Beer and Pavement

While I am not the most experienced, not most in-the-know person attending this year’s fest, I do have five of these buggers under my belt. So, that has given me some insight into a few things you should keep in-mind for this year’s edition. Here are my top-5 things to remember as you enjoy 3-4 days of docs, drinks, and dancing:

1. Plan your Q carefully. The Q is what non-ticket-holders use to get into films they really want to see. The key to the Q is to show up at least an hour ahead to get your number. Once the numbers are passed out, you’ll have 45-50 minutes to kill. It used to be that one could get into almost any film on the Q, but that’s not the case as the fest has grown. I’d suggest Q’ing it up for films in the larger venues such as the Missouri Theatre, Blue Note, or the Windsor Cinema on the Stephens campus.
2. Take your own food and water. On paper, the schedules look spacious. It appears there’s a lot of time to grab a bite between screenings. However, after staying to hear some Q&A from the filmmakers and enjoying the walk from Stephens College to the Missouri Theater, passing crowded eatery after eatery, you’ll come to realize that there just isn’t time to eat. Take some food with you. I suggest any kind of sandwich that fits under the “pocket” or “wrap” category. Also, take a water bottle and rehydrate whenever possible.
3. When you do have time to eat, I’d suggest breakfast at Uprise, Booches Burgers for lunch (and hangover cure), Kaldi’s for that afternoon caffeine jolt, and happy hour sliders and beers at Sycamore. Sure, those are some decadent options, but it’s a festival. Be festive!
4. Don’t carry all of your tickets at once. It’s too easy to lose that manilla envelope your tickets come in or accidently let one ticket slip out as you pull from your stash. I always organize my tickets by day and leave the rest in a safe spot at home, ready for the next day’s onslaught of nonfiction.
5. Enjoy like there’s no tomorrow. If you can see ten films this weekend, go see eleven. If you are done with the films for the day, there’s sure to be a party or band showcase you can attend. Don’t worry about overload. You can rest next weekend. Besides, like Xmas, True/False only happens once a year.

Those are my “things.” Some other Middle Missouri bloggers have other ideas. Most are captured at Capturing COMO. Show-Me Eats has your menus all picked out. That and there are a million and one Twitter hashtags in use for the weekend:

• #tf11 – Ignore the posts about toys. Effing toy fairs.
• #truefalse
• #eyeswideshut – Don’t ask.
• #relevanthairstyles
• #tfeats
• etc.

I’ll recap here after the weekend is through. You can also go to a new spot, CoMO Collective, if you want more T/F reflection.

Some people actually attend True/False for the parties. I typically don’t, but an upgrade in passes and a request to blog this thing has me scheduling in some non-cinematic events. Here’s a rundown…

The Jubilee
This is a new event that coincides with Benda Bilili!. Columbia’s best bartenders will be serving drinks, which just means they’ll be pouring me beer. We have a tight window to make this one, but I think we can sneak in a drink. I’m mostly looking forward to seeing folks spiffed up for the event (more on my own attire later).

March March
The current plan is to run from our first Friday film to our kids’ daycare and back to the March March location. Basically, it’s a parade where everyone marches and they all dress for the occasion. Hopefully, the rain their calling for doesn’t fall.

Reality Bites
Directly following the March March, there will be refreshments in the Missouri Theater, the endpoint for the parade. We used to be able to attend this party with a Simple pass. This year, we’ll return with the necessary Lux pass. Various local restaurants serve up some of their finest appetizers to washed down by some Schlafly Beer.

@ction Party
My first T/F featured my stint as a volunteer, getting the opportunity to clean up what’s supposed to be Columbia’s best party of the year. I’ll come late as a I have a late film to catch, but it will be fun to check out for the first time from the party-goer side.

True Life Run
OK. We’re not doing this. We talked about it, but it never happened. Besides, I haven’t worked out in two weeks. I’m not ready for such an event. We may have to make time to cheer on those brave enough to party all night and run all morning.

Filmmaker Fete
It was suggested that I get into this. I don’t know that there’s room in my schedule, but the food comes from my favorite restaurant in town (Sycamore) and it’s loaded with filmmakers. We’ll see if I get the call or just stick to my film schedule.

Mojo’s A-Go-Go
After a film, I’ll sprint over to Mojo’s for a rock show of the highest order. It’s maybe the hottest ticket in town and I have one. Kings Go Forth, Netherfriends and Hai Usagi make up one of the most interesting lineups of the last year. It should be a good way to end my Saturday night.

Some Party
I’m not at liberty to really say anything about it, but I’ll be partying into early Sunday morning. I’ve already said too much.

Closing Night Reception
I once chose a film that was not the closing night film and sort of felt like the fest didn’t really have any closure. This riot in the Missouri Theater lobby is a good time to recap the weekend and stuff our faces.

Plus, bands, lots of them.
Besides the Mojo’s gig and possibly that party you know nothing about, I will see lots of bands. It’s basically the reason I have a press pass. The bios and a few tracks can be found at the T/F site, but I look forward to hopefully catching some of these bands busking as we wait for films. Among those who have me most intrigued are Believers, Bramble, Malone, Run On Sentence, and probably another band whose blurb and mp3 don’t do their busking justice. With somewhere in the neighborhood of 15-16 films and the events listed above, I’m sure to hear something I haven’t heard before and I’ll like it.

Oh, and friends
I have lived here for five and half years. That has not always been an easy time. It’s felt like five years of transitioning. That is, until recently when I started to feel a part of this community. I will see a lot of friends this weekend. It sort of boggles my mind how many people I know in this town. I never knew this many people in any town or city I’ve lived. It’s kinda cool and makes me appreciate living here that much more.

I’ll have one more post for Friday that will accompany these in creating a BICTBAP Guide to True/False. Then, after the weekend is over, look for posts featuring the events, bands, and films of the 2011 True/False Film Festival.