A costume designer sits in a prairie in a still from Wouldn’t Make It Any Other Way by Hao Zhou. Credit: Courtesy of the Wexner Center for the Arts
Local creativity will take center stage at the Wexner Center for the Arts this weekend at a celebration of Ohio-made films.
The Wexner Center will host its 29th annual Ohio Shorts festival Saturday at 6 p.m., showcasing a diverse selection of short films — including documentaries, animations and dramatic narratives — created exclusively by Ohio-based artists. Following the screenings, the center will host a reception with complimentary snacks and a cash bar, according to the center’s website.
Melissa Starker, the center’s creative content and public relations manager, said the 2025 program was curated by Dejiah Archie-Davis, a multidisciplinary artist who previously showcased work in the Ohio Shorts festival. She said the curator is also the one responsible for selecting the winner of the $500 Jury Award, which will be presented during the post-screening reception along with the $300 Audience Choice Award.
Starker said unlike in previous years when youth and adult films had been judged separately, the categories have been combined for this year’s festival.
“I actually really like that because, it was either last year or the year before, we had a grade schooler submit a film and get selected,” Starker said. “Their film held up against films that were made by people who’ve been doing this kind of work for years.”
Starker said the Wexner Center is well known for its support of independent film productions, and Ohio Shorts is a natural extension of that commitment.
“Artists have different stages in their careers, and if they get the right support fairly early on, that just puts them in that much better of a place to realize the work that they want to do as they grow and mature in their practice,” Starker said. “We have filmmakers who we’ve supported in their high school productions or college shorts by presenting them in Ohio Shorts, and then they go on to have professional careers.”
A young Black man looks into the distance in a still from Behind His Eyes by Jadyn Wilson. Credit: Courtesy of the Wexner Center for the Arts
Vincent Alexander, a faculty animation professor at the Columbus College of Art and Design, was responsible for creating the trailer for this year’s Ohio Shorts festival.
“I was selected for the festival last year, and they liked my work, so they commissioned me to do the trailer this year,” Alexander said. “They left it very open. All they needed was some of the information that had to be at the end in text form, and they had a certain time limit that it had to be, which was about 30 seconds. Otherwise, they just said, ‘Go ahead and create,’ which is the best kind of prompt.”
Alexander said he ended up creating an animated comedy trailer featuring two characters watching a puppet show filled with slapstick humor.
Alexander said he’s grateful for the chance to take part in the festival year after year, especially since the Wexner Center was a valuable resource during his time as a student at CCAD.
“I used to go to a lot of the screenings at the Wexner [Center], and I used to go to the Billy Ireland Cartoon Library all the time,” Alexander said. “[The] Wexner [Center] has always been a big part of my exposure to different types of art.”
Tickets for the festival can be purchased in advance or at the door, priced at $10 for general admission, $8 for Wexner Center members and those 55 and older and $5 for students. For more information — including how to purchase tickets — or to watch Alexander’s trailer, visit the Wexner Center’s website.
