This episode originally aired on Aug. 31, 2026.
The Cinema Columbus Film Festival has moved from May to September and it's an annual showcase for Ohio filmmakers.
This year's topics are timely and topical, including a Columbus native of Haitian descent exploring the Haitian experience in America.
Another filmmaker tells the story of Columbus through interwoven stories. An Ohio State University professor-turned filmmaker explores modern marriage and traditions in China. And that's just a sampling of what's in store.
Guests:
- Brett Reiter, festival director of the Cinema Columbus Film Festival
- Logan St. Hilaire, filmmaker
- Claudia Owusu, filmmaker
Transcript
This transcript is generated with AI. To ensure its accuracy, review the audio file.
Amy Juravich: Welcome to All Sides with Amy Juravich. Film is Us is the theme for Columbus's annual film festival this year. Seeing and hearing stories that are similar to ours makes us feel seen and as like we're a part of something bigger than ourselves. This year at the Cinema Columbus Film Festival, filmmakers will share untold stories that help unite audiences. And along the way, the films will cement what it means to live in Columbus. Joining us to preview this year's film festival, we have Brett Reiter, a festival director for the Cinema Columbus Film Festival. Welcome to the show, Brett.
Brett Reiter: Bye, how's it going? Thanks for having me.
Juravich: Okay, so the festival's coming up soon. This year it is September 10th to the 13th, so just a couple weeks away. And I know previous year's festivals were held in May, so talk to me about the move to September.
Reiter: Yeah, so I think it's healthy for any organization to take stock of its mission, who it serves, who it's about, who its for. And I think that a milestone, like a fifth birthday, is time for change to embrace evolution. And even I think our key demographic has tended to be younger folks, 18 to 25 and April and May is final season and they're trying to cram all their work in. So I feel like the shift was was for that reason too, and I think just moving forward, trying to stay abreast of the needs of our people, our film goers, our film watchers in a very ever-changing industry.
Juravich: So central Ohio is chock full of college students and you should have a film festival when they're around.
Reiter: Yes, yes, and quite selfishly, I like my fall fashions better.
Juravich: Oh, oh, well, yes. I mean, you know, it's a very visual medium. You want to look good, right? Exactly. OK, so talk to me about the venues for the festival this year. I don't know if they're any different. I don't I don't have venues memorized from the past five years. So what you know where can where you're kind of all around the city with venues. Right. Yes. Yeah.
Reiter: Yes. Yeah. And if anything, you know, in its first few years, Cinema Columbus started with 10 venues over five days. And that became a challenge cohesively. And so I think kind of going back to the question about why we shifted to the fall too is, is to make it more concise and more lightning in a bottle, perhaps instead of having like gathered venues because I mean Columbus is is wealthy in the sense of art house cinemas and theaters and venues. So it's an embarrassment of riches. And so now we're down to four venues from 10. It's not that the other ones didn't do great. They were wonderful. But I think it is honing in on each venue's capacities and their demographics as well. So we have Gateway Film Center, we have Wexner Center for the Arts, we have the Drexel Theater, and we have Studio 35.
Juravich: Great. Okay. And so the idea is, is that people can buy tickets to like an individual screening. You could buy a group of tickets and go to a bunch. I mean, tell me what you hope film lovers do with this festival. Yeah.
Reiter: Yeah, I actually hope that, of course, I hope you read the descriptions and the filmmakers and look into it, but honestly, throw a dart at the board, you'll find something for you. I think Cinema Columbus doesn't have a niche or a specific lane, it's not a horror festival, it's a documentary festival, we have kind of something for everyone, and I kind of liken it to if you're on a road trip with a trusted friend who puts together playlist. You might not be familiar with all the songs or the names, but like something in the story that they're telling you might remind you of your mom or remind you to text your friend back or have a memory from eighth grade that you forgot. Just sort of like the shades of voices and perspectives sort of speak to you in that way.
Juravich: Okay, so to pick which films you're showing, was there like a jurying process or how do you select what is shown?
Reiter: Yeah, so Cinema Columbus submissions are on a platform called Film Freeway like a lot of film festivals are. And I have a team of about 12 to 13 screening team members and I have three people watch each film and grade it from one to five and sort of write me a review of what they think was successful, why it might deserve to be programmed or have a slot. And then myself and a couple other members of a selection committee kind of sift through that and make the calls.
Juravich: And do you, there's other cities have film festivals. Do you take into consideration whether a film has been shown somewhere else or anything like that, or is it just your gut reaction to it? Columbus picks Columbus.
Reiter: Yeah, that's a great question. I think some festivals operate on premiere status. There's a couple of films playing at this year's festival that have already played in Columbus, but I don't necessarily worry about that. I think that if a filmmaker has the chance to screen their film more than once, that a gift, and I'm happy to have that opportunity as well. Yeah.
Juravich: Yeah, do filmmakers have to like pay to submit their film or something like that? Yes. Okay.
Reiter: Yes, yes more often than not a lot of film festivals will charge submission fees But for example with OSU students and CCAD and Denison capital off college colleges in the area I do give out free waiver codes, but yes, I try to keep it between ten and thirty dollars per submission
Juravich: Okay, so professional filmmakers, if they want their film shown in your film festival, they'll submit it, they'll pay a fee. And then if it gets selected, then it's on the list.
Speaker 3: Is that right?
Juravich: Okay, and so talk to me about ticket sales, because I saw the, there's like, you could pick individual events or you can do a grouping of tickets, like is it like a pass?
Reiter: Yeah, yeah. There are a couple of passes that are based on location. I think going back to the point about looking for cohesion, for example, on Saturday the 12th, primarily everything is at the Drexel that day in Bexley. So my hope is that someone wanted to spend the day down in Beksley, get a sandwich at Newfangled Kitchen to go to graders, to walk across the street to Capital University for our panels and segments. And just, so there are a few options, but single tickets are of course available too.
Juravich: This is All Sides on 89.7 NPR News. We're talking about the upcoming Columbus Film Festival with Brett Ryder, Festival Director of the Cinema Columbus Film festival. Now, there are not just film screenings. I noticed on your website that you have some panel discussions too. One that I found was called How Do You Make It in the Midwest? Another panel discussion is called The Art of the Short. But let's start with, how do you make it in the midwest? Have you figured it out? What's the answer? How do you, how do make it? Yeah. I don't know, am I making it? I don't know.
Reiter: No, I think that that's the coming up with the title for that panel. It was like, what is the question we always talk about as Columbus artists, Columbus filmmakers is how do you make it in the Midwest? I don't think that every filmmaker has an aspiration to be in LA or New York or Chicago or London. Um, they might want that path and that's great, but I think. That there are so many more shades to being a filmmaker to being a working artist that you can make it anywhere. And I would hope that we can figure out how to make it. In the Midwest, I'm still wondering the same thing myself.
Juravich: All right, so we have to attend the panel and hear the discussion. All right. And maybe we'll find out. I hope they I hope they answer the question, too. So then another panel is called The Art of the Short. So is that like how to make a short film, a discussion? Yeah.
Reiter: Yeah, I think another big change for this season is that we're leaning in on more shorts. I think that to me the short films of the last few years really speak to, not that they have to, but in the cinema Columbus sense, the human condition, the human experience, and what it means to be alive right now. And I think with more shorts comes more voices to platform. Instead of having a feature film take 90 minutes, which we have many of those too, a short film block can have five to seven different voices and perspectives, and so the art of a short panel... Is with a documentary short maker narrative and one more hybrid to discuss not just the making of it, but just how to put it together in this modern world.
Juravich: So tell me about this idea of the short. So you're not asking people to go all the way to the theater just to watch a 15 minute film. You're packaging, you're like putting several together and making it like a compilation. Tell me about that.
Reiter: Yeah, and that's that's the most fun part as a programmer. I do like to provide a whiplash sometimes. I don't think
Juravich: Oh, you put different things together. Is that what you mean? Is that what you mean?
Reiter: Yeah, and sort of picking a film is not just, okay, I want this 15 minute one. You have to think about it in conversation with a 10 minute one, a two minute one and sort put together the arc of the block. And so one of my favorite blocks, for example, is the animated shorts block this year, which ranges from a 10 year old who wrote and narrated a piece about an angler fish who lost his light and a college student animated it. There is one about-
Juravich: Oh, wait, that's adorable. I love you. Oh, OK.
Reiter: Finding the light I love that one
Juravich: Okay.
Reiter: There's one about a woman griefing an ex-boyfriend. There's about a brother who digs up his own brother's corpse to climb to the top of the mountain they never got to. Just different styles of animation, different feelings, different tones. Again, whiplash.
Juravich: Well, I just the corpse thing. I just said, whoa, because I was like, wait, you said that sentence so casually and I'm like, Wait a minute. Whoa, yes, that one. Yeah.
Reiter: Compelling, but yes, very casual
Juravich: okay okay so the is is a part of the requirement to be to be debuting in a film festival like can the video does the video have to not be available for free on YouTube or is that does that not matter to you
Reiter: It doesn't matter to me. It might matter to some film festivals, but again, I don't think If there's exclusive rights elsewhere, that's okay I'm just happy to to share that person's voice within the other voices in the program No matter how many times it's played if it's live even some of them Were made and featured on New York Times the docks or NPR has a piece this year And so I think it does not matter to be as long as the film kind of captures an essence of independent film or a unique perspective.
Juravich: Do you know the percentage of what you're showing that's local or even Midwestern versus something that's maybe national?
Reiter: That is an awesome question that I wish I knew for to answer the question for you right now.
Juravich: That's okay, yeah.
Reiter: I always like to say that the Cinema Columbus program is half local, half global, where Columbus filmmakers can be in conference with filmmakers from everywhere else that all of our films are kind of on the same plane. But I think if I had to guess out of the 76 films over four days, I would say maybe 45 are either to Columbus or Ohio. Thank you.
Juravich: I mean that sounds like a good percentage to me.
Reiter: It is a lot. Yeah.
Juravich: Did you, like, did you want to make it mostly like, or I don't know if that was half, you know, maybe like a little more than half local, or did you, I mean, do you want it? Do you want screen, you now, national films here? Yeah, tell me about that.
Reiter: Um It's not really intentional. I think it depends on the year, with each year brings new submissions and new films. Maybe there's a bunch from Cleveland one year, and then there's not the next year. I think Midwestern voices, I think, are always important to me. And I think coming from my background as a film producer in Columbus, the only way I was able to make any work was by those Columbus filmmakers and artists around me that I think that in some ways, I feel like Cinema Columbus is giving back to that idea. As well, but it's not the main focus, even if I think in my heart it might be.
Juravich: Tell me about the theme. I mentioned the theme is called film is us. What does that mean to you?
Reiter: Yeah, I loved hearing you repeat that back. That was wonderful. That was beautiful. I think that, again, the scattered nature of the cinema Columbus of past, I think I'm again trying to find that lightning in a bottle and the shared experience of watching something on a screen, whether it's an iPad, a laptop, a big screen, film is kind of everywhere. And I think film unites us. And I that that. I don't have any aspirations for the festival to become a Sundance, to become an industry festival. That what really matters to me is quality films, quality filmmakers, quality audiences just coming together for the shared feeling of wanting to explore curiosities.
Juravich: And I did notice on your website you have an awards tab. So you give out kind of like a best in show. There's also an audience choice award. Tell me about that. Who votes, who picks?
Reiter: Yeah, so the Audience Choice Award has actually been, we're not doing that this year.
Juravich: Oh, I saw it last year, I'm sorry. Don't worry, don't worry.
Reiter: This year we're leaning in on juried categories. So members of both Columbus arts communities and the global film communities are weighing in on four different categories from documentary feature to narrative feature, documentary short and narrative short. And so as we speak, there's people all across the country watching the films that are at Cinema Columbus. And then in a week or so, or actually next week we'll have a deliberations to discuss who the winner is and give out cash prizes.
Juravich: Will you give out the prizes during the festival? Will they know before it's screened? Will they be like, now we're screening an award winner or something? Yeah, okay.
Reiter: No, no, it'll be at the very end of the festival.
Juravich: Do you have like an event where you would give out the award?
Reiter: Yes, the closing night reception.
Juravich: Okay, got it. All right, so before we run out of time, we are gonna bring on a couple of filmmakers and we're gonna talk about making films in Columbus. We'll talk about their films specifically, which are being screened at the festival. But before we do that, we have some time to talk about a few of the films you're showing. You said there's 76, right? So we're not gonna get through 76 in this show. But one title that particularly caught my attention is a film called "Who Is Columbus?" I watched the trailer. Have you seen this one?
Juravich: Of course. Can you tell me about it without without using any of the words that are non-radio words that are all over the trailer?
Reiter: No, totally. I'm glad that you asked about this film. All the documentary features this year, the four of them in competition are about communities. There's one about an unhoused community in Oakland. There's one about the train derailment in East Palestine. This is Pike County, the county to county south of us. And then "Who is Columbus?", as you just mentioned, is so deeply about Columbus. And there's no sense of subjectivity. It is clearly this person's POV perspective of what they think Columbus's different shades are, and the ups, the downs, the fighting between groups that are on the same sides, the dirty, the messy, the grungy, but also in a very just simple and compelling way where you sort of feel like you're talking to the filmmaker or you're alongside with them. There's no crane shots or there's no, it's not really about that. It's on the ground, but yeah. Yes, yes, and I think I really, stylistically really resonated with that too, just. Film can be what you make of it. It can be a crew of 90, but it could be also one person with a handy cam just walking around the streets. And I think that that was very important to me to showcase that as well.
Juravich: I've done several shows about Columbus and its lack of identity and whether it needs an identity and how well-known Columbus is around the country, et cetera, et cetera. So does this film answer the question, who is Columbus?
Reiter: Well, I guess like the question from before, how do you make it in the Midwest? Maybe we're all still trying to figure that out.
Juravich: Yeah, okay.
Reiter: I don't think it has a clear answer, but I think it is a time capsule.
Juravich: Yeah. Well, and and it also made me think seeing the name of that film also made me think of like because your festival theme is film is us and Columbus has really been leaning into the us part of Columbus, right? Yeah, which a lot of marketing campaigns emphasize the US at the end. Even your your logo for Cinema Columbus has the US in a different color. So is that that just is trying you're trying to like, you know, we're a community. It's about
Reiter: Tell me more. We are the city's film festival, and I think I, too, have been in many conversations over the years about who is Columbus, what is Columbus' identity, and always come back to it's everyone's identity and what they make of it. And I think that the films of this year also showcase that the way we all interact with the Columbus that we know. Is as important as our neighbor's version of that, that I feel like the shared identity is that we all have our own take on it.
Juravich: Well, we are previewing the Cinema Columbus Film Festival with Brett Reiter, the festival director. The festival is September 10th to the 13th and it has many locations around Columbus. You can visit Cinema Columbus' events page to get tickets and learn more. And we're gonna talk more about the festival and coming up we're going to meet two local filmmakers who have pieces in the festival. That's when All Sides continues on 89.7 NPR News.
Juravich: You're listening to All Sides. I'm your host, Amy Juravich. The Cinema Columbus Film Festival wouldn't exist if it weren't for the dozens of talented filmmakers who are based here. This year's festival features timely topics such as looks into the Haitian-American experience and Columbus' booming Ghanaian population. Still with us is Brett Reiter, Festival Director of the Cinema Columbus film festival. Thanks again for being here, Brett.
Reiter: Happy to be here.
Juravich: And joining us now, we have Logan St. Hilaire. He is a Haitian St. Lucian American and an interdisciplinary artist working primarily in video and photography. Welcome to All Sides, Logan.
Logan St. Hilaire: Hi. Thank you.
Juravich: And also joining us is Claudia Owusu, a Ghanaian-American poet, filmmaker, and essayist. Welcome to All Sides, Claudia. Happy to be here. All right, so Logan, Claudia, as filmmakers, how are you feeling? The festival's approaching. It's in two weeks. Are you nervous, excited? Claudia, let's start with you. What are you feelin'? I'm really nervous.
Claudia Owusu: I'm really excited. I invited a bunch of folks that I love from the Columbus community, specifically within the Ghanaian immigrant population. And so I'm just really excited to just be gathered together in this space of the theater and to just watch all the films in the program. Yeah. Logan, how are you feeling?
St. Hilaire: Absolutely excited. I think filmmaking is such a beautiful art form to really share experiences, and I'm just very glad to have a communal experience with everyone.
Juravich: And this is your first, this is a premiere for both of you, right? Are you premiering films? Okay, that's so exciting. What did it feel like when you got notified that your film was picked to be a part of the festival, Logan?
St. Hilaire: I was just, it's always, whenever you make a film, it always feels super personal and you think there's no way that somebody could really connect with this at such a larger scale, but especially when it is a familial documentary, but to know that it has a power to resonate with others is really impactful.
Juravich: Claudia, how did you feel when you got the notice?
Owusu: Yeah, the same as what Logan shared, I think, especially after getting the notice and seeing just the care with which it was programmed, alongside other similar themes, it just really made me feel seen and made the story also feel like it had communicated what I had intended.
Juravich: All right, Logan, let's start with your film, "Maroon." It's about the Haitian-American experience. It's a documentary short about your family and the journey from Haiti to making a home in America. What made you decide to make a film on this particular topic?
St. Hilaire: Yeah, absolutely. So at least being in university, this was made as my senior thesis film. And I really just wanted to reflect because in the past I'd made documentaries about other people's families and other people lives, but I really wanted to turn the camera inwards. And my Haitian identity is something that I've really come to appreciate more, at least, being a young adult because previously that's something I really kept sheltered and away from other people just knowing that, um... You know, there's a stigma to being Haitian, and that's being exaggerated now, unfortunately, but I did want to really own and claim my identity and share that with other people and share the beautiful history that my family has had.
Juravich: Yeah, and your film does not really focus in on any of like the politics. It's just it's a family story. I mean, tell me about that decision to not really include how you know what we're seeing in the political issues when it comes to the Haitian community. You wanted to show that these are like people who live here.
St. Hilaire: Yeah, correct, but it's also like you have your capital P politics and your lowercase P politics, but I wanted to focus on how the family itself is political and how every single act of resistance, whether that be just sharing intimate moments with one another and really just sharing time with your children is ultimately political when the world really is examining you with a fine-tooth comb. Every single act of your life becomes political, but these intimate moments. These intimate moments.
Juravich: That's fascinating. So it makes your just even a family moment feel political to you because you're Haitian.
St. Hilaire: Yeah, absolutely. Any form of survival is really resistance.
Juravich: Claudia, you're nodding along, you feel the same way.
Owusu: Yeah, absolutely. I think, I mean, in the similar themes of like immigration in both of our films, it's really about, I guess, thinking about posterity when it comes to immigrating and what it means to have left home, to then make another home in a new place. And then also being told that you don't belong here. And so just thinking about the collective work of our parents and even those who came before them to really create a home And also, how do we then, as children of immigrants or even first-generation immigrants... Honor that sacrifice and that legacy, and I think with what I have most accessible to me is film and writing, and that's the best way that I could do it.
Juravich: So Claudia, your short film is called, "This Is the House, If I Don't See You, I Love You." And it's about a father daughter, you're basically cleaning out the house and you're uncovering family archives about immigration, other losses that your family experienced. Tell me why you decided to make such a personal film. I think.
Owusu: Still on the theme of posterity, when I'm thinking personally about my dad and he's aging, but then I'm also thinking about the world and the rhetoric, namely in America around immigration and belonging and ICE and all these things that are really just in real time threatening the people that I love. And so it felt like this film was timely because it was one, a way to document the changes in my own family while also in and of itself. Juxtaposing it next to what is happening legally across America and to just tension and put the two next to each other.
Juravich: And Brett Ryder, I wanted to bring you back into the conversation. Brett's the director of the Columbus Film Festival. Tell me about your thoughts as a festival director about introducing these two filmmakers to the city.
Reiter: I could listen to them talk for hours. I don't think we ever get this opportunity that often to sit as a film community and engage and ingest each other's work in this way. So I'm loving my time so far. I think that the last 10 minutes have been exactly what you just asked. It's a gift to share these perspectives with people who might think that film equals Hollywood or film equals. $10 million film is very personal, though film is political. Film comes from people's hearts, and it's, I think too often that gets lost in how we talk about the industry and what we're building. I think that the stories matter just as much as the product does.
Juravich: Can you talk to me about, I mean, cause Logan said this was like his senior thesis, the film was, do you get a lot of submissions? Like, and then you have to like, I mean you can't pick and show hundreds of movies, right? Yeah.
Reiter: Yeah, this is
Juravich: There's a lot of film students in central Ohio. That's what I was getting at. Yeah Yeah.
Reiter: Yes, and I think similar to how the program Tapeshape, I try to have it come from all different ages and places and people. And I think that I got the privilege of sitting in the OSU Senior Showcase and watching Logan's. Logan had submitted the film, but I had not watched it yet. So I got to watch it for the first time on the big screen. And I thought that that was so impactful because when I was 21, I was not making films of that depth, of that feeling, of that texture, that I just. It blew me away and Claudia, similarly, and I had programmed your previous work, Ampie, at the festival a few years ago, and just to watch your evolution as an artist and as a filmmaker, I'm excited for where you go next too. I just, I don't know, I love this.
Juravich: This is All Sides on 89.7 NPR News. We're talking about the Cinema Columbus Film Festival with Brett Ryder, director of the festival. Also with us is Logan St. Hilaire and Claudia Owusu, two featured filmmakers at the festival All right, I wanna talk about the titles of each of your films because first of all, the title is very important, especially in a film festival. If you want, you gotta hook people in to get them to watch it. Claudia, your title is "This is the House, If I Don't See You, I Love You." Tell me about coming up with that title. Mm.
Owusu: I should say that I love a long title. And so my last two films have had long titles, but specifically I think it was a way to, one, again, evoke the physicality of the house that I grew up in, in Columbus, and just to really think about it at a point in time. And then, you know, having the latter end of the title, If I Don't See You, I Love You, just thinking about the transience of what my life is now whenever I visit my So, Yeah, I think I just really wanted to create something that felt poetic, but also really aligned the duality of what I was working with in the film, which is in one, the house itself, and in two, my father and our relationship.
Juravich: I mean, as a mother, it was just fascinating to me to read your title, because I have said that phrase, you know, like, to my kids, if I don't see you before you go to practice, you know when they get home from school, like get yourself a snack, if i don't see you, I love you. And I was just like, I don t know, you made me kind of tear up. It's a good title. Thank you. But is that what you're meaning? Like, is that What it means if I Don't See You, I Love You, like just, you know, going through life, you know, everyone has going through their own lives and together and separate.
Owusu: Absolutely. Yes, I think initially just living with my dad all these years and now, you know, living outside of the house and visiting is just become that relationship that you just shared is like bidding goodbye, but also knowing that there's that tenderness and that relationship there. Hmm.
Juravich: All right, Logan, your title is maroon. And this is a word with special significance and meaning in Haiti. Can you please tell me about it?
St. Hilaire: Yeah, absolutely. Maroon comes from the act called Marronage, which means for the enslaved or the oppressed to escape and flee, but really sacrificing everything and risking everything. But applying that to my film within a modern context and understanding that this capacity to endure is really something that's inherited.
Juravich: Okay, so the idea of of escaping but because when I think of the word maroon I think more of like being left alone on a deserted island But it is so it like but is that just like the American definition is this a completely different word?
St. Hilaire: Or just applying it with just the... The loss of place. Yes, correct. The loss place but still within the same context but marooned so it's also palatable and able to be communicated about by the American audience.
Juravich: So basically, I mean, in the story, you have more than one character, but is it your uncle in particular who you're associating that word with?
St. Hilaire: Honestly, throughout my entire family, because the film really dissects three generations. So beginning with my grandfather, my father, and my uncle, and then ultimately myself, just understanding how this capacity to endure really permeates through our three generations, and that's the through line that connects us all.
Juravich: But your grandfather is the one who basically started it because he came to America, right? Like the reason your family is here is because your grandfather made that move, right. Do you, I mean, did you ever get to talk to him about, I don't like, did ever get to talk him about that decision?
St. Hilaire: Yeah absolutely and honestly speaking to my father about it because he remembers a lot more and at least in a way that I can connect to because my dad came as a teenager or so understanding his like adolescent thoughts compared to what my grandfather was thinking but also getting to speak to my grandfather because he's he's just fantastic.
Juravich: All right, so Claudia, how are you hoping your film is received? Like, what do you want the audience to take away whenever they, after they watch it?
Owusu: I think the main thing is that I want the audience to understand that an archive is important. I believe that an archiv is a collective labor, something that we do for the next generation. And so I'm really invested in remembrance because I think that it's one of the only ways that we can resist erasure. And so, I think after watching the film, I really want my audience to go back and ask the questions of their family members and to look for the photos and to look for their VHS tapes. As a way to both document and also digitize some of these family relics. Okay.
Juravich: And Logan, what do you hope people take away after they watch your film?
St. Hilaire: Honestly that Haitian Americans deserve to be in America and Haitian people honestly are so much more than what the media represents because there is a cultural erasure that happens when statements are made and a beautiful history can be erased but I wanna make the step to preserve that history.
Juravich: And Logan, you're not just exploring immigration though, in your film. You're also tapping into the black identity in the Midwest, the working class experience. You do that throughout the film, but there's one particular scene I wanted to ask you about because you have two people fixing a broken brake light on a car. Correct. Why did you choose to include that in the film? I mean, it's such a task. They make those lights so hard to change, right? But you used it to show the black identify in the midwest in the working-class. Talk to me about that.
St. Hilaire: Yeah, correct, my father was helping a friend of his, but to really exemplify the community that we have, especially as Haitians in Ohio and in the Midwest, you know, so often it's like that's our community and an act of just helping somebody with their car means so much more, especially under or with the broader political landscape. But really, like that means so much to help someone and then really focusing in that moment that seems so banal and boring, but... Really, it means so much.
Juravich: They're talking a little bit and you catch some of the dialog and they're basically talking about being poor, right, and like no one, like I don't, what are they saying? They're basically saying like no, no one should care about this car or something like that. Yeah, my dad.
St. Hilaire: Yeah, my dad makes a funny joke. He's like, oh, you know, this this car is cheap, but it's more so just like Just friendly banter. You know, it's like with like such a culturally rich group of people It's like joking is always so it's always it's seeming so harsh, but its it's really from a place of care. Yeah
Juravich: Claudia, talk to me about like you having, I mean, there's a scene where your dad is just, he's mowing the lawn, right? You know, and that's just a typical thing you do when you own a house in a city in America, you mow the lawn. What made you decide to do that? And when you told him, I'm making a film about you, I want you to go mow lawn, what did he say?
Owusu: Had some of the lawn anyway. Yes, that was his response because it was overgrown. And so in that moment, the camera just so happened to be there. And so then we got to capture it. But I think now like looking at it within the context of my family, you know, my brothers when they were younger, and specifically my brother Kingsley, who is mentioned in the film after having passed, that Was his task. And So I think Now I can kind of connect maybe a relational absence with my dad. At his current age, having to still do that task that maybe my brother would have had to do. And so, yeah, I think it was just like a spur of the moment camera happened to be there, so we captured it. And he is really like serious about the lawn. And so it was really nice to just like document as he went about the rounds.
Juravich: And I want to say like any good American dad, he's serious about the lawn, but is that weird for me to say, like, you know, does he consider himself like an American dad?
Owusu: Yeah, I think he doesn't necessarily consider himself an American dad, but I think he is still in a way maybe beholden to that American image with the white fence and like the green grass and just the slight updates that he's making on the house as time goes on. And so like any immigrant, I feel like he's still kind of in that inner working of what it means to achieve that American dream.
Juravich: Yeah, you make a point to show that he added a white picket fence. I mean, was that a goal for him?
Owusu: Yeah, I mean, I think I just came home and I saw it and I realized that, okay, so these things and this picture of like why we come to America is still being fulfilled for him even now. And so it was just a really interesting note for me to see.
Juravich: Brett, you talked about putting short films into like groupings together for showing them. So can you tell us where Logan's film and Claudia's film, what are they grouped with? Where can they be seen? Yeah.
Reiter: Yeah, yeah, with Claudia's film, it's part of the opening night block, which is Shorts of Ohio, where Ohio filmmakers are telling stories about themselves, but about the world around them. And I thought that that theme made sense. Primarily, you might start a film festival with a feature or one film that just welcomes in the theme or the feeling. And it's a big, big bash. But I want to have a big bash about my friends and neighbors and people that I Filmmakers I grew up around and people that I recognize. I feel like Claudia's film fit perfectly within that
Juravich: Where okay, and so you said that's the first night
Reiter: Yeah, that's.
Juravich: So it's the 10th.
Reiter: Yes.
Juravich: And which location.
Reiter: Gateway film center. Okay. Thank you very much
Juravich: Yes. All right. Now we'll pivot to Logan. See you.
Reiter: Yes, Logan's film is actually the first film in the Ohio documentary Shorts Block happening at Wexner Center at 4.30 on Friday, the 11th. And... I toyed with having Logan's film as part of opening night but I feel like I needed his voice to kick off what it means to currently be a documentarian in Ohio, as you expressed earlier so eloquently and perfectly, that it made sense to me to put that with other stories of people who live in Ohio or documenting a paper mill in Chillicothe or a woman grieving her mother, just Ohio stories are what you make them.
Juravich: We are previewing the Cinema Columbus Film Festival, which is September 10th to the 13th at many locations around the city. And you can visit the CinemaColumbus events page for tickets and more information. We're talking with the festival director and two local filmmakers who have films in the festival. And coming up, we're going to talk more about filmmaking and what it's like to be a filmmaker in Columbus. That's when all sides continues on 89.7 NPR news.
Juravich: You're listening to All Sides. I'm your host, Amy Jurevich. Admittedly, Columbus is not Hollywood, and yet the independent film scene here is thriving. What does this film production process look like in this city, and how are filmmakers collaborating? We are talking about local film, and we're also previewing the Cinema Columbus Film Festival this hour, which the film festival is September 10th to the 13th. Still with us is Brett Ryder, the Festival Director of the CinemaColumbus Film Festival. Thanks for being here, Brett.
Reiter: Thanks for having me.
Juravich: And Logan St. Hilaire, a Haitian, St. Lucian American, also an interdisciplinary artist working primarily in video and photography. Thanks for being here, Logan. Thank you for having me. And Claudia Owosu, a Ghanaian American poet, filmmaker, and essays. Thanks for be here, Claudia. Thank you having me And Logan, Claudia, Brett, you all are Columbus-based filmmakers, basically. I mean, you're here. And I think people might be curious about the film production process in Columbus. Um, so Claudia, let's start with you is it, is Columbus receptive to filmmakers? I mean, how do you feel being a local filmmaker?
Owusu: Yeah, I think absolutely, I'd say yes. And that's mainly because of the friends and the community in which everyone is willing to come on and help out in any way. When I was first starting out and feeling my way through film, I'd always go to Midwest to rent equipment and I'd have really no clue about what I was renting. And even there, the staff was always so willing and so attentive. But even on this film that I just made, premiering at Cinema Columbus, I had my friend, Lauren Todd, who came on as the producer, who then brought on her friends. And so it's always been that sort of amalgamation of friends bringing friends, bringing friends. And so in that way, I really see the city in that communal sense when it comes to film. So yes, absolutely, I'd say yes.
Juravich: And Logan, you studied moving image production at Ohio State. I mean, tell me about that idea. Did you always know that that's what you wanted to major in, what you decided to do? Talk to me about part of your life.
St. Hilaire: Oh wow. Yeah, coming in, I definitely did not know what I wanted to study, but through a love of skateboarding, I then eventually chose moving image production.
Juravich: Through a love of skateboarding. So you were filming yourself skateboarding and you liked it, okay, okay. Yeah, well, there's a few kids in our neighborhood who did that all the time on a sidewalk. They find a nice looking shot, yeah. No, yeah, but.
St. Hilaire: Yeah, but that really was the gateway for me to explore deeper topics like this and then understand that filmmaking is so much more than just pointing a camera at something cool.
Juravich: How do you feel like Ohio State, just being here in central Ohio, I mean, how is it shaping your idea for your career as a film maker?
St. Hilaire: Yeah, it really reinforces that filmmaking is something that has to be communal. Like, ranging from my coursework at Ohio State, I really found that the community that I found here in Columbus was really needed for me to grow into a stronger filmmaker. Even though, like, you can take a million classes, but you really won't know how to make a film unless you're working with other people.
Juravich: Brett, I know you're a filmmaker, but are you more on the administrative side now because you're running this festival? Do you still call yourself a filmmaker?
Reiter: Now I'm put on the spot on the radio. I'll say yes, but it takes me a minute. It's been, I feel a little dusty, but yes, in my past life.
Juravich: Okay, tell me about that past life and making films in Columbus. Have you watched the film scene grow here over the years?
Reiter: Yes, Grow and Shift. I graduated from Denison University in 2014 and started a production company with my friends and we sort of were hoofing it trying to get 500 bucks for a music video from one of our friends or try to get work with Nationwide Insurance or just playing the video production game as a means to get to film as I think a lot of folks do in Columbus. We were very fortunate to make a film in 2019 that ended up going to the Tribeca Film Festival and having theatrical distribution, which was a gift and a privilege. But we only got to that place from the people around us and the community, as you were saying, the amalgamation of just people's perspectives and people you bring onto a project that have one specific role and they crush that role and everyone is doing that together. And I think that is always why I've loved filmmaking. And I Think Columbus is a great example of always having done that, but. Continuing moving forward no matter what the industry above us is doing or what it thinks we should be doing
Juravich: What's the name of your 2019 film?
Reiter: It's called poser.
Juravich: Okay, now I want to ask you about the title. Tell me a little bit about it.
Reiter: Um, there are people you might encounter in the arts and music and film who pretend that they are what they are not. And that film sort of dissection of that.
Juravich: Is there somewhere you can still see it or is it?
Reiter: I should have the answer of where it can be found, but it's online somewhere.
Juravich: All right. Well, we'll search it up later. All right, so Logan and Claudia, you both made documentaries. So I'm guessing maybe you did not need actors per se. Claudia, did you need extra help, though? You didn't need actors, but you mentioned a friend being a producer. Talk to me about what else you need. Yeah, I think.
Owusu: That I really needed, especially because this project was so personal, thinking about my father and being in front of the camera while also directing, I really just needed support. And so often just having my friend Lauren Todd, who was the producer, and then our friend Matteo Moretti, who is the cinematographer. I just really learned to lean on them and just trust them. And so I also just had to trust their creative impulses, especially with Mateo. Especially if I was directing my dad towards the next scene or the next shot, then he'd also be capturing ambience or slice of life images, et cetera. And so in that way, aside just needing friends, I also just needed their minds and their hearts to kind of hold me as we went between thinking and talking.
Juravich: About loss. And Logan, you made your piece as a part of school, so tell me about like what other help you needed, what other help you had, or did you have to do it kind of yourself because it was Cool. Related.
St. Hilaire: Yeah, filmmaking is never really a solo endeavor, but really having the guidance of professors, two professors that really helped shape the piece were Janet Parrott and Rasul Ahmed. They really were just hands-off enough to let me understand the workings of my film myself, but also giving necessary guidance because, as they are experts, they also have a sensibility and a... Emotional intelligence that's necessary to really help direct a documentary. And then whenever you're crafting a documentary that's so personal, you wanna keep everything in because you're so connected to every single moment. So I knew that it was imperative that I brought in a good friend of mine, Javier Cruz-Hinez, to really help me shape and dial the piece toward the end. And he came on as a co-editor.
Juravich: So okay, so he helped you at the end and that you mentioned a cinematographer. I pardon my I don't know what a cinematography does. What do they do help you do?
Owusu: Really, he plans the shots with me and also directs the camera and like uses and puts the camera to
Juravich: good use. Yeah, yeah. This is All Sides on 89.7 NPR News. We're talking about the Cinema Columbus Film Festival. And with us in the studio, we have Brett Reiter, director of the festival, Logan St. Hilaire, and Claudia Owosu, both two featured filmmakers at the festival. Now, Logan and Claudia, you both made short films about 15 minutes. Logan, do you have hopes? Will this short film be turned into a full length feature film? Do you have a bigger idea? Or like, had you thought about that? Or is it just short.
St. Hilaire: I wouldn't be opposed to a longer familial story, but I definitely feel like I have more life to live. So I need to live more life to get more experiences to really imbue into a documentary.
Juravich: Okay, so maybe a longer documentary later in life.
St. Hilaire: Hopefully
Juravich: Hopefully. Okay. Do you have other short film ideas, though, cooking right now?
St. Hilaire: Currently not, I'm leaving myself open to more experiences and then also just being a attentive observer around what's going around, but still staying prolific in other forms of art.
Juravich: Claudia, what about you? Do you feel like this short film is just the short film or do you have full length dreams for the subject matter?
Owusu: Yeah, I think I'm also very much open. Maybe what I am trying to do is write more about my family and so the film feels like the dad essay, but visual. And so if anything else comes, I can imagine exploring it like words on a page. Yeah.
Juravich: Logan, do you want to consider yourself, like is it your career? Do you want consider yourself a filmmaker or what's your job?
St. Hilaire: I absolutely do consider myself a filmmaker, but part of a larger label I find myself to be an interdisciplinary artist.
Juravich: And how is that received in the Haitian American community? Whenever people, whenever they say, you know, so your family came here from Haiti, what's your job? And you say, I'm a filmmaker and an artist. What do they say?
St. Hilaire: They they're definitely happy and surprised but I mean like any other first-generation American, you know, the dream is have your kid go to school film or not filmmaker, but lawyer nurse doctor Yeah, it's definitely a wild card
Juravich: Yeah, you're the wild card of the family. Absolutely. All right, congratulations. It's a good place to be. Claudia, what about you? I know you went to Otterbein for your undergrad. You studied creative writing at OtterBein. You got your master's at OSU. How has being a filmmaker been seen in your community?
Owusu: Yeah, I think similarly, as Logan shared, it's always been doctor, lawyer, et cetera. But my dad has always been very generous in allowing me the space to feel it out and figure out what I want to do. And so now that I have worked on a few things, I'm having maybe members of my community asking for more. And I think there's something about being able to see themselves as well, which has been like really inspiring me. And so it does feel like currently, now that I'm older, when I was younger, it was like insufferable to be pushed towards like a medical field and I'm terrible at math. But now that i'm older I think I'm finding my footing and realizing that, you know, an archivist or like a scribe or a writer or a filmmaker has a place in community.
Juravich: When someone asks you what's your job, do you answer filmmaker?
Owusu: I just say writer.
Juravich: First. Yeah. You write her first? Yeah. Okay. Well, we are running out of time. And I want to make sure that we have time to preview a little bit more of the Cinema Columbus Film Festival, which is coming up in just a couple of weeks. So, Brett, you have time toe plug another movie. What is something that you hope people come to see?
Reiter: I've been thinking about this for the last 15 minutes. There is a short film at the Sunday documentary Shorts Block at the Gateway Film Center that's called Prison and Time. It's co-directed by Evan Bode and Marvin Wade. Evan is an animator and Marvin is an artist who was incarcerated for many years. He essentially goes through a seven minute poem essay about his experience being incarcerated and Evan animates it alongside of it. Seeing those words come to life in that way was just beautiful and exquisite and I deeply love that film.
Juravich: And Logan or Claudia, did you have time to look at the other films in the festival? Is there anything you're in particular excited to see?
Owusu: Logan's Velmaroon, yeah. I was telling him earlier in the green room that when I was just reading the log line, I was really excited and trying to snoop out the trailer and get more of the story. So I'm looking forward to it.
Juravich: All right. Yeah, Logan, what about you? When you saw the list, what were you thinking?
St. Hilaire: Claudia's film, for sure, I saw the trailer on Instagram and I'm like, wow, I hope that one day I can make something as good as this. So it's really lovely being in community with filmmakers and then knowing that somebody who's making something that you think is so beautiful is really just a community member of yours.
Juravich: All right, so, Brett, the film festival is September 10th to the 13th, several locations around Columbus and plenty of tickets. Are we good to go? Yes, yes. Okay.
Reiter: Please comment.
Juravich: So basically, room for you, right? Room for everyone. Yes. We have been talking about the Cinema Columbus Film Festival. And with us today, we had Brett Reiter, Festival Director of the Cinema Columbus Film festival. Thanks for being here.
Reiter: Thanks so much, Amy.
Juravich: And we had Logan St. Hilaire, a Haitian and St. Lucian American who is also an artist working primarily in video and photography. Logan, thanks for joining us.
St. Hilaire: Thank you so much.
Juravich: And Claudia Owosu, a Ghanaian-American poet, filmmaker, and essayist. Thanks for being here, Claudia. Thank you. And again, the Cinema Columbus Film Festival, September 10th to the 13th. There's several locations showing films around Columbus and you can visit the CinemaColumbus events page or wosu.org slash allsides to look up your tickets and learn more. This has been All Sides on 89.7 NPR News. I'm Amy Juravich, thanks for joining us.