A look at the visiting filmmakers coming to the 21st annual Tallgrass Film Festival

The 21st annual Tallgrass Film Festival is right around the corner, to be held Oct. 5-8 in downtown Wichita.

I wrote an overall preview column that will run in the Sunday Arts section on Oct. 1. And while there’s certainly too much to mention in one column, I didn’t get to mention which films will have visiting filmmakers in attendance. And that’s one of the special things about Tallgrass and other film festivals -- getting to hear first-hand about the making of the films.

A complete list of visiting filmmakers can be found at https://tallgrassfilm.org/, but here is a list of most of the feature films that will have visiting filmmakers in attendance. (Times and schedules are subject to change.)

“Black Barbie: A Documentary” (Director: Lagueria Davis) Through intimate access to a charismatic Mattel insider, Beulah Mae Mitchell, this delves into the cross section of merchandise and representation as Black women strive to elevate their own voices and stories, refusing to be invisible. (100 minutes) Showing at 1 p.m. Friday, Oct. 6, Scottish Rite (Temple Live), 332 E. First St.

“Chasing Chasing Amy” (Director: Sav Rodgers) This documentary explores the transformational impact of a ‘90s rom-com on a 12-year-old kid from Kansas, coming of age and contending with queer identity. For young Sav Rodgers, the Kevin Smith cult classic became a life raft. (95 minutes) 4:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 6, Scottish Rite (Temple Live).

“Chocolate Milk” (Director: Elizabeth Gray Bayne) This documentary explores racial inequities in birth and breastfeeding in America by following the stories of three Black mothers in South Los Angeles over multiple years. (92 minutes) 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct 7, WSU TECH - NICHE, 124 S. Broadway.

“Free Time” (Director: Ryan Martin Brown) A man quits his job and then quickly decides he wants it back in this comedy. (78 minutes) 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 8, WSU TECH - NICHE.

“Great Photo, Lovely Life” (Directors: Amanda Mustard, Rachel Beth Anderson) Photojournalist Amanda Mustard returns home to Pennsylvania to investigate the sexual abuse crimes committed by her grandfather. A visual whirlwind of memories from her family’s archive unravels a world of secrets through interviews, photographs and home movies. (112 minutes) 11 a.m. Saturday, Oct 7, Advanced Learning Library, 711 W. Second St. N.

“Head Count” (Directors: The Burghart Brothers — Jacob and Ben) After escaping prison, a man finds his own revolver pointed to his head by an unknown assailant. As the empty rounds click away, he tries to remember how he got here, one bullet at a time. (80 minutes) 4 p.m. Friday, Oct. 6, Orpheum Theatre, 200 N. Broadway.

“Hello Dankness” (Director: Soda Jerk) Comprised entirely of hundreds of film samples, Hello Dankness is a political fable that bears witness to the psychotropic spectacle of American politics from 2016 to 2021, and the mythologies and lore that took root around it. (70 minutes) 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct 7, Wichita Art Museum, 1400 Museum Blvd.

“Israelism” (Directors: Eric Axelman, Sam Eilertsen) When two young American Jews raised to unconditionally love Israel witness the brutal way Israel treats Palestinians, their lives take sharp turns. (84 minutes) 1 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 8, Exploration Place, 300 N. McLean Blvd.

“The Judgment” (Director: Marwan Mokbel) A gay couple returns from the U.S. to Egypt for a family emergency, which forces them back into the closet to attempt to pass as just friends. As the pervasive tension of dangerous homophobia rises around them, they begin to fear that they have fallen prey to witchcraft as punishment for their “homosexual sins,” causing one of them to fall into religious terror and exposing his unhealed past. (111 minutes) 5 p.m. Sunday, Oct 8, WSU TECH - NICHE.

“Just Like You - Anxiety + Depression” (Director: Jennifer Greenstreet) Ten brave kids, two Emmy award-winning journalists, one clinical psychologist at Columbia University and one determined mother take on the fear and stigma plaguing the mental health community. 2:30 p.m. Friday, Oct 6, Advanced Learning Library.

“Karen Carpenter: Starving for Perfection” (Director: Randy Martin) Forty years after Carpenter’s death, this revealing and unvarnished documentary provides new insight into the singer’s tragically short life and enduring musical legacy. (97 minutes) 1 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 8, Orpheum Theatre.

“Letters Home” (Director: Scott Roberts) Newly arrived with his family in a small Midwestern town, a smart but hopelessly awkward boy despairs that he will never truly fit in. Yet as the years pass, he realizes that his adopted hometown has become more a part of his identity than he ever dreamed possible. 12:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct 7, Orpheum Theatre.

“Lost Soulz” (Director: Katherine Propper) A young rapper leaves everything behind and embarks on an odyssey of self-discovery, music and friendship in the heart of Texas. (96 min.) 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct 7, Exploration Place.

“Name Of The Game” (Directors: William Forbes & Douglas Skinner) The untold story of black male exotic dancing in south Los Angeles and how it intersects with the origins of hip hop, gang culture, and kung fu assassins. (113 minutes) 10 p.m. Saturday, Oct 7, Tallgrass Film Center, 120 E. First St. (Unit 113). (Reservations strongly encouraged)

“Night Screams” (Director: Allen Plone) Filmed in Wichita on 35mm during the last gasp of the 1980s slasher trend, this low-budget horror gem includes several Wichita actors and crew. It was released worldwide on VHS in 1988 and DVD in 2002, but has never had a Wichita screening until now. (74 minutes) 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 7, Orpheum Theatre.

“Penitentia” (Director: Chris Lawing) A young, ambitious attorney takes a pro-bono prison rights case and gets quickly drawn into a criminal web and corporate negligence. Shot in Wichita (I’m in it briefly). (90 minutes) 7 p.m. Friday, Oct 6, Orpheum Theatre.

“Stay at Conder Beach” (Director: Aaron Khandros) Residents of a small vacation town grapple when bodies start to appear on the beach in a string of unaccountable deaths. (87 minutes) Noon Saturday, Oct 7, Exploration Place.

“Susan Feniger. FORKED” (Director: Liz Lachman) This verite documentary follows award-winning celebrity chef Susan Feniger as she opens her first solo restaurant, a quest to bring global street food under one roof in the form of a new L.A. restaurant: STREET. (93 minutes) 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct 7, WSU TECH - NICHE.

“Three Birthdays” (Director: Jane Weinstock) This drama follows a left-leaning, academic family in 1970 as each of its members wrestles with the contradictions of the sexual revolution in the era of the Vietnam War. (90 minutes) 7 p.m. Sunday, October 8, Orpheum Theatre.

“The Unseen” (Director: J.S. Hampton) A witch from the 1850s is transported into the head of her descendant in modern Kansas City, who is tasked with helping get her ancestor’s body back. (89 minutes) 10:30 a.m. Friday, Oct 6, Orpheum Theatre.

“Wilder Than Her” (Director: Jessica Kozak) After the death of their friend, a group of tight-knit friends attempt to reconnect on an annual camping trip, but things grow increasingly strange and uncomfortable in the isolated forest as their friendship unravels. (88 minutes) 3 p.m. Friday, October 6, Exploration Place.

Reach Rod Pocowatchit at rodrick@rawdzilla.com.