After a 14-year absence, the Dutch Tilt Film Festival is coming back to the Holland Theatre in Bellefontaine this weekend. The four-day independent cinema event is, once again, the brainchild of Lance Schmidt, who now serves as executive director for the Holland.

According to Schmidt, the goal of the festival is to give people a chance to see what independent filmmakers are doing, especially with digital cameras. He hosted the first festival in 2010, then for two more years after that. But in 2013, he became a father and his priorities changed.

Over the years since, Schmidt stayed up-to-date on what’s happening in the independent film world, though he wasn’t involved in any way. Then, as his children got older, he found he had a little more time for those creative interests.

“My kids were in ‘The Jungle Book’ two summers ago,” he said. “That got the wheels turning. The Holland was fully renovated by then and ready.”

In March 2025, Schmidt reached out to the theatre to discuss the potential future of Dutch Tilt. When he found out the board was looking for a new executive director, he realized he had a chance to pursue a dream of working in the creative arts full-time.

Dutch Tilt Film Festival

Once the plan was in place for Dutch Tilt to move forward, Schmidt opened up a window for submissions starting in January of this year and going through May. About 80 producers/directors sent in films, with half making it into the festival, including 37 made in Ohio.

In addition, they received a lot of student submissions, and Schmidt admitted he was surprised at the quality.

“This is a film festival that really caters to those cutting their teeth in the craft, so you’ll see stuff you won’t see in other places,” Schmidt said. “It’s movies made by individuals with a creativity you won’t find on streaming sites.”

Things got rolling last night, Thursday, July 23, when they once again screened Union County. Filmed almost entirely in Logan County, it presents a mostly fictionalized account of the Bellefontaine Adult Recovery Court program. But you’ll have another chance to see it as it will close the festival this Sunday, July 26, at 3 p.m.

As for the rest of the event, Friday night starts at 6 p.m. with Influenca, which is described as “a comedy about a person missing a missing person.” Afterward, they’ll show an animation block followed by a selection of short horror films.

Schmidt explained there’s a large culture for horror in Ohio, so it made sense to plan a Friday Fright Night, with the first film beginning at 8:10 p.m. The short horror block includes titles like “Picture Taker,” “Mind Stalker” and “The Mysterious Happenings of The East Marsh.”

Saturday gets going at 1:30 p.m. with four top dramatic shorts. A block of eight student films will be shown next. After a break for supper, you can catch a second animation block at 6 p.m. followed by a group of eight made-in-Ohio movies.

Next up will be the feature film Slowburn Shoot, an indie wrestling story, at 8:15 p.m. But stick around when it’s done to see a panel discussion featuring the director, Adam Wilde and special guests.

To finish the day, a C.D. Bailey feature titled Rat Songs will begin at 10:15 p.m. As for what it’s about, the poster tells us “rats don’t concern themselves with heaven.”

The festival concludes on Sunday, July 26, starting with the doc block—a documentary “collection of character studies that takes a deeper look at different Ohioans”—at 1 p.m. and concluding with that final showing of Union County.

You can buy tickets at theholland.com. Both showings of Union County are free to the public. The other full-length movies cost $7.20 while the themed blocks of short films are $9.28, except for the doc block on Sunday, which is a little over $5.

Day or full weekend passes are available as well. You can find those under the subscriptions tab on the Holland’s ticket page. The cost for the whole weekend of films is only $30.16.

For more information, visit the Holland Theatre website and click on “tickets.”