David Greedy
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Refocus Film Festival
For its fifth year, the Refocus Film Festival expanded its footprint and welcomed award-winning filmmakers, literary luminaries and popular podcast hosts in a weekend-long celebration of “the art of adaptation.”
Eliza Billingham
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Iowa Public Radio
Greg Gorman
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Englert Theatre
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The Refocus Film Festival is ringing in its fifth year, and this time it’s “bigger and bolder” than ever. From Oscar contenders to special guests, see what’s in store during the four-day festival hosted by FilmScene in Iowa City Oct. 22-25. -
Fatou Traore, an Ivory Coast native who has legally been living in Iowa City for two decades, faces imminent deportation to Sierra Leone. Supporters rallied Wednesday night calling for her release, and U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks sent a personal letter to the head of Homeland Security asking for a stay on the deportation order. -
A Johnson County judge ruled against the state’s decision to close its State Historical Society of Iowa research center in Iowa City. Since the Iowa Department of Administrative Services closed the building in December, advocates have been fighting for it to be reopened and for displaced items to be returned.
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The southeast corner of the Johnson County Administrative Building will become Dr. Lulu Merle Johnson Plaza, featuring a bronze statue of Johnson alongside plaques celebrating Black Iowans in Iowa City. -
NASA is partnering with the University of Iowa, Cedar Rapids, Iowa City and Des Moines Water Works to create a new tool to forecast water quality conditions. The goal is to combine satellite imagery with water quality monitors across the state to predict when nitrate concentrations in surface or ground water will reach dangerous levels. -
On this episode of Talk of Iowa, we talk with Dan Roche, author of Eyes By Hand: The Prosthetics of Art and Healing, a book on how prosthetic eyes are crafted and how ocularists provide care for those that have experienced eye loss. We hear about his experience losing an eye, how he became interested in researching prosthetic eyes and what he’s learned. We also talk with Lindsay Wagner-Pronk, one of just a few ocularists in Iowa, who is featured in the book. (This show was originally produced August 18, 2025.)
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On this episode, we talk with the people behind Iowa's two Latino film festivals. The Des Moines Latino Film Festival just held its sixth annual event on April 11. Antonio Romero of the Latino Center of Iowa and Ben Godar of Varsity Cinema, who co-present the festival, share how their partnership has reshaped the festival the last couple years, and their hopes for the future. Then, we get a preview of the inaugural Aqui y Alla Latin American Film Festival happening May 1-3 at Filmscene in Iowa City with programming director Ben Delgado and festival committee member Ariana Martinez. Also, poets JD Schraffenberger and Sean Thomas Dougherty join to discuss their recently published "chapbook" of golden shovel-formatted poems that were inspired by the work of James Hearst.
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A new film festival celebrating Latino culture and community is coming to Iowa City this weekend. The inaugural Aquí y Allá Latin American Film Festival takes place May 1-3 at FilmScene’s Chauncey cinema and features six new premieres. -
Police are investigating a shooting that happened early Sunday morning at the downtown Ped Mall near the University of Iowa campus. Five people were taken to area hospitals. No arrests have been made.
