A still from Maxime Jean-Baptiste’s “Kouté vwa,” which screens at Wexner Center for the Arts Sunday at 2 p.m. Credit: Courtesy of More Than Films
The Unorthodocs film festival will be held at the Wexner Center for the Arts for the ninth straight year, beginning Wednesday with screenings running through Monday.
Unorthodocs is an annual film festival that highlights documentaries from around the world, according to Chris Stults, curator of film and video at the Wexner Center for the Arts. The event shows the most recent, and oftentimes highly praised documentaries of the previous year, as well as bringing in as many of the featured filmmakers as possible.
Stults said he has organized the event since its creation in 2016. This year’s festival will feature 10 full-length films and a program of shorts.
Erica Levin, associate professor of history of art and doctor in film and media studies, has attended the festival in the past. She said the films shown at Unorthodocs defy what people typically expect to see in a documentary.
“These are films with unique visual and narrative sensibilities,” Levin said. “This festival will open your eyes to the unexpected ways in which documentary film can open us up to new experiences and stories we might not otherwise encounter, questions we might not even consider asking about issues both intimate and broadly political. Film has the power to hold our attention like no other medium.”
Several of the films screening will be having their Midwest premieres at the festival, including Sasha Wortzel’s “River Grass,” which highlights the past and present of Florida’s Everglades and those who inhabit it.
Maxime Jean-Baptiste’s “Kouté vwa” focuses on 13-year-old Melrick and his grandmother, Nicole, as they spend a summer together in French Guiana, according to the Wex’s website.
Stults said for some of the films being shown, including them in the documentary category may not be the best placement for these pieces — despite them being labeled as such.
“It’s devoted to what I think of as creative non-fiction, the word ‘documentary’ is just kind of limiting,” Stults said. “[Documentary] gives you a certain kind of film idea, we’re looking for films that can kind of push the idea of what a documentary can be.”
The festival is set up to provide a different experience than most film festivals offer, Stults said.
“Unlike most festivals, in which there are nine or 10 screens happening at the same time and everybody is having a different experience and you can’t see everything, we have one screen,” Stults said. “It’s kind of a curated festival in that you can see everything and maybe even see ways that the films are talking to each other or deepening ideas between one film and another.”
Stults said while the festival prides itself on pulling the best documentaries and filmmakers from around the world, it doesn’t forget about those local to Ohio.
“There’s several Ohio filmmakers in the mix too,” Stults said. “We really do try to have local issues rubbing up against global issues because it’s all so connected.”
This includes Ohio-based director Jessica Earnshaw, whose film, “Baby Doe,” will be shown Saturday at 7 p.m.
Her documentary is centered on Gail Ritchey, an Ohio native who gave birth 30 years ago and left the baby — who she claims was stillborn — as she fights against a life sentence and “leans on her family for support as she confronts the weight of societal and religious pressures,” according to the Wex’s website.
Stults said the films shown during the festival often complement each other.
“The films are very much in conversation with each other — if you come to one film, that’s terrific, but if you come to multiple screenings, it might kind of grow for a viewer,” Stults said.
Stults said Unorthodocs often features films which then go on to win awards, including “No Other Land,” a documentary directed by Hamdan Ballal that won the Academy Award for “Best Documentary Feature” in March and was shown during last year’s festival.
Stults said though some of the other documentaries shown are often unknown at the time of the festival, they don’t remain that way for long.
“You haven’t heard about these films yet, but in about three or four months, these are going to be the films that everybody is talking about,” Stults said. “It’s a way to get in on something on the ground floor or learn about something that is going to be part of the conversation.”
Levin said the festival is beneficial for exposing audience members to films they otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity to see.
“As a professor, I’m always interested in making sure students know how lucky they are to have access to the world class film programming at the Wex,” Levin said. “Unorthodocs is a festival I look forward to each year because it introduces me to films that I would not want to miss, but that don’t always get wide distribution. These are films that illuminate things that are happening both nearby and far away.”
Stults said the festival can help teach student filmmakers skills they can carry throughout their careers.
“In a few days, it’s a crash course of contemporary filmmaking techniques and styles, and it just kind of opens your mind to what’s possible in film making,” Stults said.
Festival passes, which include access to all screenings, a passholders lounge and a free drink ticket for the Nov. 8 reception, are $45 for the general public, $36 for members or adults over 55 and $16 for students.
Tickets for individual screenings are $8 for members, $12 for the general public, $9 for adults 55 and over and $6 for students. Select screenings are also free for all audiences. For more information on the screenings and to purchase tickets, visit the Wex’s website.
