Although the Kansas International Film Festival certainly isn’t Tribeca, this often overlooked celebration of film showcases a wonderful combination of indie and studio films from around the world.

From Nov. 4-10, the Glenwood Arts Theatre played host to the Kansas International Film Festival (KIFF), which included over 100 film screenings from over 50 countries, giving local film buffs a chance to see some hidden gems they may not have been able to otherwise.  

This year, KIFF celebrated its 16th birthday, and the film lineup didn’t disappoint. With films that nearly every movie fan could enjoy, from studio films like Jackie and Lion, to smaller budget indie films and documentaries such as Fursonas, the festival really out did itself.

Given the number of films, it would be impossible to see them all, but of the ones I saw, my favorite had to be Jackie, which followed the story of Jacqueline Kennedy (Natalie Portman) in the aftermath of John F. Kennedy’s (Caspar Phillipson) death. The film was screened at the festival a little less than a month ahead of its Dec. 2 wide release date.

Another film I enjoyed was Rush Brothers, a documentary about JaRon, Kareem, and Brandon Rush, who are Kansas City natives that have or had professional basketball careers. As a fan of KU basketball, the main appeal of the film to me was that Brandon Rush is a former KU player, but the story of the brothers would be interesting to any sports fan or Kansas Citian.

Apart from the lineup, another great feature of the festival was the Q&A sessions with filmmakers that followed some of the screenings. These gave audiences an opportunity to ask questions directly to the people behind the films.

As far as the festival as a whole goes, despite the diversity of films showcased, the crowd drawn was surprisingly the opposite. In nearly every screening I went to, I was easily the youngest person there, and in many cases, probably the only person under the age of 30. Whether this trend can be attributed to lack of publicity, or simply lack of interest among young people, I can’t say, but many of the films presented were certainly worthy of more attention than they received.

Although this year’s festival has come to a close, the festival will return around the same time next year with a new lineup of both local and international films.