CINCINNATI —

The annual Over-the-Rhine International Film Festival kicks off this weekend!

The festival will feature local and international artists and filmmakers.

The goal of the event is to showcase stories that celebrate humanity by providing a platform for stories that typically don’t get told.

Screenings will be held at the Cincinnati Art Academy and The Woodard Theater.

Festival tickets start at $15 and weekend passes are still available.

For those who wish to avoid crowds, the festival is also hosting a virtual event where you can screen this year’s movie selections on-demand or through live stream feeds.

For more information visit the festival’s website, here.

CINCINNATI — Partners and supporters of BLINK will celebrate the official completion of Ohio’s largest mural with a dedication Saturday morning.

The mural, an homage to Cincinnati's rich musical culture, features pioneering legends like Mamie Smith, The Isley Brothers, James Brown, Doris Day and Bootsy Collins. Collins, a Cincinnati native best known for the group Parliament-Funkadelic, is scheduled to attend the dedication. Mural artist Tristan Eaton, ArtsWave CEO Alecia Kintner and BLINK executive director Justin Brookhart will also be in attendance.

The dedication will take place in front of the completed mural at 100 W. 5th Street from 10:30–11 a.m.

BLINK, a light and arts festival spanning 30 blocks, drew an estimated 2 million people during its four-day run from Oct. 13-16.

It has been 10 months since most musicians have been able to perform in front of fans. It has also been that long since any of us could see them live, too.

“Our social scene was through playing shows. It was everything to us,” said Adrian Pottersmith, a member of the band The Velveteers.

Prior to March 2020, you could find Pottersmith in a basement or warehouse around Boulder, Colorado performing. Now, he has had to rely on his two bandmates to formulate ideas to connect with their fans.

“We did a live stream that was like eight really cool places in Colorado and we had my dad just record them all on his iPhone,” he said.

Pottersmith and his two bandmates, Jonny McMahon and Demi Demitro, have traveled hundreds of miles to identify unique areas to perform live streams online. They have visited the mountains in Colorado and the deserted plains of Kansas to shoot material they think will resonate with people who enjoy their music.

“We have seen people come out of the woodwork that we may have not been familiar with us before,” said Pottersmith.

Dan Levitt can relate.

Levitt is the conductor for Inside the Orchestra, a group that performs immersive concerts for students. Since COVID-19, the group has not been able to rehearse or perform in-person.

“I know the first time I get up in front of the orchestra to rehearse, I’m just going to have to take a breath and say, 'Welcome back,'" said Levitt. “I’m getting emotional now just thinking about it. [The pandemic] has allowed me to give more focus to parts of my musical life that I would normally be pulled in all sorts of directions. I wake up in the morning and say, 'I’m going to write music all day.'”

These musicians say the pandemic has been a challenge. They have had to pick up side jobs to supplement their income and have not had the thrill of performing in front of a live audience, but they say there are several silver linings. Creativity has blossomed as musicians have had to find ways to engage their audience remotely and have had more time to write and record music.

“Just the change of things; while it’s a little freaky at first, it’s really good because it forces you to do stuff that you wouldn’t do otherwise,” said McMahon. “I think most really good things come out of places that are really uncomfortable.”