The might of the documentary is back with 2009 True/False festival

Jonny Pez, left, and Brock Williams of Boxcar Films set up a video camera in the Cherry Street Artisan Annex to film a promotional video for the True/False Film Festival on Wednesday. Patrons lined up around the block to purchase passes to the festival, which begins this weekend.   ¦  CLAY MCGLAUGHLIN

COLUMBIA — It'll probably feel busier than a football Saturday in downtown Columbia over the next few days as thousands of people attend the 2009 True/False Film Festival. Ticket sales start Thursday in the Cherry Street Artisan Annex, 808 Cherry St.

The annex will open at 9 a.m. so people can get numbers to reserve their place in line to buy tickets, starting at noon.

"We get massive crowds that day, so as soon as we open ... we will start giving line numbers to people," said Beth Kopine, the head of ticket sales for the documentary film festival.

Vox magazine kicks off weekend coverage Thursday with stories about how founders Paul Sturtz and David Wilson pledge to keep the growing festival local and this year's True Life Fund focus on life and death journalism.

Also in Vox:

— Try this if you liked that: movie recommendations based on past offerings

— Q & A's with the directors of "No Impact Man" and "Reporter"

— A look inside the True/False office: 22,000 tickets are expected to sell this year

Vox and Missourian reporters plan to spend the weekend among festival-goers and tell you about events big and small at voxmagazine.com and ColumbiaMissourian.com. The festival Web site is truefalse.org/.