Cindependent achieves “coolest film festival” nod

Local film festival Cindependent has been ranked as one of the “25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World,” according to cinema magazine MovieMaker. Other winners include notable international names like the Austin Film Festival and Evolution Mallorca International Film Festival in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. “This distinction is truly an honor,” the festival’s Executive Director and Founder Allyson West wrote in a press release. The win comes after a five-day run in September, which featured 60 hours of film screenings across the Queen City, multiple cinema-craft masterclasses and the grand reopening of Mariemont Theatre.  It was also the first festival since Cindependent merged with the Over-the-Rhine International Film Festival in April 2026, officially becoming Cindependent Presented with LADD. LADD, which stands for Living Arrangements for Developmentally Disabled, is a local nonprofit that has hosted OTR-based film festivals since 2013. West concluded the announcemen