Photograph courtesy of Cinependent Film Festival
Every week, the Cincinnati film community offers a plethora of repertory film screenings around town, ranging from Criterion Collections to deranged cult films. You’re not going to find Marvel screenings or anything too mainstream. Local cinephiles and filmmakers collaborate with venues like the Esquire Theatre and PAR Projects to bring these screenings to life on a weekly and monthly basis. It’s no wonder the Sundance Film Festival is considering Cincinnati for its 2027 host city.
Every month on this website, Steven Rosen offers his recommendations for interesting indie and arthouse films coming to local screens. You can also stay up to date on screenings by following Cincy Film Calendar on Instagram.
Every Tuesday night, Zachary Severt and Lillian Currens host free movies at PAR Projects, an art gallery/studio space in Northside. “It is an ongoing project bringing many different voices, artists, and curators to a single screen under a DIY and community-based ethos,” they said. Every month has a theme that’s woven into the selections. July’s theme has been assorted biographies, which included My Dinner With Andre and Bergman Island; it dovetailed nicely with June’s Persona.
For August, they’re focusing on drinking. “Hollywood tends to get alcoholism wrong,” they said. “In the movies, it’s often a man so far gone he’s made a home in the gutter, nursing his bottle of poison, a drunken caricature, a moralistic warning. But what about the times the movies get it right? Those Drinking Days is a series that takes a harder look at addiction, featuring four films exploring people’s nuanced experiences in (and out) of a more metaphorical gutter.” Billy Wilder’s The Lost Weekend kicks off the series on August 6, with Rachel Getting Married, Merrily We Go to Hell, and Tree’s Lounge following. After each screening, Severt and/or Currens lead an engaging film school-esque discussion of the films.
Woodward Cinema at Woodward Theater
Come to the Woodward Theater every Monday night (and sometimes Tuesday nights) to see an array of films, including documentaries. Curators Jonny Shenk—who’s lead curator for the Cindependent Film Festival and also runs Cincy Film Calendar—and Woodward co-owner Chris Varias present titles like Stop Making Sense and narrative horror films like We’re All Going to the World’s Fair. On July 29, round out the month and see the concert film for My Morning Jacket, Okonokos. The August lineup is chock full of docs and one narratives: August 5 has Okonokos again, and on August 19 We Grown Now screens in partnership with the Voice of Black Cincinnati. August 26 brings Electric Lady Studios: A Jimi Hendrix Vision. Tickets are $12 in advance or $15 day of screening.
Cincinnati Anime Film Festival
C. Jacqueline Wood founded the now-shuttered The Mini Microcinema, which was located across the street from Woodward Theater. Now she heads up Japanese comic book store Manga Manga in College Hill and the Cincinnati Anime Film Fest at the Hollywood Drive-In Theatre in College Hill. In June, they collaborated with Woodward and sold out Ghost in the Shell, which proved how much Cincinnatians love anime. The festival runs until August 9 with films like Spirited Away: Live on Stage and Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: Pyramid of Light, while Metropolis (2001) and Weathering With You finish the fest. Tickets are $25/car, or $6/person.
Typically every month, the Cindependent Film Festival (taking place September 19-21 at Memorial Hall) hosts a CindeSocial event. On July 30, they’ll present The Florida Project at the Esquire. On August 17, come to their Cindependence Day event at Cincinnati Sports Club. They’ll reveal the 2024 lineup while throwing a pool party with free Dewey’s pizza and a screening of the cult comedy Wet Hot American Summer. BYO pool floats, or purchase a Cindependent one.
Shelbi Schindler and Brian Disabatino, who own the used and rare book store in Covington, host monthly screenings. Past ones have included Inherent Vice and Gummo. On August 13, Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing will screen as part of the film’s 35th anniversary celebration. They promise to play the film “loud.”
On August 11, the movie buffs behind Secret Base (Ian Schiefer and Andy Simpson) will put on their first-ever movie marathon. “Nasty ’90s” features five back-to-back films: Serial Mom, Freeway, From Dusk Till Dawn, The Frighteners, and King of New York. Occasionally, they’ll offer a mystery double feature and leave clues leading up to the announcement of the films.
Justin Wiese runs Outer Cinema Cincinnati, a film screening society that focus on cult favorites. Last year, he shoed a restored version of the 1973 horror classic Messiah of Evil. On July 31, Johnny Mnemonic will be presented in black and white. In August, Crimes of Passion, a bizarre 1984 film starring Kathleen Turner, Anthony Perkins, and a vibrator, will screen. (To see it is to believe it.) Finally, Cincinnati Psychotronic Film Fest takes place September 26-28.
Deep Dive with Joe Horine
Film historian and adjunct film professor at UC Joe Horine presents monthly screenings at Esquire, Mariemont, and Kenwood theaters. On August 4 he’ll be doing a deep dive into The Seven Samurai at the Esquire, which he repeats September 4 at the Kenwood Theatre. On August 17, in partnership with Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, he’ll be discussing Hitchcock’s Dial M For Murder at the Kenwood.
Leontine Cinema
On August 27, yours truly and my co-curator Ann Driscoll (aka musician Annie D) will launch a monthly series at the Esquire featuring cult classics directed by women. Dogfight, a 1991 romantic drama starring Lili Taylor, Brendan Fraser, and the late great River Phoenix, will screen at 7:30 p.m. The series aims to showcase lesser known women-directed movies and highlight the many amazing films women have directed, leading up to the release of my book about the subject next year.
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