Free State Festival
Mark your calendar!
June 26 - July 2, 2023
The Lawrence Arts Center is proud to announce the selected films and headliners for Free State Festival 2023 slated for June 26-July 2. This signature community event celebrates the free spirit of Kansas through independent films, live music, comedy and art experiences in venues throughout the city of Lawrence.
The Lineup
Gumbo Coalition with Janet Marguía - Free State Festival
Directed by Barbara Kopple RUN TIME: 1 hour 48 min PRE-SHOW: Passholder Reception...
Garden City, Kansas Film Screening + Q&A - Free State Festival
Directed by Robert Hurst RUN TIME: 1 hour 18 min POST-SHOW: Filmmaker Q&A This...
An Evening with Chris Estrada - Free State Fest
An Evening of Stand Up Comedy with Hulu Star Chris Estrada ABOUT THE ARTIST: Chris...
An Evening with Boots Riley - Free State Festival
Moderated conversation with acclaimed filmmaker Boots Riley! PRE-SHOW: Passholder...
On These Grounds Film Screening + Q&A - Free State Festival
Directed by Garrett Zevgetis RUN TIME: 1 hour 41 min POST SHOW: Filmmaker Q&A...
An Evening with BLKBOK - Free State Festival
Live concert with neo-classical pianist BLKBOK! POST-SHOW: Artist Q&A ABOUT THE...
City of Lawrence Annual Outdoor Sculpture Exhibition
The City of Lawrence’s Cultural Arts Commission unveils several temporary public art...
Celebrate 70s Lawrence: Three Short Films from a Groovy Time - Free State Festival
Join us at the Lawrence Public Library as we turn back the clock with an entertaining...
The Embarrassment: We Were Famous, You Don’t Remember Film Screening + Q&A - Free State Festival
Directed by Daniel Szlauderbach and Daniel Fetherston RUN TIME: 1 hour 36 min...
CONVERGE: Dance Performance - Free State Festival
An Evening of New Work by Five Kansas Choreographers produced by Tristian Griffin...
ᏓᏗᏬᏂᏏ (We Will Speak) - Free State Festival
Directed by Schon Duncan and Michael McDermit RUN TIME: 1 hour 35 min PRE-SHOW: Seed...
No Place Like Home: The Struggle Against Hate in Kansas - Free State Festival
Directed by Kevin Willmott RUN TIME: 1 hour POST SHOW: Filmmaker Q&A PRE-SHOW:...
Film Flights: Short Film and Beer Pairings - Free State Festival
The screen rolls down, the tap pours and the projector bulb shines over small...
Body and Soul with live score by DJ Spooky
Directed by Oscar Micheaux RUN TIME: 1 hour 33 min PRE-SHOW: Robert & Billie...
Musings, Mimosas and Muffins: An Interdisciplinary Arts Panel by Lawrence Talks - Free State Festival
Gather for delicious pastries, sparkling mimosas and invigorating conversation. David...
The Unseen - Free State Festival
Directed by J.S. Hampton RUN TIME: 1 hour 28 min POST-SHOW: Q&A with the...
HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:
- I’m A Virgo screening and conversation with writer/director Boots Riley. This darkly-comedic episodic series by the acclaimed filmmaker from Sorry to Bother You tells the fantastical story of a 13-foot-tall young Black man in Oakland, CA.
- Standup comedy performance by Chris Estrada, co-creator, star, writer and executive producer of the hit Hulu series This Fool based on his upbringing in South Los Angeles.
- No Place Like Home: The Struggle Against Hate in Kansas screening and Q&A. Directed by Oscar winner Kevin Willmott and inspired by the C.J. Janovy book No Place Like Home: Lessons in Activism in LGBT Kansas.
- Music performance by neo-classical piano prodigy BLKBOK. BLKBOK’s dexterous arrangements and melodic scores audibly illustrate experience across pivotal moments in American history.
- Screening of Academy Award-winning director Barbara Kopple’s Gumbo Coalition and conversation with Janet Marguía (President of UnidosUS). Presented in partnership with the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics.
- We Were Famous, You Don’t Remember: The Embarrassment documentary screening, Q&A and live music performance. Ignited by punk’s invasion of the Great Plains, America’s gawkiest and greatest lost rock band battles conformity in Reagan-era Kansas.
- Garden City, Kansas documentary screening and Q&A. On the High Plains of the US, a bomb plot led by militant white supremacists threatens a thriving town made up of immigrants from around the world.
- Oscar Micheaux’s Body and Soul with live score by DJ Spooky. Regarded as a rare work in African American cinematic history, this silent classic boasts biting social commentary on issues of race and gender.
- Lost Angel: The Genius of Judee Sill screening and tribute concert. Sill combined the electricity of Janis Joplin, soulful poetry of Leonard Cohen, and a complete lack of public recognition for her innovative, brilliant work before her premature death at the age of 35.
- Imagining the Indian: The Fight Against Native American Mascoting screening and Q&A featuring Haskell Indian Nation University’s Rhonda LeValdo.
- CONVERGE: Dance Performance. Regina Klenjoski Dance Company and Tristian Griffin Dance Company unite to produce an exciting evening of concert dance by nationally celebrated choreographers making thoughtful work rooted in identity, race, gender, and social justice.
- On These Grounds screening and Q&A. Police presence in the classroom turns controversial when a video showing a white officer throwing a black teenager to the ground goes viral.
- International film selection Leonor Will Never Die. Fiction and reality blur when Leonor, a retired filmmaker, falls into a coma after a television lands on her head, compelling her to become the action hero of her unfinished screenplay.
- A short film and culinary pairing event
- ᏓᏗᏬᏂᏏ We Will Speak screening and Q&A. With fewer than 2,000 fluent speakers left, a small group of Cherokee activists race to save their language from extinction.
- 1970s Lawrence Short Film Showcase by the Watkins Museum of History
- A presentation by photographer Ann Dean on Kansas legend Gordon Parks
- A conversation on documentary filmmaking by Lawrence Talks
- Passholder receptions & more!