Green) their father left them to.
Garden City, Kansas
Garden City is a diverse community, with over 30 languages spoken, and residents hailing from Somalia, Mexico, Burma and beyond who come to the town for work in the city’s Tyson plant. That diverse coexistence is threatened when the town becomes the target of white nationalists intent on killing the city’s Muslim population. Documentarian Bob Hurst follows the FBI infiltration of that group, and the testimony of one of the group’s recruits, who decided to turn against them.
The Unseen
A Black woman from the 1850s—a witch—is magically transported into the mind of her modern-day descendant in this supernatural drama from director J.S. Hampton. Shot in Kansas City, the film’s cast includes a roster of familiar faces from the KCREP, Unicorn Theater and Coterie theater, including Walter Coppage, Bri Woods, Donovan Woods and Meredith Noël Johnson. Hampton is also a veteran of the KC film scene, having previously produced Kevin Willmott’s Jayhawkers.
The Pulpit: Prelude
Last April, we published an interview with actor and filmmaker Tosin Morohunfola, an area native now based in LA working on his first feature, The Pulpit, inspired by the experiences of Manhattan, Kansas pastor Christian Watkins. This short film is the first part of that story, providing an exciting early look into the longer story to come, and further proof of concept for the project. This is a great opportunity to check out what Morohunfola and company are up to, and learn how you can get involved in helping The Pulpit come to fruition.
Kick Me
Finally, we have Kick Me, a wild-looking “nightmare comedy” about a mild-mannered high school counselor (Santiago Vasquez) who’s forced to get in touch with his darker side to retrieve a pet rabbit. Based on the trailer, it looks like this turns into an After Hours-style all night odyssey through KCK involving colorful characters, imposing bullies and a lot of guns. Consider us intrigued.
