Ohio gets a close-up in CAPA’s Cinema Columbus Film Festival, which casts the Buckeye state as star in several of its 75-plus independent selections.
The four-day event is bookended by showings of Ohio-related shorts, with the state highlighted in films such as “Free Beer Tomorrow,” about Ohio’s longest-running lesbian-owned and -operated bar, once located in Columbus.
The Arch City also appears in Renton Hinderer’s “Who is Columbus?” an exploration of his hometown through the eyes of locals, while “This is Pike County” focuses on a rural Ohio community struggling amid drugs, poverty and the specter of a grisly massacre.
Cinema Columbus, ranked the nation’s top film festival in USA TODAY’s 2025 10Best Readers’ Choice Awards, will run Sept. 10-13
at four venues. Special presentations will feature panels with filmmakers and other industry experts.
Here is the schedule for the Cinema Columbus Film Festival:
Sept. 10
- 7 p.m.: “Origins: Shorts of Ohio” – Four short films from 15 to 17 minutes long; Gateway Film Center, 1550 N. High St.
Sept. 11
- 4 p.m.: “Free Beer Tomorrow” – Gateway Film Center
- 4:30 p.m.: “Sightlines: Ohio Documentary Shorts” – Seven short films from three to 18 minutes long; Wexner Center for the Arts, 1871 N. High St.
- 6:30 p.m.: “Who is Columbus?” – Gateway Film Center
- 6:30 p.m.: “Windward: Narrative Shorts 1” – Six short films from 11 to 15 minutes long; Gateway Film Center
- 7 p.m.: “This is Pike County” – Wexner Center for the Arts
- 8 p.m.: “Nocturnes: Late Night Shorts” – Seven short films from four to 20 minutes long; Studio 35 Cinema & Drafthouse, 3055 Indianola Ave.
- 10:30 p.m.: “Edie Arnold Is a Loser” – Studio 35 Cinema & Drafthouse
Sept. 12
- Noon: “My Pathetic Career” – Gateway Film Center
- Noon: “Sightlines: Documentary Shorts 1” – Six shorts from seven to 25 minutes long; Drexel Theatre, 2254 E. Main St.
- 2 p.m.: “Wood Street” – Drexel Theatre
- 4:15 p.m.: “Windward: Narrative Shorts 2” – Seven short films from five to 21 minutes long; Drexel Theatre
- 7 p.m.: “The Bulldogs” – Drexel Theatre
- 9:30 p.m.: “Countryside” – Drexel Theatre
Sept. 13
- 11:30 a.m.: “Sirens: Supernatural Narrative Shorts” – Eight short films four to 27 minutes long; Gateway Film Center
- Noon: “Flutter: Animated Shorts” – Eight short films three to 15 minutes long; Studio 35 Cinema & Drafthouse
- 1:30 p.m.: “Sightlines: Documentary Shorts 2” – Five short films seven to 35 minutes long; Gateway Film Center
- 1:30 p.m.: “My Brain: After the Rupture” – Gateway Film Center (in partnership with Art Possible Ohio and ReelAbilities Film Festival Columbus)
- 4 p.m.: “Crystal Cross” – Gateway Film Center
- 6:30 p.m.: “Windward: Ohio Narrative Shorts” – Six short films 10 to 19 minutes long; Gateway Film Center
Tickets to individual screenings are $11.57 unless otherwise noted. Prepurchasing is advised. Tickets will be sold at the door if any remain.
Visit cinemacolumbus.com for tickets, film synopses and other details.
Contact features and entertainment reporter Belinda M. Paschal at bpaschal@dispatch.com.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Cinema Columbus Film Festival returns with 75-plus indie films
