It was a bewildering decision. It was 2018 and Cincinnati’s ReelAbilities Film Festival announced it was changing its name. Henceforth, it would be known as the Over-the-Rhine International Film Festival.
What was the deal? Did it mean they were abandoning their central mission of showcasing films by and about people with disabilities? Were they just hoping to capitalize on the name of Cincinnati’s hippest neighborhood? Or maybe it was something else altogether.
Festival organizers endeavored to explain their reasoning.
They said the name change came about because they were “expanding the scope of the Festival to move beyond a singular focus on disability-specific programming to focus on a celebration of our shared humanity.”
As explanations go, it was pretty meager.
But that year, they did introduce some changes. The festival would now include films about marginalized communities. And they broadened the mission to include films that embodied “five pillars” – freedom, identity, diversity, disability and faith. Audiences grew. But patrons and sponsors were still a little hazy about the name.
“We knew there would be a transition,” said Jack Geiger, chair of the festival’s leadership committee. “We needed people to understand what we were doing. And why we were doing it.”
Geiger and his fellow committee members understood that folks were still mystified by the new name.
“We needed someone to guide us through all of that,” he said, “someone who could effectively communicate our expanded mission.”
Lower case, but a ‘rock star’ choice
It took nearly two years. But finally, in February 2020, they announced a new artistic director: tt stern-enzi. (“You can blame e.e. cummings for the lower-case fixation,” stern-enzi explained in a recent email.)
For anyone even vaguely involved in the region’s film community, stern-enzi’s was a familiar name. He was the face and voice of CityBeat’s film coverage. He wrote for Dayton’s CityPaper, as well. He was heard regularly on WVXU and had founded WatchWriteNow, which helped build film club programs for teens. And he had already been helping guide the festival’s programming for a couple of years.
Most important for the festival’s growth, stern-enzi was well-connected throughout the North American film community. Personable and charismatic, he had spent the better part of three decades building a wide network of filmmakers and distributors. He knew the organizers of other film festivals, too, and the people who wrote about them.
“He was a rock star choice for us,” Geiger said. “From our perspective, he was great. He’s got full freedom to program the films we screen. We trust what it’s going to bring in. There’s no collar on him, no second-guessing him.”
A background of altruism
That tt stern-enzi would become an influential cog in Cincinnati’s cultural brain trust was something he had never envisioned. Indeed, when he graduated from the Wharton School of Business, most people thought he would make his mark in investment banking.
But they hadn’t been paying attention to stern-enzi’s extracurricular activities. Instead of hobnobbing with future power brokers, he spent his spare time working in soup kitchens, making sandwiches and distributing food throughout the poorest of Philadelphia’s poor neighborhoods.
Growing up in a single-parent home in Asheville, North Carolina, he developed a quietly altruistic attitude early in life. Perhaps it came from being raised in a society of women. His father was absent, but the constant presence of his mother, grandmother and a small army of aunties provided him with an abundance of oversight.
“In elementary and middle school, I was a decent student,” recalled stern-enzi. “I loved reading and learning. My mom was working nights, but when she had days off, she would pick me up after school and we would go to the movies.”
As he got a little older, he developed into what he unashamedly describes as “a geek.”
“From 10 to 15, I was literally that kid who was either watching movies, reading sci-fi fantasy stuff or playing D&D (Dungeons & Dragons) with my friends.”
But then came the change that redirected his life.
A scholarship paves the way
As a high school junior, he left Asheville with the help of a scholarship from a group called A Better Chance. Founded in 1963, the New York-based group places “high-performing students of color into the nation’s leadership pipeline through increased access to the nation’s top independent and public schools.”
For stern-enzi, it was a ticket to a challenging and upwardly mobile future. He spent the final two years of high school at The McCallie School in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Nestled on the western slope of Missionary Ridge – site of a famed Civil War battle – McCallie is a pricey and high-powered educational powerhouse. Today’s tuition for boarding students is just under $67,000 per year.
During his senior year at The McCallie School, he saw the late David Lynch’s “Blue Velvet.” He was bowled over by the film. By the end of the weekend, in fact, he had seen it three more times.
On Monday morning, when he got to his AP English class, he asked his teacher, a charismatic Mississippi gentleman named Cleve Latham, if he would be willing to devote a portion of the class to a discussion of “Blue Velvet.”
“I told him that I needed to talk about the film,” said stern-enzi. “And I needed to talk about it right there.”
Never one to squelch intellectual enthusiasm, Latham agreed.
“That was a defining moment for me,” said stern-enzi. “I had the love of film before that. But this took it beyond that. I am grateful to Cleve Latham and my time at McCallie. Little did I know that this would be the life I would lead.”
On the one hand, he was an outsider – the only black student in the gifted classes. But besides receiving a stellar education, he learned many valuable life lessons.
“I didn’t exactly fit in,” said stern-enzi. “But I found that I could fit in in different ways. There were geeks and nerds there, too. And that was a place I could fit in. I realized that I had an ability to cross over any and all of those lines when I needed to.”
He has been crossing over lines ever since.
Festival poised for growth
And now, as he works to grow the festival into something larger, something with a broader reach into the regional community, he is drawing on those abilities more than ever.
Despite the name change, the festival is still organized by LADD, a nonprofit originally known as Living Arrangements for the Developmentally Disabled.
But today, you are just as likely to see a film dealing with gender issues as you are one about physical disabilities. There are documentaries and student films, feature films and plenty of panel discussions. The 2025 festival, which runs nearly around the clock from March 6 through March 8, is ready to grow.
Both Geiger and stern-enzi are eager to see the festival expand into year-round programming that can support a vigorous educational component.
At an energetic 55, stern-enzi has dozens of ideas he would love to implement. There are collaborations with other local festivals, particularly the Cindependent Film Festival and the Cincinnati Jewish & Israeli Film Festival. There are institutional relationships to be nurtured, with local universities and Film Cincinnati.
And then there is the possibility of the Sundance Film Festival moving to Cincinnati.
“Well, I certainly wouldn’t want to stand in their way,” laughed stern-enzi. “But I think that’s something for another story. In the meantime, I’m just a dude who loves what I do. And I’ve got a film festival coming up in a few weeks.”
About the Over-the-Rhine Film Festival
The annual festival is organized by disability services and advocacy organization LADD and takes place within and near Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine neighborhood.
Originally an extension of the National “Reel Abilities” Film Festival, which came to Cincinnati in 2013, the festival widened its lens beyond disability in 2018 to include films that tell stories about all communities whose voices are marginalized.
The festival is rooted in five pillars that represent a mission of inclusion. Films are selected based on alignment with one or more of these pillars: freedom, identity, diversity, disability and faith.
- Thursday-Saturday, March 6-8. More than 20 screenings at various venues
- March 6, 5:30 p.m. Opening night gala and film, “Color Book.” Music Hall Ballroom.
- March 8, 9-11 p.m. Wrap party. Woodward Theater.
About LADD
Living Arrangements for the Developmentally Disabled was founded in February 1975 by parents who had a son or daughter with a developmental disability. LADD is guided by the belief that every person has ability and value. The goal is to empower adults with developmental disabilities to live, work and connect. LADD serves up to 1,000 people with compassion, empathy, excellence and efficiency, in integrated community settings through existing program expansion.
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