CINEMA COLUMBUS Film Festival to Present Full 2026 Lineup

CAPA has released the full 2026 schedule for the Cinema Columbus Film Festival, detailing the lineup of independent features and shorts set to screen across four Columbus venues. Now in its fifth year, the festival will present more than 20 screenings involving approximately 76 films at the Drexel Theatre, Gateway Film Center, Studio 35 Cinema & Drafthouse, and the Wexner Center for the Arts. Tickets for individual screenings are priced at $11.57 unless otherwise noted, with the full schedule available for purchase online.

The festival is set for September 10-13. Tickets for the full festival schedule are on sale now at www.CinemaColumbus.com. Tickets to individual screenings are $11.57, unless otherwise indicated. Pre-purchasing is recommended, but if inventory allows, tickets may also be purchased at the door.

'The astounding quality and creativity of the submissions this year was equal parts daunting and exhilarating. So many unique perspectives and visions. A beautiful encapsulation of the current state of modern independent film,' Cinema Columbus Film Festival Director Brett Reiter said. 'While our decisions weren't easy, one thing became increasingly clear to me -- this was the year we'd build the biggest table we ever have, with seats for our largest array of cinematic voices. This is the year we'd be deeper in both our local and global film community than ever before.'

The 2026 festival will open with Origins: Shorts of Ohio, a slate of four short films that Reiter said get to the heart of what the festival represents, at 7 pm Thursday, September 10, at the Gateway Film Center, 1550 N. High St.

The full schedule for the 2026 Cinema Columbus Film Festival is available online, including all special events and filmmaker appearances. Visit www.CinemaColumbus.com for the most up-to-date information.

Thursday, September 10

7:00 pm – Origins: Shorts of Ohio (OPENING NIGHT)

Gateway Film Center (1550 N High St.)

Ohio is the root for curiosity to grow. We tell stories of ourselves, of each other, of the world around us. A collection of shorts made by Ohio voices with global perspectives.

On the Street Where You Live (dir. Payton Burkhammer)
At The Stage When (Ci Shi Ci Ke) (dir. Hao Zhou)
This is the House: If I Don't See You, I Love You (dir. Claudia Owusu)
La Esperanza (dir. Javier Cruz-Ginez)

Friday, September 11

4:00 pm – Free Beer Tomorrow (dir. Julia Applegate & LuSter P. Singleton)

Gateway Film Center (1550 N. High St.)

A documentary film project that tells the story of Jack's/Summit Station, Ohio's longest running lesbian-owned and operated bar. With interviews from Peter Brown-a classically trained musician turned bar owner- to pioneering LGBTQ+ lawyer and legal scholar, Rhonda R. Rivera, and former patrons running the gamut of tap dancers, professional women's football players, feminist activists, bartenders and drag kings, the film explores lesbian culture in an era where bars were one of the few safe-havens from an oppressive and homophobic world.

4:30 pm - Sightlines: Ohio Documentary Shorts

Wexner Center for the Arts (1871 N. High St.)

With their hearts planted in Ohio, these exceptional documentary shorts cover personal struggle, warm relationships, societal pressure, the way history informs our present, and more. The 17th state in the union is a vast landscape for talented cinematic hands to mold their human stories both at home and abroad.

Maroon (dir. Logan St. Hilaire)
Paper Promises (dir. Grayson Kisker & Grant O'Brien)
Good Morning (dir. Nikki Swift)
Hands that Fed Us (dir. Benvindo Pereira)
home–work (dir. Dean Taylor)
Break All The Vases, Steal All The Flowers (dir. Michael Alexander Morris)
North Star (dir. Bryn Silverman)

6:30 pm – Who is Columbus? (dir. Renton Hinderer)

Gateway Film Center (1550 N. High St.)

Columbus-born filmmaker Renton Hinderer explores his hometown through the eyes of its residents, weaving together dozens of stories to reveal who this city is and what it's becoming.

6:30pm – Windward: Narrative Shorts 1

Gateway Film Center (1550 N. High St.)

There's a fire within all of us that drives us to want more. More for ourselves, our families, our communities. These unique short films capture shades of this essence.

Firewall (dir. Bita Ghassemi)
Order of Insects (dir. Lauren Verhage)
How to Hide It (dir. Ramla Ali & Richard A. Moore)
When the Tiger Roars (dir. Lam Can-Zhao)
Las Cosas Que Brillan (dir. Kristal Sotomayor)
Shoot, Shovel and Shut Up (dir. Tràn Hoàng Calvin)

7:00 pm – This is Pike County (dir. Laura Paglin)

Wexner Center for the Arts (1871 N. High St.)

Mounting pressures – including an unsolved family murder – test a close-knit rural community. Shot by director Laura Paglin, who lived at the local budget motel, the film lingers on what it means to come of age in a place left behind.

8:00 pm – Nocturnes: Late Night Shorts

Studio 35 Drafthouse & Cinema (3055 Indianola Ave.)

Not every 'late night' film has to jumpscare you. There's something unsettling on the fringes. Something is not quite right. The horrors of the world come to us in many shapes and forms.

You Have Her Eyes (dir. Jordan Sommerlad & Cory Stonebrook)
MAD (dir. Ana Bass)
Self Tape (dir. Josh Baker)
B/ROACHES (dir. Worlanyo Mensah)
The Repair Man (dir. Sebastian Petrou Griffith)
Favela Amarela (dir. Nícolas Lobato & Thiago Tuchu)
A Mighty Poison (dir. Kyle Marchen)

10:30 pm – Edie Arnold is a Loser (dir. Megan Rico & Kade Atwood)

Studio 35 Drafthouse & Cinema (3055 Indianola Ave.)

Timid dork Edie makes waves when she starts a punk band with her fellow 'turds,' becoming an icon to the rest of the losers at her Catholic school while pissing off the hot girls, the nuns, and the horniest altar boy you've ever seen.

Saturday, September 12

noon – My Pathetic Career (dir. Robert Post)

Gateway Film Center (1550 N. High St.)

Through his video camera, a constant companion on the road for decades, Post documents his encounters with odd and endearing people across the world, and shares personal reflections on his journey - from childhood struggles and career highs to battling fear and self-doubt.

noon – Sightlines: Documentary Shorts 1

Drexel Theatre (2254 E. Main St.)

The way 24 hours is spent looks different across the world each day, but we all carry our histories…these films track the ups and the downs of what shapes our material circumstances.

A New Inferno (dir. Nita Blum & Jonathan Pickett)
Rendered In Light (dir. Maria Marrone)
Like Father (dir. Jared Callahan)
I Wanted To Hear Your Voice (dir. James Pellerito)
Boys of Summer (dir. Annabel Edwards & Mito Habe-Evans)
For the Rough and the Restless (dir. Julius Oppermann)

2 pm – Wood Street (dir. Caron Creighton)

Drexel Theatre (2254 E. Main St.)

Two unhoused men turned community leaders— John and LaMonté —organize their neighbors in the face of displacement, addiction, and a failing social system. Their story is a powerful testament to resilience, solidarity, and the right to remain.

4:15 pm – Windward: Narrative Shorts 2

Drexel Theatre (2254 E. Main St.)

Sometimes, you put a shorts program together because themes, subjects, or topics align. While these films all touch upon our innate humanity, they all occupy different corners of what it means to be alive, to feel.

Seppuku in the Park (dir. Nikko Wisner)
Yard Sale (dir. Karmen Dann)
Long Distance (dir. Max Kane, Mike Overton & Joey Krulock)
Don't Wake Me Up (dir. Tiffany Campbell)
Love in Process (dir. Rey Tang)
The Boy and the Other (dir. Dominic Spradlin)
How to Witness A Miracle (dir. Matthew J. Pitts & Ajanaé T. Dawkins)

7 pm – The Bulldogs (dir. Ori Segev & Noah Dixon)

Drexel Theatre (2254 E. Main St.)

Following a catastrophic train derailment, The Bulldogs follows the residents of a small rural community in East Palestine, Ohio, as they navigate an uncertain path to recovery.

9:30 pm – Countryside (dir. Zach Frankart)

Drexel Theatre (2254 E. Main St.)

Two estranged brothers return to their rural, childhood home after their mother passes away. When a zombie outbreak throws the world into chaos, the brothers have no other choice but to barricade themselves in the house.

Sunday, September 13

11:30 am – Sirens: Supernatural Narrative Shorts

Gateway Film Center (1550 N. High St.)

GRIM (dir. Nathaniel Demuth, Ben Scott & Brad Waugh)
Me, My Dad, and the Th

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