Cinema Columbus spotlights local indies and filmmakers

• The event includes over 20 screenings of more than 50 films at seven Central Ohio theaters.
• It was recently voted the country's best film festival in USA Today's 10Best Readers' Choice Awards.

Zoom in: The festival opens at the Southern Theatre with "Down to the Felt," directed by Columbus filmmaker Jon Osbeck and written by three Columbus residents.

• It returns there to close with the legendary Talking Heads concert documentary "Stop Making Sense" featuring an appearance by keyboard and guitar player Jerry Harrison.
• Most screenings include Q&As or panels with filmmakers.

The big picture: As many American cities are left with chains or no theaters at all, the festival's venues showcase how many indies Columbus boasts.

• The Drexel Theatre, Gateway Film Center, Grandview Theater, McConnell Arts Center, Studio 35 and Wexner Center for the Arts are also participating.

Zoom out: Ohio's place in film has improved over the last two decades, and production incentives are helping draw projects.

• "The Avengers" shooting in Cleveland was our most visible example, but smaller shoots and other superheroes have followed.

A full schedule of films