2026 Films

Barber

dir. Kyle Button

In a world where men are quietly seeking connection but struggling to find it, the barbershop poses as a space for them to build relationships. The star of this film, Tristan Cramer, explores connection and love in two very different but connected spaces. As a barber, he serves and pours life into his customers, but who pours into him? Tristan invites us to think about connection in our lives through the frames of his life. Barber asks the question: how do you love those around you?

Flyboy

dir. Elia Mast

After a near-fatal motorcycle accident, Greg is forced to make a decision as memories left in Vietnam resurface. While the sights, sounds and smells of home trigger flashbacks to the fighting in Vietnam, there was one individual that always grounded Greg. Donna has been there after every emergency landing, crash, accident and close call. She has followed Greg across the states and overseas for his love of motorcycles and aviation, but she has always wanted him to stop putting himself in danger. Even at 81 years old Greg is in denial about slowing down, but it seems life might force him to.

Precious Thing

dir. Kenzie Ripe

A daughter discusses the overlapping issues with her current life and her mother's previous and current experiences through phone calls over the course of many months while away at college. Life events cause conversations to get more serious and pressing, beginning to affect both women's lives as they cling to each other for comfort and consistency.

Doula

dir. Saylor Campbell

Doula follows Missouri doula Jeadawn Cropp’s care for expectant mother Renata Roberts. A founding member of the Mid-Missouri Black Doula Collective, an organization dedicated to addressing Black maternal mortality, the film examines how Cropp is fighting the crisis one birth at a time. With an ever present joy and wit, Cropp shoulders everything from check-ups and baby shower planning to community organizing and the birth of Roberts’ son in this portrait of the fierce bonds that form between Black women when they support one another throughout motherhood.

Half The Results

dir. Jack Calvert

Shane Stander is a committed skate shop owner who is coming up on five years of opening a new skate shop; coincidentally down the street from the one he used to co-run.  As the filmmaker attempts to ask questions and poke around, this film explores the passion, peculiarity and community of the mid-Missouri skateboarding scene.

Then, There Was Her.

dir. Sara Kate Burnett

Set between Caroline’s life at college and her family’s farm back home, she and her dad, Dow, begin to quietly reflect on what the future holds. Dow stays grounded in the daily work of preserving the legacy passed down through generations, while Caroline approaches adulthood unsure of how the farm fits into her own path. Between Dow’s steady commitment to the land and Caroline’s search for independence, both father and daughter face the question of what it means to carry a family story forward and who will choose to continue it.

Tapestry of Life

dir. Eric Kiekeben

When Franz Kiekeben, the filmmaker’s dad, came to the U.S. from Portugal at 12 years old with his parents and five siblings, they were escaping 1970s Portuguese political instability and aiming to build a better life across the Atlantic Ocean. The Kiekebens came over with their family needlepoint tapestry business, which provided unique, colorful heirlooms depicting life in Portugal. Over the next 20 years after immigrating, all of Franz’s siblings and parents returned to Portugal, leaving him as the lone American. Now in his 60s, Franz is recovering from a stroke—something his own father passed away from at the same age. Tapestry of Life explores how life-threatening medical incidents affect people like Franz, who already had a love of relics of the past, as they simultaneously try to move forward in life and navigate the uncertainties that come with age.

Before Goodbye

dir. Taylor Perkins

As his younger brother prepares to graduate high school, Owen faces a future without Dane by his side. A 20-year-old with Down syndrome, Owen must define his own independence and choose his own path. Over their final weeks together in Tulsa, he confronts change and discovers his strength and resilience while his brother prepares for life away from home. Through these moments, Owen builds confidence and a clearer sense of self as he steps into adulthood on his own terms.

Sueños

dir. Valerie Tiscareno

Sueños explores Ana Flores' story of moving to the United States from Chihuahua, Mexico when she was 13 years old. Throughout the film we are invited to sit in her reality as time passes by, revealing her childlike dreams and wonder. Interwoven through observational footage of her eldest daughter Mariana’s quinceañera. The film invites us to reflect on legacy, sacrifice, and who will carry on the dreams we were unable to achieve.

I Hope We Remember This

dir. Hannah Schuh

Hannah can’t remember 18 years of her life, and she doesn’t know why. In the midst of her search for answers, Hannah looks to relive those lost memories by casting her younger sister, Sydney, as a past version of herself. I Hope We Remember This examines the relationship between footage and memory, and explores how identity is shaped even when you don’t remember who you are.

Ozark Odyssey

dir. Aiyana Massie

Every summer, an estimated two million tourists voyage to Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri, enjoying vacations filled with debauchery. The seasons change, tourists return home, and the locals resume their daily lives in a town in rural Missouri. Ozark Odyssey explores the lasting effects of a town shaped by seasonal extremes and cultural dissonance. What does it mean to live in a place so dependent on fantasies far removed from its everyday reality? How do residents build a sense of community in a town that is constantly shifting around them?