Catch this season's Oscar buzz early at Unorthodocs
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Documentary buffs can catch fascinating Ohio stories and even enjoy early Oscars buzz at a local film festival this week.
Why it matters: The Wexner Center for the Arts' Unorthodocs punches above its weight, giving Columbus a front row seat to both impactful stories from home and prestige projects with a global audience.
The big picture: Unorthodocs is calling its ninth edition "perhaps its most relevant, exciting, and eclectic yet," bringing 11 feature-length documentaries and a collection of shorts to the Wexner Center screens Nov. 6-10.
The intrigue: The festival has often become a sneak peek for "films you want to know about, but you don't yet," curator Chris Stults tells Axios.
- Last year, that was "No Other Land" — the controversial documentary about the Israeli occupation of the West Bank that had its Columbus premiere at the festival before winning the Oscar for best documentary.
- "It's kind of a way for people to see films that, maybe two or three months from now, everyone is going to be talking about, but that people aren't talking about quite yet."
Case in point: This year's buzziest is "Predators," screening 7pm Friday, investigating the 2000s NBC show "To Catch a Predator" and its popularity.
- It "will likely be one of the most talked about documentaries of the year," Stults says.
Zoom in: Ohioans may also remember the story featured in "Baby Doe" (7pm Saturday) from award-winning director Jessica Earnshaw.
- The documentary covers the infamous Northeast Ohio "Geauga's Child" infanticide case from 1993.
Plus: "Seeds," by Dayton-based filmmaker Brittany Shyne, makes its Columbus debut at 3:45pm Saturday after winning the U.S. Grand Jury Prize at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.
- Stults says the aim is to be "as international as we can, but also as local as we can."
What to expect: Most screenings include appearances by the filmmakers, including Earnshaw, Shyne and "Predators" producer Jamie Gonçalves.
- "You could see somebody's film on Friday and then they might be sitting next to you on Saturday," Stults says.
The bottom line: Films at Unorthodocs might not be the movies your friends are talking about right now — but Stults says they may be hot topics of discussion this winter.
- "You have to be adventurous, to take a chance on something you haven't heard of yet."
📽 If you go: Festival passes are $16-45, and individual screenings are $6-12 for most films. Showtimes.