Cindependent Film Festival Announces Official 2025 Film Lineup

Cincinnati’s Cindependent Film Festival returns this September, and organizers have just announced the official selections.

The film festival is put on by the nonprofit CIFF, whose mission is to promote independent filmmaking in Cincinnati by bringing professional resources to and creating a community for filmmakers. This year’s festival will feature 73 films and live readings of 25 scripts across three days.

The official selection announcement came Saturday during CIFF’s Cindependence Day pool party for CindeFan members, filmmakers and friends. Organizers said that they received a record-breaking number of submissions — 803 — from 34 countries. Genres range from comedies and dramas to music videos, documentaries, experimental films, a short about the best man at a wedding diving into a trash compactor and more.

Out of 803 film submissions, 173 come from first-time filmmakers and 248 are from women directors. You can see the full lineup here.

This year’s lineup of official short and feature film selections will spotlight the talents of actresses Lily Gladstone, Jenifer Lewis and Rachel Sennott.

The Cindependent Film Festival will host live readings of 25 scripts over two days, master classes, deep-dive conversations, a cinema expo, champagne red-carpet events, afterparties and more.

The film festival runs Thursday-Saturday, Sept. 18-20 at Memorial Hall in Over-the-Rhine. Tickets are on sale now and can be bought here.

Memorial Hall, 1225 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine. More info: cindependentfilmfest.org.