YELLOW SPRINGS — The unwritten rule at film festivals is that you treat celebrities like normal people.
So when Dave Chappelle showed up at Saturday night’s after-party, there were no photos, requests for selfies or crowds gathering around — he was just another human at the fiesta. Don’t worry; I still said what’s up to him.
The fourth Yellow Springs Film Festival ran from Wednesday to Sunday in a little village nine miles west of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base outside Dayton.
Juliette Lewis (“Cape Fear,” “Natural Born Killers,” “From Dusk Till Dawn,” “Yellowjackets”) kicked off the festival with an “in-conversation” event at the Foundry Theater Wednesday night.
Comedian Hannibal Buress did a set on Thursday, and the first film shown was the documentary “Stealing Magic.”
The festival program describes the film as: “In this international caper, he [Magician Andi Gladwin] goes to incredible lengths to track down the culprits [stealing and selling magic], sending an avocational spy on a journey around the globe and down the rabbit hole of potential espionage — a formula for danger and humor.”
The movie had its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2026.
Friday’s schedule was: “Their Town,” “Black Zombie,” a 25th-anniversary screening of “The Royal Tennemaums,” “Nebraska Live” and “You Belong Here” (which featured a Q&A with Steve Zahn (“Dallas Buyers Club,” “The White Lotus” and “National Security,”) and an in-person chat with chef Ouita Michel, who provided guests with samples of food from the docuseries).
Check out the documentary “Black Zombie,” which digs to “uncover the zombie’s buried origins. Born from enslavement, spiritual belief and resistance,” as described from the fest’s program.
I cruised into the village early Saturday morning and parked in a free lot, next to a grassy park hosting a farmers market. The parking was free in Yellow Springs, but there was a sign that said you could make a donation to park if you wanted. This was an example of how progressive environments can be both awesome and delusional.
The skate park was by the farmers market, which was next to the police station that was close to the bike path, which was near the public, free and clean restrooms.
All the residents smiling and waving hello throughout the day — in checkout lines, crosswalks, walking around and the theme was always: After you. No, after you. No, please, I insist, after you.
Of course Yellow Springs, aka Ohio’s woke capital, had a vegan restaurant so naturally I was posted up there for breakfast. Mazu/Underdog Cafe also was a coffee joint and wine seller with an unbelievable selection. G
I grabbed a bottle of Burgundy from France and a 2022 Anne Amie Vineyards Gamay Noir from Oregon. The 2022 vintage was highly rated and acclaimed by Wine Enthusiast and it was only like $20. I straight robbed them.
There were also two places to buy comics downtown, and I found a Wolverine #47 signed by penciller Jerry DeCaire for $5.
The morning movie docket had “The Oldest Person in the World,” “Noga” and a screenwriting seminar that I attended featuring Jonathan Keasey.
Keasey said he writes for three hours a day no matter what. So many of his stories and scripts were never made into actual movies.
He moved to Los Angeles 20 years ago and was the mailroom guy and grinded out rejection of submission after submission.
The big break was supposed to come when he befriended Denzel Washington’s reader. (Yes, uber-popular actors have paid “readers” to comb through scripts before they even touch them.) Even treatments that Washington was interested in never came to fruition.
About 10 years ago, Keasey sold a project that was attached to Will Smith. As he explained it, an actor can agree to a script, they get paid, the writer gets paid, but then it can simply die without a single day of filming happening. And that’s what transpired.
Momentum picked up and he started selling a lot of content, joined the Writers Guild of America and started producing his own projects.
He acknowledged that more and more, AI was creeping into the screenwriting world. In his 2023 thriller, “Parallel,” Keasey drew inspiration from his son almost dying and his marriage crumbling — human aspects he said that AI could never recreate.
All the events took place in downtown Yellow Springs at the WYSO radio headquarters, the Little Art Theatre, the Foundry Theater at Antioch College and an outdoor screen on Short Street.
In the afternoon, the fest was showing the 40th-anniversary screening of “Blue Velvet,” live music from Erika Wennerstrom, the presentation of the Julia Reichert Award and “Who Moves America.”
One massive reason Yellow Springs had a connection to the world of movies was because of Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Julia Reichert, who was a graduate of Antioch College. Watch all of her films immediately.
At the Cleveland International Film Festival a few years ago, I met Reichert’s husband and fellow filmmaker, Steven Bognar. Outside the Little Art Theatre, I chatted with Bognar and told him I saw a rough cut of a new movie he had a role in and said he was funny and genuine in the picture.
Bognar was executive producer on the documentary “Who Moves America,” about UPS Teamsters who were dealing with a collective bargaining agreement coming to an end and a looming strike. My favorite quote from the film was a UPS worker who, considering the physical aspects of package delivery and sorting, said they were essentially professional “industrial athletes.”
My motel was more than 1.5 miles away because I couldn’t afford the downtown spots, so the walking commute after checking in allowed me to explore Antioch College. The private liberal arts school was founded in 1850 and looked like no one has maintained it since then. Just kidding, the campus featured beautiful, aged red brick with spires reflecting its original Christian founders. It also looked like an Eastern European block after the Cold War.
The evening movie buffet featured “Crime & Parody,” “Soul Patrol” (described in the program as “following the African-American men of Company F, 51st Infantry, an elite Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol unit operating deep behind enemy lines in Vietnam”), “The Best Summer” (with Billy Madison director Tamra Davis) and “The Twilight Zone” being shown on the outdoor screen.
Unrelated to the fest, a zombie walk / parade was scheduled for 8:30 p.m., where the dead would come alive and gimp around downtown as metal music echoed from the stage set up in the park.
What I was most excited about that evening was The Short Film Program — and I laughed, cried and was disgusted by the various projects.
There were too many to list them all, but you should check out “Holo,” a somewhat “Black Mirror” way to cope with loss and abusive relationships, and “Sandiwara,” which made three vignettes all come together masterfully, set in a Malaysian night market.
If I were giving out a grand jury award, barely beating out Sandiwara, would have been the short documentary called “Panther Pat,” about the first woman to play pro football in 1970.
When my veins were clocking in at around the same alcohol by volume as the Burgundy, and after party lights began glowing together, I meandered back to my motel. Along the wooded corridor walking path, in the dark, I daydreamed about being jumped or robbed and how I would beat them all up and then I almost fell over and was glad no one was around to kill me.
Note: Sunday started with the Leonardo DiCaprio produced documentary “The Lake,” which won the “U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.” Sunday’s schedule can be found here.
Do you like to watch or have you been experimenting with short films? From one minute to five, please come join us at the Short Film Showcase this Thursday at 121 N. Adams in downtown Mansfield from 6 to 8 p.m.
Just show up with a flash drive, link, etc., add your name to the board and share what you’ve made!
