Kansas City FilmFest International 30th Anniversary @ AMC Ward Parkway 14

Kansas City FilmFest International marks its 30th anniversary September 18-20, 2026 at AMC Ward Parkway with new head programmer Melanie Addington leading an expanded lineup of filmmaker panels, educational sessions, and roughly 100 feature films and shorts from local, regional, national, and international filmmakers. The festival celebrates Kansas City’s film history with a screening of Robert Altman’s Kansas City and a retrospective exhibit. A partnership with the Kansas City Film Office gives audiences an early look at two unreleased movies filmed locally: Broken Ones, a legal thriller starring Terrence Howard and Kate Bosworth, and Transcending, a dark comedy featuring Kansas City native Raleigh Cain, Heidi Gardner, and Kevin Morby. Founded in 1996 as Kansas City Filmmakers Jubilee, the festival evolved into Film Fest KC and then Kansas City Film Festival International. Tickets and the full schedule available at kcfilmfest.org.

FULL SCHEDULE:

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 18
5:30 PM – Heaven Above Rowen and Short Films
6:00 PM – Narrative Shorts 1: Live, Laugh and Let Go
6:00 PM – Ronzo
8:00 PM – Documentary Shorts 1: Courage and Conviction
8:00 PM – Opening Night Film: Seized
8:15 PM – One Eye Open and House of Hearts

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 19
9:00 AM – Meet the Filmmakers Roundtable
10:30 AM – Drew E. Burbridge Filmmaking Seminar: Beyond Representation, Disability, Storytelling and the Power of Film
12:00 PM – Heartland Student Short Block
12:00 PM – Gargantuan and The Sitcom and The Drama
12:00 PM – Missouri Stories: Sugar Babies Live Script Reading and Discussion
12:15 PM – Tim Miller Citizen Artist: Performing Stories to Change the Ending
12:30 PM – BASEBALL MENSCH the Marty Lurie story
2:30 PM – Post Truth
2:30 PM – The Song of Hiawatha: The Life and HIGH Times of the First Black Hippie
2:30 PM – Narrative Shorts 2: Facing the Truth
3:00 PM – Critics Choice: A Conversation with Terrence Howard and Lonita Cook
3:30 PM – WIFM KC and KCFFI Pitch-A-Thon Contest
4:30 PM – The King of Black Goo
5:00 PM – Lunar Sway
5:00 PM – Documentary Shorts 2: Home and Heritage
5:15 PM – Filming in KC: Bringing Stories to Life in the Heartland
5:30 PM – The Lorraine
7:00 PM – Invisibility and Rage: Asian Americans, Racial Trauma, and Mental Health
7:00 PM – Awards Ceremony
8:00 PM – Can You Stand The Rain and Cottonmouth
8:00 PM – Tight and Nerdy and Numerology (My love scale)
8:00 PM – Narrative Shorts 3: Breaking the Silence
8:30 PM – 30th Anniversary Screening of Kansas City

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 20
11:30 AM – A Brunch Celebration of Thirty Years Through the Lens (separate ticket required)
12:00 PM – The Bridge and Can We Kick It?
12:00 PM – Miss Matched
12:30 PM – Land in Freedom
2:30 PM – The Cowboy El Vaquero
2:30 PM – burn, scar and Naaz
2:30 PM – Documentary Shorts 3: Centering Disability
3:00 PM – Future of Film: Vertical Storytelling and the New Screen
5:00 PM – Final Interview
5:00 PM – Documentary Short and Heartland Filmmaker Award Feature Winner
5:00 PM – Narrative Short and Feature Winner