Raid documentary
to be shown in Wichita
“Seized,” director Sharon Liese’s award-winning documentary about the now-disavowed 2023 raid on the Record newsroom and two homes, will be shown at 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17, in Wichita.
The showing during Tall Grass Film Festival will be in the extensively restored 1,286-seat Orpheum Theatre. Tickets will be available at https://tallgrassfilmfestival2026.eventive.org/. A panel discussion is planned after the film.
After completing its run of film festivals, the documentary, which includes numerous interviews with Marion residents, is scheduled to be aired in December on the Home Box Office cable and streaming service.
It was shown this past weekend at Kansas City FilmFest International and will be shown later this week for the Missouri Press Association.
The film, 2½ years in the making, had its premiere in January at the Sundance Film Festival and has been shown at other festivals from New Zealand to Washington, D.C.
Relatively nearby, it previously was shown at the Free State Film Festival in Lawrence and at the True/False Film Festival in Columbia, Missouri.
Next month it will be shown at the Woodstock Film Festival and at a special showing in Albany, New York, in addition to an Oscar-qualifying run in a New York City commercial theater.
Other showings have been at Bentonville Film Festival in Arkansas; Berkshire International Film Festival; Big Sky Documentary Film Festival in Montana; Boston Independent Film Festival; DC/DOX in Washington; Florida Film Festival, where it won a juried award as best documentary; Full Frame Documentary Film Festival in North Carolina; Lighthouse International Film Festival in New Jersey; Martha’s Vineyard Film Festival; Milwaukee Film Festival; Paul International Film Festival; Providencetown Film Festival; and San Francisco Documentary Festival among others.
The Record, its employees, and its owners have had no financial interest in or editorial control over the film.
To date, insurance companies for city and county government have paid out nearly $4.3 million in damages to victims of the raid, including $300,000 to the Record.
Federal lawsuits against the city by the Record; publisher Eric Meyer; the estate of Joan Meyer, who died a day after the raid; and Ron and Ruth Herbel, whose home also was raided, remain pending.
Insurance — no taxpayer money — is paying for city and county legal fees.