This year’s Inthrive Film Festival will have screenings at Gateway Film Center Wednesday and Thursday from 5 to 9 p.m. Credit: Michael Napolitano | Lantern File Photo
More than 1 million people are living in U.S. prisons, according to the Prison Policy Initiative, and — at one point — David Smith, the founder and director of Inthrive Film Festival, was one of them.
The Inthrive Film Festival is an annual, non-profit event started in 2024 by Smith following his release from prison. This year’s festival will have screenings at Gateway Film Center Wednesday and Thursday from 5 to 9 p.m. Smith said the films are meant to bring awareness to the challenges formerly incarcerated people face upon their return to society.
Many of the films featured during the festival are documentaries and short stories, among other genres. Though Smith himself has not produced or directed a film, he hopes to create a space where the festival’s filmmakers are able to share their work with a broader audience.
Smith said the festival allows formerly incarcerated people to express their emotions and the struggles they faced during or after their sentences. All of the films either feature a formerly incarcerated person or they’re directed and produced by one.
“Inthrive Film Festival is valuable to incarceration survivors because it shows you there is worth in your story,” Smith said in an email. “It helps you imagine what is possible as you move forward in life.”
Smith said managed to find work after his release from prison, but even after working with an unnamed company for a few years, he realized just how impactful the label “felon” is on the formerly incarcerated.
“They knew about my past, they knew everything about me,” Smith said. “But a co-worker had complained about working with a felon and they let me go on the spot.”
Smith pointed out the systematic disadvantages formerly incarcerated people may face purely based on their criminal record.
“If I am in the position, with the credentials, the years of experience and the leadership position, and after three years I can just be dropped,” Smith said. “What does that mean for everyone else that doesn’t have that advantage?”
After losing his job, Smith said he was looking to spread awareness about the struggles he and other formerly incarcerated individuals face.
“That was my wake up call to say, ‘All right, what can I do now to help change this narrative about incarceration survivors so that we can remove these barriers to successful reentry?’ ” Smith said.
Smith said he made sure someone’s history would not interfere with the festival’s mission to change the overall perception of the formerly incarcerated.
“The policy of the film festival is to look towards the future, not to the past,” Smith said. “We don’t ask anyone what their conviction was, we look for people who are doing beneficial work today.”
Smith said he acknowledges the festival’s significance, not only to help curb the perception of the formerly incarcerated, but also the impact it has on the filmmakers and families involved.
“The joy in that man’s eyes, when someone paid him for this piece of art he had created, he just had the biggest smile on his face,” Smith said. “During that first festival, coming together just changes people’s mindsets, helps get the creativity flowing and gets those opportunities happening.”
Twyana Davis, a filmmaker from Columbus, Ohio will have her film “Broken Systems” shown at the festival. According to the Inthrive Film Festival website, Davis’ film “highlights the challenges faced while on parole in pursuit of redemption and reintegration into society.”
Davis was unavailable for comment at the time of publication.
Other films screening at this year’s festival include “Cell Blocks to Mountain Tops,” a multimedia podcast and video series about how the U.S. addresses violence and justice, “Finding the Light,” which follows Donna Hylton, an activist for formerly incarcerated women and “Little April,” which is a mix of fictional and documentary footage following April Grayson and the youth justice system.
Chris Hamel, CEO of Gateway Film Center, said in an email they’re excited to host the festival this year and create a space for these stories to be heard.
“This is their first year in Columbus working with Film Columbus and The Returning Artists Guild to bring the first Columbus edition to the Film Center,” Hamel said. “We hope audiences join us in supporting these stories and filmmakers in coming to our city. We believe movies, like all art forms, are a way to connect and expand your capacity for empathy.”
Smith said he hopes the festival can help shift public perception, even if only slightly.
“If you’re someone who watches ‘Law & Order’ or listens to true crime podcasts and you have that one very dramatic narrative in your mind,” Smith said. “I hope those folks will come and have that narrative shift, or if you’re an incarceration survivor, I hope you come and feel lifted by these inspiring stories.”
