Cinema Columbus

01/19/2026

The best way to celebrate National Popcorn Day is to submit your film to Cinema Columbus!

Early bird pricing is around for 2 more weeks. Don’t delay for the best pricing of !

🎬 Submit your film today at FilmFreeway.com/CinemaColumbus

12/01/2025

Film submissions are NOW OPEN for CCFF26!

Submit your film or screenplay now at FilmFreeway.com/CinemaColumbus!

Categories include:
🎬 Narrative Feature
🎬 Documentary Feature
🎬 Local Feature
🎬 Narrative Short
🎬 Documentary Short
🎬 Local Short
🎬 Animated Short
🎬 Short Screenplay

11/24/2025

✍️ Writers, start your engines!

The art of screenwriting is an important part of the filmmaking process, and for our upcoming season, we want to honor the page as much as we do the screen. We’re excited to share that we now have a short screenplay category!

All genres accepted, including comedy, drama, sci-fi, thriller, rom-com, mystery, action, horror, and everything in between.

Screenplays must be 40 pages or under. Submissions open Dec. 1.

11/24/2025

CALLING ALL FILMMAKERS: We're one week away from opening film submissions for !

Submit your film at FilmFreeway.com/CinemaColumbus starting Dec. 1.

We want to see your unique, creative vision in our fifth year celebration!

CCFF returns Sept. 10-13, 2026.

11/04/2025

🚨 The Cinema Columbus: Replay event previously scheduled for Tuesday, November 11, has been postponed. 🚨

We are setting a new date for the event sometime in the spring, with further details to come.

Hold onto your ticket! But, if you would prefer a refund, please reach out to Festival Director Brett Reiter ([email protected]).

Thank you for your understanding and we hope to see you soon!

10/28/2025

Get ready to raffle! We've got great prizes to share during our Cinema Columbus: Replay fundraiser (happening in just 2 weeks!).

Save your seat for Replay here: https://cinemacolumbus.eventive.org/schedule/68d2ba4ae47b5b107d60216f

Raffle items include:
🎬 Drexel Theatre Night Out Bundle
🎞️ Two sets of: two tickets, two large popcorns, two small sodas

🎬 Studio 35 Cinema & Drafthouse Bundle
🎞️ 4 free movie passes, t-shirt, pint glass, and gift card

🎬 Two tickets to Twilight in Concert
🎞️ Experience the legendary romance saga with this epic film-to-concert event – featuring the original movie accompanied by a sensational live band on stage and an enchanting candlelit atmosphere.

🎬 Four tickets to a McConnell Arts Center production
🎞️ Redeemable for four tickets to a future MAC production (not valid for Mad, Mad Men)

🎬 Gift Card to Cafe de Nook
🎞️ $25 to Downtown Columbus’ coziest coffee cubby!

🎬 Stay at Fox Hollow Ranch, a set of cabins in Hocking Hills (up to 4 nights)
🎞️ An artist retreat space by design, this cozy, private haven is warm and restorative!

🎬 One-on-one script consultation with filmmaker and screenwriter Noah Dixon (Poser, 2022)
🎞️ Bring a feature, short, or pilot at any stage. You’ll get 60–90 minutes of focused feedback on story, structure, character, and voice. Plus clear next steps and a brief follow-up notes summary. Session available via Zoom or in person (Columbus).

🎬 One-on-one post production consultation with editor Evan Campbell (Down to the Felt, 2025)
🎞️ From project management, to color grading, to the art of editing, sit down for a 60-90 minute session on any topic from the post-production side of filmmaking. Session available via Zoom or in person (Columbus).

🎬 One-on-one nonfiction storytelling workshop with Ruun Nuur (co-founder of NO EVIL EYE CINEMA and doc programmer for Vancouver International Film Festival)
🎞️ From ethics in filmmaking, to story structure, to research, sit down for a 60-90 minute session on any topic from the nonfiction side of filmmaking. Session available via Zoom or in person (Columbus).

10/27/2025

The countdown begins. Submissions for open in just 5 weeks.

We can't wait to see your films! For full submission details, click here: https://filmfreeway.com/cinemacolumbus

📽️ Cinema Columbus returns Sept. 10-13, 2026.

10/14/2025

After four years of showcasing some of the best independent cinema to the Columbus area, we're heading into Year 5 with a bang!

Join Cinema Columbus for a fundraiser as we reflect on the first four years and reintroduce ourselves to the community as we look ahead to our fifth birthday celebration next September.

Save your seat today and we'll see you at the Drexel Theatre: https://cinemacolumbus.eventive.org/schedule/68d2ba4ae47b5b107d60216f

The evening will feature:
🎬 a short film program (comprised of one film per festival year)
🎬 specialty cocktails (one drink of choice included with ticket)
🎬 specialty popcorn (one box included with ticket)
🎬 a raffle of items and experiences including theater memberships, one on one filmmaking sessions, and more
🎬 community!!!!!

09/10/2025

ONE YEAR FROM TODAY 🎬

Ahead of our fifth edition in 2026, we're making changes! We are shifting Cinema Columbus Film Festival from our normal dates to fall 2026.

❗ Cinema Columbus Film Festival returns September 10-13, 2026. ❗

📅 Mark your calendars!

05/04/2025

🏆 This year’s award winning films are…

Audience Choice Award
♣️ Down to the Felt

Documentary Feature Jury Award
🧳 Vacation Plantation
(Honorable Mentions: Speak. & INHERITANCE)

Narrative Feature Jury Award
🐺 Lone Wolves
(Honorable Mention: Achievement in Acting to Nancy Kimball in Battersea)

Short Film Jury Award
👍🏻 I Had a Really Good Day
(Honorable Mentions: Achievement in Animation to The Sacred Society & Achievement in Acting to Alice Lin of Ah-Ma Burns)

Congratulations to all of this year’s filmmakers — every screening was magic and showed the true depths of filmmaking in Columbus and beyond.

05/03/2025

We accomplished a lot on Day 3!

We questioned tourism at plantations, experienced original oratory with .documentary, visited Toledo with , welcomed creative voices in a shorts block, traveled to the West Coast with , and we had happy hour with !

📸 Photo credit:

05/02/2025

Ahead of our closing night this Sunday, Jerry Harrison chatted with Rewind Columbus about "Stop Making Sense."

Last-minute tickets still available for our closing night screening and Q&A hosted by Jerry Harrison!

https://soundcloud.com/bprewindcolumbus/interview-jerry-harrison-from-talking-heads?si=4f000f1d86c04051a9f019569ff3264a&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing