Tallgrass Film Festival is the annual festival of the Tallgrass Film Association, a nonprofit in Wichita, Kansas, started by Wichita native Timothy Gruver; the first festival took place in October 2003. The organisers describe it as the largest independent film festival in Kansas. Over four days it screens independent features and shorts from the United States and abroad in downtown Wichita, alongside panels and education sessions for filmmakers.
Its competition sections reflect local and independent priorities: Stubbornly Independent for low-budget US narrative features without theatrical distribution, the Gordon Parks Award for Black Excellence in Filmmaking, Kansas filmmaker categories, the Murmurations section for Ibero-American films, named after a Joan Miró mural at Wichita State University, the Vortex strand of animated and experimental shorts, music videos and a K-12 student category. Feature films must be Kansas premieres. The 24th edition runs 15–18 October 2026.
Awards and prizes
Juried awards: Gordon Parks Award for Black Excellence in Filmmaking (feature and short), Stubbornly Independent Feature, Best Narrative Feature, Best Documentary Feature, Best Kansas Feature Film, Best Murmurations Feature, Best Murmurations Short, Best Kansas Filmmaker Documentary Short, Best Kansas Filmmaker Narrative Short, Best Emerging Documentary Short, Best Emerging Narrative Short, Best Narrative Short, Best Documentary Short, Best Animation Vortex Short, Best Experimental Vortex Short and Best Music Video. Films in the Narrative Feature category are eligible for a cash prize.
Audience awards: documentary feature, narrative feature, narrative short, documentary short, Vortex film and Kansas film.
Programming team awards: Outstanding Courage in Filmmaking, Outstanding Cinematography, Outstanding Editing, Outstanding Art Direction and Outstanding Sound Design.
Festival rules
Feature films must have their Kansas premiere at the festival: a screening at any other Kansas film festival before the festival dates disqualifies the film. World and US premieres are not required. Films screened in the USA before June 2025 or available on VOD, paid or free, are not eligible for competition.
Films generated entirely by AI are discouraged, and AI may not be used for directing, writing or editing. Any permitted AI use must be documented with the prompts and responses and listed in the credits.
The programmers decide the final competition category and may invite a film to compete in more than one. Works in progress are discouraged unless they will be finished before the notification date. Screening copies must have open captions, and films not in English must have English subtitles.
Kansas filmmaker categories are free to enter and require proof of a Kansas connection. The Thane Chastain Emerging Short Film category is open only to filmmakers aged 18 and under with a valid student ID. Submissions are accepted through FilmFreeway.
