Take Three!

The Show-Me Film Festival is back for a third year, and it's better than ever.

The Missouri Film Alliance’s of Springfield’s Show-Me Film Festival enters its third year with its most diverse lineup yet; a studied collection of works from local artists and big names alike.

Ironically, this year’s festival could have been even bigger, but as a resolution emerged to the three-month Hollywood writers’ strike, scheduled guest speakers and filmmakers began pulling out of the Springfield festival in anticipation of getting back to work. Among them, according to MFAS president Steve Ole Olson, was a camera operator from NBC’s Friday Night Lights, along with a planned screening of that show’s pilot episode at the Gillioz Theatre.

But never fear: There’s still plenty to be seen downtown February 15-17, which Olson credits to the festival’s ever-evolving network of Hollywood contacts and participation in an online program that matches filmmakers in need of pub with festivals across the country.

This year’s festival has also been streamlined a bit on the venue side. Instead of spreading events out at a half-dozen venues across town, the festival will be centralized downtown at two venues: Moxie Cinema and the Gillioz Theatre. Olson says the move was an effort to centralize the festival, which has previously included Missouri State University and Drury. “We’re making this a downtown event, even more than it has been before,” Olson says. “We’re as committed to downtown as we are to filmmaking.”

Festival highlights include two screenings starring Springfield native and ‘tween standout Lucas Grabeel (a music video and a short film, The Real Son, both directed by Grabeel collaborator Kelly King) and two films by acclaimed director Andrea Arnold, one of them an Academy Award winner from 2005, the other a Cannes Jury Prize honoree. One of the featured guests is Leon Ichaso, director El Cantante, starring Mark Anthony and Jennifer Lopez (screening Saturday at 7:15 at the Gillioz). Olson’s personal “must-see” for the weekend is the Saturday screening of In the Name of the Son, a 25-minute short film edited by Missouri State University graduate Tyler Earring.

Tickets for individual film screenings or workshops are $7.50 for adults, $6.50 for children, students, seniors and MFAS members. A Saturday-only pass, which includes the evening Film Maker Celebration, is $25. A weekend pass is $40. Individual tickets and passes are available at the Gillioz and Moxie. All other tickets are available at mfas.org.

Full Show-Me Film Festival Schedule of Events