Cincinnati’s independent film scene enters new chapter with unified Cindependent Festival

Cincinnati’s independent film community is entering a new chapter this fall as two longtime festivals come together under one name.

The Cindependent Film Festival and the Over-the-Rhine International Film Festival have merged to create the Cindependent Film Festival presented with LADD, combining the organizations’ programming, audiences, filmmaker relationships, and shared commitment to creating a more inclusive home for independent film in Cincinnati. The first festival under the new structure will be held September 16th-20th at Memorial Hall in Over-the-Rhine.

For Cindependent executive director and founder Allyson West, the decision to bring the two organizations together came down to a question of what Cincinnati’s film community could accomplish if two groups that had often been working toward similar goals stopped duplicating their efforts.

“At some point, we had to ask ourselves: does Cincinnati really need two organizations working incredibly hard, often toward the same goals, when we could put that energy into building something bigger together?” West said.

Both festivals had developed independently, with their own histories, traditions and audiences. But West said their missions increasingly overlapped around filmmakers, accessibility, community, and the opportunity for people to connect through movies.

“The merger became an opportunity to start multiplying impact,” she said.

Bringing two film communities together

Cindependent was founded in 2018 with a mission of creating a home for independent filmmaking in Cincinnati and providing filmmakers with professional resources, community and opportunities to grow their craft. The festival has developed a reputation for showcasing independent filmmakers while building connections between artists and audiences.

The Over-the-Rhine International Film Festival grew out of LADD’s work in film and disability representation. The festival began as the ReelAbilities Film Festival before transitioning in 2018 to the Over-the-Rhine International Film Festival, broadening its focus to stories from a wider range of marginalized communities.

That history goes beyond simply combining two event calendars.

West said one of the biggest questions during the merger process was how to bring the organizations together without losing the qualities that made each festival meaningful to its existing community.

“The biggest question was probably how do you combine two things people really love without accidentally sanding off everything that made them special?” West said.

That meant working through everything from the festival’s name and programming to team structures, traditions and operations. Beneath those practical questions was a larger goal: Preserve the strengths of both organizations while creating something neither could have built alone.

“The hardest part has been remembering that a merger isn’t really about logos or organizational charts,” West said. “It’s about people.”

A larger platform for independent film

The result is a festival with a broader programming footprint and a larger collection of resources for both filmmakers and audiences.

The 2026 Cindependent Film Festival will feature more than 80 films from more than ten countries, along with other supporting opportunities and events.

West said bringing the two organizations together allowed the team to think beyond the traditional film festival model of screening one movie after another. The additional programming is designed to create more opportunities for filmmakers and audiences to interact with each other, rather than simply sharing a theater for a couple of hours.

“One of the things both festivals understood is that the best part of a film festival often happens five minutes after the credits roll,” West said. “Someone asks a question. A filmmaker meets a collaborator. Two strangers start talking in the lobby.”

That philosophy is reflected in the festival’s expanded offerings, including masterclasses focused on education, “Deep Dives” that bring audiences into conversation with filmmakers, live screenplay programming, and networking opportunities.

The goal is to make those spontaneous connections a more intentional part of the festival experience.

For audiences, that means there are multiple ways to participate, whether they are longtime independent-film fans, aspiring filmmakers, people interested in learning more about the craft, or simply looking for something different to watch.

“You can come because you love movies,” West said. “You can come because you want to learn how movies get made. You can come because you want to meet filmmakers. Or you can come because your friend dragged you there and you suddenly discover something you never would have watched otherwise.”

Inclusion as part of the festival’s foundation

One of the most important pieces of the merger is the opportunity to bring LADD’s longstanding work around accessibility and disability inclusion into the larger Cindependent platform.

The unified festival is being built around the shared values of inclusion, accessibility and representation, with LADD continuing to play a role in supporting the festival’s administrative and development work.

For West, that partnership also expands what the festival can offer filmmakers and audiences.

“We have more capacity, more relationships, and more ways to welcome people into the festival,” she said.

Cindependent brings its filmmaker network and programming infrastructure, while OTR Film Festival and LADD bring years of experience creating disability-community-driven arts experiences and building accessibility into cultural programming.

“Together, we can think much bigger about what a film festival can actually be,” West said.

That includes more education, filmmaker support, conversations, and accessible opportunities for people to engage with the festival beyond sitting in a theater.

Cincinnati as a film city

The merger also comes at a time when Cincinnati’s independent film community is growing into a more connected ecosystem.

West believes the city offers something that can be difficult to find in larger film markets with opportunities for filmmakers and audiences to actually know one another.

“I love Cincinnati. Cincinnati has something I think filmmakers are hungry for. People actually have time for each other here,” she said.

A filmmaker can screen a project and then spend time talking with audience members. Filmmakers can meet other artists, collaborators, and supporters and potentially encounter those same people again throughout the festival or elsewhere in the city.

“You don’t disappear into a sea of 10,000 badges,” West said.

The city also brings a combination of arts institutions, architecture, neighborhoods, food, filmmaking talent, and audiences that West believes gives Cincinnati an advantage as an independent film destination.

“Cincinnati is also a city that punches wildly above its weight culturally,” she said.

The new festival gives the city an opportunity to build on that existing creative community while creating a larger platform for filmmakers coming from outside Cincinnati as well.

A new festival with a growing year-round footprint

The merger is happening alongside another significant development for Cindependent: the organization’s stewardship of the historic Mariemont Theatre.

Cindependent recently completed a community fundraising campaign to support the reopening of the theater, reaching its $1 million fundraising goal in July. The organization has said the theater will become a year-round home for film, education and community programming, expanding Cindependent’s work beyond its annual festival.

That development changes the scale of what Cindependent can potentially become.

“Cindependent started with a pretty simple idea—bring filmmakers and audiences together and see what happens,” West said.

The organization did not begin with the expectation that one of its selected films would eventually win an Academy Award, or that it would become the steward of an historic Cincinnati-area movie theater. Yet both milestones have now become part of its story.

The short film “The Singers,” which was selected and awarded through Cindependent, went on to win the Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film, marking another milestone for the organization.

West sees the theater and the festival as complementary pieces of the same mission.

“The festival gives us five extraordinary days to create community around independent film. Mariemont Theatre gives us the other 360,” she said.

Together, those pieces create an opportunity to support filmmakers, develop audiences and keep those relationships active throughout the year.

“It feels less like Cindependent is becoming something different and more like we finally have the infrastructure to become what we always hoped it could be,” West said.

Looking ahead

For Cindependent board president, Jack Crumley, the merger is also an opportunity to bring more people into a film community that has always tried to make room for different stories and perspectives.

“I’m excited to have more people in the Cinde-family. We’ve always been a big tent, but combining forces with LADD and the OTR Festival means we get to share new moments with our neighbors. We get to see new stories that we might not have been able to see before. We get to make new connections. It’s going to be the best Cindependent yet,” Crumley said.

The first unified festival will offer a chance to see what that larger community looks like in practice.

The 2026 Cindependent Film Festival presented with LADD will bring international films, filmmakers, education, conversations and networking together at Memorial Hall, with additional community and partner events surrounding the festival.

West says that preserving history while building something better is what makes this an exciting year. 

“We’ve had to learn when to preserve something, when to change something and when to invent something completely new,” she said. “Our goal hasn’t been to make everyone forget what came before. It’s been to build something that feels worthy of everything that came before.”

And while the new Cindependent may represent a significant change for Cincinnati’s independent film landscape, West sees that uncertainty as part of the fun.

“And we’re still figuring it out,” she said, “which, thankfully, has been the Cindependent business model since 2017.”

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What: 2026 Cindependent Film Festival, presented with LADD

When: Sept. 16-20, 2026

Where: Memorial Hall, Over-the-Rhine, Cincinnati

Get more information: View the official program

Visit the website for the schedule and tickets