WIFI is dedicated to promoting and celebrating film production, stories from the Midwest, and education at Washburn University, in the Topeka community, and in the state of Kansas. The WIFI film festival is linked to Washburn’s WUmester which is Truth.
Date and Time |
Event |
Location |
Friday, April 29 |
||
11 a.m. - 5 p.m. | Films – check the WIFI Program for film schedule | Rita Blitt, T&SC Public Library |
1 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. | Workshop: Truth in Directing Featuring Allan Holzman | Facebook Live |
3 p.m. - 3:50 p.m. | HAVE A LAUGH: Walt Disney's Kansas City Legacy with Dr. Andrew Anglin | T&SC Public Library / Facebook Live |
5 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. | Filmmaker's Talk: Featuring Kevin Willmott, co-wrote BlacKkKlansman (2018) | Rita Blitt Gallery / Facebook Live |
7 p.m. - 9 p.m. | The Princess Bride (1987) | Evergy Plaza, downtown Topeka |
Saturday, April 30 |
||
11 a.m. - 3 p.m. | Films – check the WIFI Program for film schedule | Rita Blitt, Arts Connect, T&SC Public Library |
11 a.m. - 11:50 a.m. | Workshop: Myth or Truth Featuring Dennis Etzel Jr. | T&SC Public Library / Facebook Live |
2 p.m. - 2:50 p.m. | Workshop: Truth in Music Featuring Ethan Jackson | T&SC Public Library / Facebook Live |
3 p.m. - 5 p.m. | Panel: Truth from Women in Film Moderated by Sue Vicory | T&SC Public Library / Facebook Live |
5:30 p.m. - 7 p.m. | Filmmaker's Talk: Featuring Jill Gevargizian, director of The Stylist (2020) | Arts Connect / Facebook Live |
9 p.m. - 11 p.m. | After Party | The Norseman |
Sunday, May 1 |
||
11 a.m. - 2 p.m. | Films – check the WIFI Program for film schedule | Rita Blitt, Arts Connect, T&SC Public Library |
2 p.m. | Awards Ceremony | Facebook Live |
4 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. | Filmmaker's Talk: Featuring Andrew Allen, writer for Rush: Inspired by Battlefield (2016-) | Facebook Live |
Andrew Allen is an experienced writer, producer and director in Hollywood. After graduating USC’s graduate film program, Allen wrote an official adaptation of the bestselling “Battlefield” franchise for Electronic Arts and Verizon, which premiered to record-breaking streaming numbers and became a fan favorite. He also spent a year as a “Franchise Lab” writer for Chaotic Good, developing new IPs with top-level creative execs and pitching them to studios, streaming platforms, book publishers, comics publishers, game developers, and others. Allen was also the showrunner and executive producer on Warigami (2019-2020) for New Form and The CW.
Jill "Sixx" Gevargizian is a director and producer from Kansas City, Missouri. Much like the protagonist in her new film The Stylist (2020), she has been a hairstylist for over 10 years. Gevargizian has worked on many films outside of her own. Her directorial debut, a short entitled Call Girl (2014), starred genre-favorites Laurence Harvey (The Human Centipede II & III) and Tristan Risk (The Editor, American Mary), and her micro-short Grammy (2015) was distributed by Crypt TV. Her short, The Stylist (2016), starring Najarra Townsend (Contracted), won 17 awards, including the Jury Award at Etheria Film Night and Best Performance in a Short (Najarra Townsend) at Fantastic Fest and Monster Fest.
Kevin Willmott wrote and directed the critically acclaimed feature film C.S.A.: Confederate States Of America, about America, had the South won the Civil War. He is also known for The Only Good Indian, 2009, starring Wes Studi (Avatar, Last of the Mohicans), J. Kenneth Campbell (Bulworth, Yulee's Gold) and newcomer Winter Fox Frank, all of which premiered at The Sundance Film Festival. He also co-wrote and produced The Battle for Bunker Hill, 2008, and for television, Willmott co-wrote with Mitch Brian House Of Getty and The 70's, both mini-series for NBC. As a screenwriter, Willmott co-wrote Shields Green And The Gospel Of John Brown with Mitch Brian. He has also co-wrote Civilized Tribes, Little Brown Brothers, and The Watsons Go To Birmingham. He is also well-known for co-writing BlacKkKlansman (2018), which won an Academy Award for best-adapted screenplay. Willmott grew up in Junction City, Kansas, and attended Marymount College receiving his BA in Drama. After graduation, he returned home, working as a peace and civil rights activist, fighting for the rights of the poor, creating two Catholic Worker shelters for the homeless and forcing the integration of several long-standing segregated institutions. He attended graduate studies at New York University, Tisch School of the Arts, receiving several writing awards and his M.F.A. in Dramatic Writing. Willmott is now an Associate Professor in the Film Studies Department of the University of Kansas.