The Wichita Association for the Motion Picture Arts (WAMPA) and the Tallgrass Film Festival announced record attendance numbers for the 2007 Tallgrass Film Festival, held over the weekend at the Warren Theaters, 20th Century Center, Orpheum, Wichita Art Museum, Fisch Haus and other venues around town. Early calculations have this year's attendance at close to 4,850. Ten visiting filmmakers, in addition to more than 15 local and regional filmmakers, and Ad Astra Award recipient Don LaFontaine were all in attendance.
"We are thrilled that so many Wichitans supported the festival," said WAMPA Board President Dan Gray. "This year's amazingly diverse program of independent films, coupled with festival parties and events, attracted many new faces and many longtime supporters. Five years is a great accomplishment and plans are already underway for Tallgrass 6."
The Audience Award winning feature film was GIRLS ROCK! (www.girlsrockmovie.com), directed by Shane King, and Arne Johnson who attended the festival from Seattle, and was very excited and honored that the Tallgrass audience chose his film as their favorite. In addition, Johnson received a cash prize of $500, sponsored this year by Spangenberg Phillips Architecture. The Audience Award winning Short Film, THE DATE, received a cash prize of $100, and was directed by Andreas Haas. Audience Award contenders included IMPRINT, RIVER WAYS, OUTING RILEY, OFF THE GRID: LIFE ON THE MESA, and TWISTED: A BALLOONAMENTARY, which was sponsored by Wichita's own Pioneer Balloon Company, who provided balloons for the audience as they tried their hand at twisting a balloon dog, after the show.
Director Jeff Tamblyn, whose documentary KANSAS VS. DARWIN, opened the Tallgrass Film Festival with a gala screening at the Warren East Theaters, said "this weekend at the Tallgrass Film Festival in Wichita was like a great drea...this is the best festival I've attended so far as a filmmaker." Tamblyn is also a Kansas Filmmaker and lives in Kansas City.
Other festival highlights included the Saturday Night Ad Astra presentation, sponsored by Stella Artois, to the King of Movie Trailers, the charming DON LAFONTAINE, who was honored to receive the award and excited to visit Wichita for the first time. Saturday night's Midnight Screening at the Orpheum was well attended and included a costume contest, and like last year, The Timothy Gruver Spotlight on Kansas Filmmakers, presented by the Kansas Film Commission was an audience favorite and included a Q&A with many Kansas Filmmakers. The Joel Fein High School Shorts Program included a tribute to Fein, and a moving sentiment from his wife, Kelly Marshall Fein,