Highland Square will be abuzz with movie lovers Saturday at the neighborhood’s annual film festival. Now in its seventh year, this weekend’s Highland Square Film Festival will showcase 23 films, many of them made by Akron residents.
The Highland Square Neighborhood Association started the festival in 2017 as a one-day event at Highland Square Theatre. Festival chair Mina Riazi joined the association three years ago and took the lead on the event. Her goal was to better incorporate the neighborhood group’s mission into the film festival.
Highland Square Film Festival
Saturday, May 18
Noon to 5 p.m.
Throughout Highland Square (see full schedule below)
Presale tickets can be purchased here. Tickets will also be available the day of the event but at a higher price.
“The board’s goal is to bring people to the community to interact with the businesses [and] to build a neighborhood where everyone’s thriving,” Riazi said. “For the last three years, we’ve taken the festival to the streets of Highland Square.”
Of the 23 films featured this year, 14 were made by Highland Square or Akron-area residents.
“We want to try to keep it as local as possible,” said Philip Swift, regarding how films are selected. Swift handles digital media for the festival and assists with the programming and curation of the films. “It is the Highland Square Film Festival, so getting as many actual neighborhood filmmakers as we can is the best thing we could possibly do. And when we do accept things from a more national or even international scope, we try to make sure it has something that still connects to the community in a way.”
Film categories include animated, trailer, documentary, experimental, student, LGBTQIA, narrative and music videos. Films will be screened at Mustard Seed Market & Cafe, Matinee Bar, Square Nightclub and Yoga Squared beginning at noon. Each location will show 30 minutes of film and will run the movies on a loop until 3 p.m. (Festival films must be 10 minutes or less.)
Other festival events include a screening of live-action films from the Children’s Film Festival Seattle at the Highland Square Theatre; live music at Ray’s Pub and the Wendell L. Willkie American Legion Post 19; a photo exhibit by Tim Fitzwater at Akron Brow Bar; and local vendors peddling their wares throughout the neighborhood.
The festival will conclude with a Devo-inspired event at Highland Square Theatre. The Akron band’s music videos will play on the big screen as local band Janari Kemet and the Black Jackets perform. The event will also feature a presentation by author David Giffels, who will discuss his 2023 book, “The Beginning Was the End: Devo in Ohio.”
“We use multiple business locations throughout the square to allow people to go into their businesses, view the films there, get to know different spots that they maybe wouldn’t normally walk into or feel comfortable with,” Riazi said. “And it also gives people who maybe aren’t as comfortable with film a way to access it that maybe feels comfortable in their neighborhood.”
Kate Woodford Shell, co-owner of Yoga Squared, joined the Highland Square Neighborhood Association in 2020. Every year, she and her team think of new ways to improve the experience for those who come to the studio to see films. As well as, of course, a bit of friendly competition.
“Square Nightclub, shout out to them. They completely killed it last year, and so we are definitely going to up our game,” Shell said.
She continued, “I think that for the people that have lived here for a long time, it reinvigorates their passion for this neighborhood, and then for the people that are newer, it’s surprising in this really sweet way, special way.”
Under Riazi’s leadership, the Highland Square Film Festival has grown, both in number of attendees and featured films. Looking ahead, Riazi said regardless of how big the festival gets, it will always remain true to the neighborhood.
“We’re really here to respond to the community needs of what they’re dictating,” she said. “So we’re really just taking the pulse of what’s happening every year and looking for that to inspire the next year.”
Editor’s note: David Giffels is a member of Signal Akron’s Local Advisory Board.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Scott Hallgren will perform as part of the Devo-inspired event. Jinari Kemet and the Black Jackets will perform.
