True/False returns with another set of prize-worthy documentaries

In a high point of last Sunday’s Academy Awards telecast, Louis C.K. admonished the film community and audiences for not paying more attention to short documentaries. Whoever won the category’s Oscar that night, he said, would cart the trophy home “in a Honda Civic.”

For several years now, the True/False Film Festival, in Columbia, Missouri, has programmed enough documentaries to fill at least a couple of Honda Pilots. It’s where you’re most likely to meet and see the latest works by Oscar winners — and next year’s nominees. Think James Marsh (Man on Wire, The Theory of Everything), Morgan Neville (20 Feet From Stardom) and Laura Poitras (Citizenfour), each a veteran of the late-winter event.

In a slate full of can’t-miss stuff, here are five especially promising titles. For programming details and tickets, see truefalse.org.

Life, Animated

Roger Ross Williams won an Oscar for his 2010 short, Music by Prudence, and he shot part of his 2013 troubling documentary God Loves Uganda here in Kansas City. His latest involves an autistic man named Owen Suskind. As a child, Suskind watched Disney films and, through an odd set of circumstances, was able to leave his parents’ basement for the outside world. The story has been the basis of best-selling book (Life, Animated by his father, Ron) and a segment of an episode of the public-radio series This American Life. Williams will be on hand to answer questions. It screens on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

The Music of Strangers

Cellist Yo-Yo Ma is known for making classical compositions come alive, and his work in the movies includes haunting solos for the soundtrack of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. In 1998, he teamed up with a group of musicians from around the world to play instruments all but unknown to people outside the cultures that originated them. Ma and the other members of the Silk Road Ensemble had their pick of fiddles made from horse head (a Mongolian specialty) and also took up the Japanese Shakuhachi flute. Documenting all of this was Morgan Neville, who co-directed The Best of Enemies and won an Oscar for 20 Feet From Stardom. The Music of Strangers plays on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with Neville appearing in person.

Jim: The James Foley Story

James Wright Foley was executed by the Islamic State while covering the war in Syria. Now, director Brian Oakes has set out to present Foley as more than a media martyr. His film shows us what Foley was really like and that he was more than simply a courageous journalist. Oakes will be attending screenings on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You

If you’re of a certain age or are addicted to channels like ME TV, you’ve probably seen the shows that producer Norman Lear produced, including classics such as All in the Family, Good Times, The Jeffersons and Maude. These shows played on mainstream networks yet featured unusually frank discussions about mental health, rape, venereal disease and the fallout from the Vietnam War. Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing (Jesus Camp) examine how Lear went from working with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis to founding People for the American Way. Despite all the 93-year-old writer-producer has accomplished and might still manage to make happen, Grady and Ewing also examine his shortcomings, including candid recollections from collaborators like Good Times star Esther Rolle. Ewing will attend screenings on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

Kate Plays Christine

MU Assistant Professor Robert Greene has made a career of documentaries that blur the line between fiction and reality. Fake It So Real follows a scrappy, independent wrestling federation in North Carolina, while Actress features Brandy Burre (The Wire) trying to rebuild her career and her life after her marriage collapses. He explores similar territory for Kate Plays Christine, in which actress Kate Lyn Sheil (the Columbia-filmed You’re Next) and Greene recount how Sarasota, Florida, TV anchor Christine Chubbock shot herself on live television. The two talk with people who knew her and try to figure out what led to her suicide. Green and Sheil will attend screenings on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.