Friday, June 26, 2026

Free State Festival 2026 - THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS and Boots Riley

 It's Festival time in Lawrence, KS again! This year's fest is underway - today features Robyn Hancock in performance followed by two more days of films.

It's World Cup mania and Lawrence is a host city for the Algerian team; the theme this year being "The Revolution Will Be At The Movies". So what better way to show solidarity with screenings of the 2026 film THE ARAB, by Algerian director Malek Bensmaïl - which was the U.S./North American premiere! - and Gillo Pontecorvo's classic THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS, of which followed a panel discussion, which got a bit heated around the 32 minute mark. 

 

Boots Riley was a guest at the 2023 Free State Festival at the time when his I LOVE VIRGOS series was premiering, planning to screen the first episode. Due to the strike that was going on at the time, the episode didn't screen but that didn't prevent a good time from happening. Three years later, he returns to Lawrence & Free State with his insane (in a Great way) I LOVE BOOSTERS. The Q&A afterwards is over an hour, but it's good stuff.

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