Cinema Columbus 2026: Sightlines: Documentary Shorts at the Gateway Film Center!

NOTE: This will be an UNHOSTED EVENT. This is just being listed as a fun opportunity to see some great short docs and support this Cinema Columbus event. But, I have a conflict on this day/time, so I’m only 50-50 if I’ll be able to make it. (If I am able to make it, you’ll see me there!) Tentatively listing it as an “un-hosted event.” But, while no official host will be present, you’ll be able to check the RSVP list so you can keep an eye out for fellow CMG’ers and your for Movie Group friends!

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Join us for a CMG Bonus Event to see five special Documentary Shorts as part of Cinema Columbus 2026! The Cinema Columbus event is now in its 5th year, but this will be the FIRST time the Movie Group will attend! The festival features over 75 feature length and short films shown at a variety of Columbus locations. For our event, we’ll check out the Documentary Shorts section at the Gateway, described below:

DESCRIPTION: The 5 documentary shorts explore, “the spaces we inhabit” and why they “matter so deeply.” “The environments we shape mold us. These short visions unearth intimate looks at how physical place informs internal realities.” The Shorts of Ohio includes the following films:
* Elephant Families (15-min), Dirs. Evan Bode & Marvin Wade. A documentary about the resilience of London’s Latin American communities as a wave of regeneration hits Elephant and Castle.
* Prison and Time (7-min), Dir. Elena Escalante. A formerly incarcerated writer speaks about his 25 years in prison and the positive transformation he achieved in spite of, not because of, the criminal legal system around him.
* The Sight Unseen (35-min), Dir. Shawn Antoine II. This documentary explores a writer’s memories and writings, investigating whether a phenomenon experienced in 1971 was divine or a hoax.
* Prettier in Whittier (12-min), Dir. Joe Kowalski. In the town of Whittier, nearly the entire population lives in a single apartment building, bringing new meaning to the idea of getting along with your neighbor.
* Grampy’s Red Rock Rabbit Ranch (32-min) Dirs. Martin Krafft & Laura Asherman. A filmmaker is invited to document her friend’s seemingly idyllic life on an intergenerational farm, but the act of filming becomes entangled with the farm community’s unraveling.

PERSONAL INVITATION and Q&A: Martin Krafft, the director of the documentary short Grampy’s Red Rock Rabbit Ranch reached out personally to invite our group to attend! From Martin Crafft: “I'm the director of a short doc, Grampy's Red Rock Rabbit Ranch, having its world premiere at Cinema Columbus Film Festival on September 13th." Martin will be traveling from Berlin, Germany and story co-creator Emily Kleypas, will be traveling from NYC for the premiere and a Q&A after the documentary shorts” and would by “totally honored if the Columbus Movie Group” would attend!

PLAN: Please purchase your ticket for the 1:30pm showing on Sunday, September 13th! Recommend arriving in the upstairs lobby area around 1:15pm to meet up with fellow group members. Tickets for this one may move quickly so advance purchase as soon as possible is advised. The total program will be 2-hours. Tickets just $11.57 with no online ticketing fee! You can order yours and find out more about the program here: https://cinemacolumbus.eventive.org/Schedule/6a594d59bc221f005a8b6d48

Hope you can make it, Dan