True/False Film Fest Dispatch #2: ‘Phenomena,’ ‘Who Moves America,’ ‘Landscapes of Memory’
The 2026 True/False Film Fest was in full effect yesterday, with the streets of Columbia, Missouri filled with thousands of film enthusiasts ready to partake in a full weekend of documentaries. Before any functioning human being could sit down for a day jam-packed with screenings (which the festival provides at least an hour and a half buffer between screenings at every venue; take note every other film festival), one might need a cup, or two, or three of coffee. Well if you go to the Ragtag screening room during the festival, the theater is located towards the back of Uprise Bakery, which serves not only delicious warm and hot coffees, but also breakfast, lunch, and is open at night as a full bar and place of social conversation as the festival is going on. The multi-purpose venue was the perfect place to kick off my day, as I got their special “Brown Sugar Vanilla Latte,” iced because that’s how I roll, folks. When my screening was over, I tried the BLT sandwich, made on their homemade French bread, which was delicious, featuring the right amount of B to L to T in the sandwich ratio (this is very important because if not properly distributed, then the society we know will crumble; it’s that vital).
Over my time at True/False, I’ve sampled the local town favorites that include the Buffalo wings over at ‘CJ’s In Tiger Country,’ a local hot spot for all Columbian’s to gather and share wings and beer during football and basketball season. Labeled a Missouri Tiger tradition when coming to their town and exploring their campus, this 35-year old institution exceeded all the hype from the locals that recommended me to go, as their wings were some of the crispiest, juiciest wings I’ve had in some time. Surrounded by wood paneling, the atmosphere, much like the people who live and/or go to school in Columbia, was lively and welcoming, as families gathered before their weekend basketball match-up with Arkansas on Saturday. I also was able to try the delicious pizza at ‘Shakespeare’s Pizzeria’ at their downtown location, which was only a few steps away from the Missouri Theater, the premium location for screenings during festival, as well as grabbing an unbelievable bagel (the pastrami, egg, and cheese was mind-blowing) at ‘Goldie’s Bagels’ on my way to The Picturehouse venue, and even some late night frozen yogurt at ‘Yogoluv: Frozen Yogurt & More,’ even if it was too rainy and cold to have it; it’s True/False, you got to live a little folks. But as surprisingly wonderful the culinary scene is Columbia, the film festival was rolling with world premieres of documentaries that looked into the world of science, unfair labor conditions and negotiations, and the idea of collective memory when relating to our past, present and future. These three films are part of a group of ten that make their world premiere debut here at True/False, thus launching these cinematic visions and voices onto the big screen for audiences to take in, some even for the first time.
Phenomena director Josef Gatti states early on that science wasn’t his strong suit growing up in school (a rather relatable opening to the film as science was my least favorite as well). His father however, was a physics teacher, and over the course of growing up and getting closer to his parents, as well as becoming a filmmaker, Gatti took a second look at the school subject that he once dreaded and aimed to find the beauty that is inside of it. By creating various experiments, the duo forged patterns and images that look at the various wonders the world could bring us, and how these mini miracles exist around us on a daily basis. Within the creation of these projects lies Gatti’s full directorial vision, allowing the colors and shapes of his and father’s work to come together, with stunning cinematography mixing in with a smooth soundtrack and sleek editing, leaving little voiceover in the film, and instead, forcing the audience to fall in love with the father-son duo’s creations. While gorgeous to look at, Phenomena suffers not from the beauty we see demonstrated on screen, but the constant, repetitious presentation we are given to each experiment, thus turning the film into one, continuous spectacle of energy, matter, electricity, and more coming together but adding up to a rather sleepy conclusion. Phenomena is a pretty picture, but looks will only get you so far when the film as a whole doesn’t really add up to much. (Grade: C-)
In 2023, we were all aware of the WGA, SAG strikes that caused the entire entertainment industry to shut down as artists demanded equality from the studios that they didn’t have before in previous deals. In the same year, the UPS Teamsters union, which is composed of 340,00 workers, were on the verge of a strike that would’ve not only sunk the company, but would’ve had a profound impact on the US economy. Director Yael Bridge follows up her 2022 documentary When We Fight with continuing to examine the organized labor crisis in America, and how workers at UPS were, and still are, getting exploited on a full and part-time level. As the film, Who Moves America, plays out, we see the clock slowly ticking to an end date when the worker’s contract will be up, and thus a full workers strike will take place. For many, this would be the first time they’ve ever had to face such an event, as the last one for UPS took place in the late 1990s, with footage spliced within the doc brilliantly by Bridge and her team to convey that even though the time has changed, the fight for better safety, pay, humane hours, and job security is still there.
Cutting back and forth between various locations on the west coast and east coast of America, you get to hear various perspectives that are normally drowned out when it comes to a major decision like this. Bridge also understands that by focusing on the part-time workers as much as the full-time workers within the film, you get to see how the stakes of a strike could affect everyone differently, therefore a decision to walk away from the negotiating table isn’t so easy. But at the same time, the brotherhood of the teamsters, and their willingness to fight for their own, shines the brightest in the film, providing hope that as the next generation steps away, and they come to a deal with management, it will be up to the youth to keep fighting for better and better contracts, holding those in power accountable while thinking about something larger than just yourself. It’s a rousing, inspiring achievement from Bridges; one that does wrap itself up too quickly but is very successful in landing its emotional thesis that these workers are not just dollars and cents on a page, but essential human beings that make every person’s life better, one delivered package at a time. (Grade: B)
In Leah Galant’s solo directorial debut, she begins her journey by talking with her father about her family history with Germany, and how painful it is to bring up given that they are descendants of Holocaust survivors; with the mere idea of the stories from his youth bringing him to tears. It’s this thesis of remembrance, family history, and collective memory that leads Galant to Germany to study these topics abroad, and how the past shapes our present and how it can be a tool for the future. At the same time, she is learning about Germany’s reckoning with their actions in World War II, the far-right political party is up in arms about the country having to continue to apologize for their violent pasts (sound familiar to our US readers). While the rise of these radicals on the right are happening, a divide has begun due to pro-Palestine protests happening in the streets, with the government using anti-Semitism as the reason for locking up people in the streets, breaking up the protests, and silencing all who speak out against Israel. In being locked up for an evening in jail for peacefully protesting, Galant realizes that the violence and hateful rhetoric inflicted on her family is mirroring those in Gaza today, and the discomforting feeling that her family’s memories (along with the many others like hers) systematically being used to repress Palestinian voices and way of life.
Landscapes of Memory is a tricky tight-rope of a thesis to pull off, but one that is done so well because its core lies in the human condition and our capacity to want to make things better. In talking with her family, taking in accounts of a Palestinian artist living in social repression, and interviewing someone who is ashamed of their family history of being Nazis in the war, she’s able to weave a compelling web questions about why history repeats itself, how memories and events in time change through perspective, and why someone like her curious is ultimately the most dangerous thing when governments and those powerful yet closeminded people want to silence you. This personal artistic achievement would be enough on its own but as we see the evolution of Galant’s father’s illness slowly taking him, we are allowed to see emotional closure for him, shutting the door on the pain of a family’s generational trauma, leaving behind an elegant, tender time capsule of the final times she got to visit her dad before his story reached its conclusion. Some of the most relevant, touching documentary filmmaking one may see this year. (Grade: B+)
These reviews are from the 2026 True/False Film Fest.
- True/False Film Fest Dispatch #2: ‘Phenomena,’ ‘Who Moves America,’ ‘Landscapes of Memory’ - March 8, 2026
- 2026 True/False Film Fest Dispatch #1: ‘The Oldest Person in the World,’ ‘Broken English’ - March 6, 2026
- AwardsWatch Podcast Ep. 335 – Reactions to the Split PGA and SAG Awards - March 2, 2026
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