Passes to the festival range in price from $60 to $500. Individual tickets are $8 at the box office, which is located at 100 S. Ninth St., or $10 at the door. The student price is $6 per film at the box office.

Click here to view the complete True/False schedule.
Click here to visit the official True/False website.

Keep an eye on I Know CoMo for reviews of the films on True/False weekend.
Tell us about your experience at the festival and send your pictures to iknowcomo@gmail.com.
Which films are you most excited about seeing?

Friday: All-Hallows Eve

If you are impatient to give that killer costume a test run, here are some ideas to get the weekend started.

Mojo’s
Costume Dance Party
$3 if you’re in costume, $5 for under-21s
DJs: MoonRunner, Charlie Bill, The Last Kings, the Paperclips

Eastside Tavern
Halloween Party w/ The Passion and 80s Retro DJs

Empire Roller Rink
Halloween skate party
$12, 7-midnight, teens and up
entry includes skate rental (blades are $3 extra) and a glow stick
costume contests, games, food, Halloween light show

Saturday: Halloween

MidMo Bike Ride to Rocheport Halloween Monster Bash
Saturday: 9 a.m.
Roundtrip ride to Rocheport (34 miles).
Starts at Flat Branch Park 101 S. 4th Street
Costume contest, parade and music when you get there.
Registration fees: $30

Trick or Treating in the District
Take kids in costumes downtown for trick or treating – bright orange pumpkin signs will be in participating store and restaurant windows. Starting at 4 p.m.
Halloween at Hearnes
Free admission, 5 p.m. at Hearnes Center at MU campus
Games, activities and candy for everyone

Empire Roller Rink
Saturday: Another Halloween party!
$6.50, 7-9, all ages
entry includes skate rental (blades are extra) and a glow stick
costume contests, games, food, Halloween light show

Chipotle
Saturday: Free burrito if you dress up like one (hint: wear tinfoil).
6-10 p.m.

Ragtag Cinema
Saturday: Zombie walk
free, starts 7 p.m., all ages
Starting at Columbia Access Television on Stephen’s College campus (1405 E. Broadway).
Do your own zombie makeup, use theirs, or pay small fee for their makeup artist to do it for you.
Lurch through downtown. Braaaaaains.
Finish at Ragtag bar at 9:30 for drink specials, contests (cash prizes),  zombie movie,
music by DJ Slab o’ Bacon
$5 for party, 18+

The Blue Note
Saturday: Eli “Young Frankenstein” Halloween Party with Eli Young Band
$12 day of the show
Drink special: $4 bombs
Costumes are encouraged

Eastside Tavern
Halloween Costume Dance Party (DJ Pee Roy)

Mojo’s
HalloWeen and Stone Temple Pirates
Ween and Stone Temple Pilots cover bands
$5, wear a costume

Blue Fugue
John Henry & the Engine – Halloween show
Also playing: One Lone Car, Distance to Empty, Ardie Mansouri
Costume contests, drink specials and apparently, a tour bus for “a few lucky friends to party in.”
$8, wear a costume

Know of something fun going on that we missed? Let everyone know, comment below!

Lemon Tree is the incredibly powerful story of a woman who, despite all of the forces working against her – social, political, bureaucratic, cultural – fights to hold on to what matters to her. Salma is a Palestinian widow living on the border between Israel and the occupied West Bank. She lives alone, tending the lemon grove she inherited from her father. When the new Israeli defense minister moves in next door, the secret service decides the lemon grove is a security threat and wants to cut it down.  Everyone Salma goes to for help belittles her situation, saying that other people have “real problems.” She finally hires a lawyer and they take the case all the way to the Israeli supreme court. The case becomes symbolic of the entire Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and it is driven by this one woman who refuses to give up.

The film is based on the true story of an 80-year-old Palestinian woman and her olive grove. In reality, however, the Israeli courts refused to even hear the case. The writer, Suha Arraf, said that she wanted the film to be lighter than the reality so it could contain some hope. She changed the olives to lemons to symbolize the sourness of life in Palestine. Salma always serves lemonade to her guests though, adding sugar to the lemons’ juice to make it bearable to drink. The sugar of Arraf’s screenplay was the occasional comic relief, like shots of a glowering photo of Salma’s husband every time she had a male guest, and the ridiculous language tutorial the young Israeli sentinel continuously listened to. Arraf softened the situation to make it believable, but still  managed to keep it a very moving story.

After the film, Palestinian artist and writer Ibtisam Barakat read aloud a note from the writer Suha Arraf about the writing of the film and how it relates to the reality of the situation in the Middle East. Then she invited two Israeli filmmakers, Shira Derman ($9.99) and Nirit Peled (Say My Name) and a Native American thespian, Marcie Rendon, up for a discussion. Instead of talking about the things that divide us, Barakat said, let’s talk about the things that can bring us together. These women may come from different sides of a very long and very bloody conflict, but they are all strong, passionate women who have overcome cultural limitations to find their voices, and filmmakers who use their art to make those voices heard. It was clearly a very difficult, emotional conversation for all of them, and it probably could have gone on all night if the next film hadn’t cut it short.

One idea that the women discussed was how, as Nirit Peled brought up, women in conflict areas are even more suppressed and isolated than they were already by heavily patriarchal societies. In the film, Salma had all the courage in the world, but no influence or resources whatsoever. Mira, the defense minister’s wife, was on her side and had a lot more power and influence, but was still held back from action– whether she was held back by the patriarchal bureaucratic structure or simply by her lack of courage is still up for debate.

What everyone agreed on was that there needs to be empathy and humanity on both sides in order to create a real conversation and begin understanding each other, and that films like Lemon Tree are the only way to do that. The news is too shallow and easy to misinterpret, they said, but art can reach much deeper to the heart of the issue and humanize the pain on both sides. Peled said, “If it were up to the women, there would have been peace a long time ago.”

More info about Lemon Tree and a trailer on the film’s official website.

Check out what’s going on for the final day of Citizen Jane Film Fest.

“Bright Star” is a love story and not for the feint of heart.  The film stars  Ben Whishaw as John Keats and Abbie Cornish as Fanny Brawne. This film is about the tragic affair between the romantic poet and his unexpected love with the girl next door, literally.

While he was living, John Keats was not as well known as he is today. He scrapped by on a very small income and the charity of his friends so he could focus on his craft – poetry. Keats moved in with his friend Mr. Brown so the two poets could collaborate on their work. The Brawne family  rented rooms from Brown and occupied the same home, but they kept their households mostly separate. Keats soon met Fanny Brawne, a snarky woman with an obsession with fashion. Keats is the quintessential  dreamer and Brawne is very practical. Their story goes on from there – stereotypical boy meets girl and they have a wonderful love story – a very short lived one.

The way Jane Campion, the director, visually sets the film and brings it to life really transports the viewer from the modern day to the early 19th century Regency era. She uses color and lighting to really set the mood. There are times during the movie when one can see the mood is joyful from the colors of Brawne’s dresses or how the light blinds the screen for one moment with the contrast of the bright sunshine.

Whishaw and Cornish’s chemistry on screen is impeccable. It’s intoxicating to watch them together. One point I really enjoyed was the innocence of the two characters. It’s obvious they are each other’s first loves. When they first kiss, both in their 20s, the viewer can see the nervousness of Keats and Brawne’s. As their story progresses, Keats must leave Brawne because of his failing health. She begs him to stay saying, “I’ll do anything you want.” Keats replies, “I’m too much of a gentleman for that.” I really love how Campion captures the time period by the lack of a sexual appetite on Keats part and how naive Fanny is. It’s refreshing to see from an oversexed pop culture.

Before seeing the film, I thought Keats was another stuffy romantic poet I had to read in AP English to pass the class and gain college credit. Even on a trip to Rome, I passed his home and memorial by the Spanish Steps in complete ignorance. I knew Keats died of tuberculosis as a young man, but I never really understood the true symptoms and how he was robbed of his life. I was really wrong about Keats.

I would strongly suggest seeing this film, but a few warnings first. If you’re not in the mood for a period piece or romance, don’t see it because the movie will be spoiled. It’s longer, but worth sitting through it. Also, this is by no means a biography about Keats life. It’s a small part of his life brought to the silver screen.

Bright Star is showing at Ragtag Cinema through October 15. You can also catch it at the Citizen Jane Film Festival on October 17 and 18.