Unorthodocs Returns to the Wexner Center for 10th Year, Oct 22–26

2026 Festival Lineup

• Unorthodocs Shorts: A collection of new documentary short films, including two with Ohio ties: Liz Roberts’s tender portrait Love is the Drug and the Ohio premiere of Nathan Truesdell’s A Derailment. Admission is free for all audiences.
• First They Came for My College (Patrick Bresnan, 2026): A must-see for anyone interested in the fate of higher education, this film tracks what happened when Governor Ron DeSantis staged a coup at New College of Florida. Director Patrick Bresnan joins in person for a panel discussion. An Ohio premiere.
• Non-Aligned Newsreels: Fragments from the Debris (Mila Turajlić, 2023–ongoing): A singular live performance incorporating a trove of forgotten Yugoslav newsreels that Mila Turajlić encountered in her hometown of Belgrade. Free for all audiences and an Ohio premiere.
• When a Witness Recants (Dawn Porter, 2026): One of the most acclaimed documentaries of the year, this unmissable film examines the lasting effects of a profound miscarriage of justice. A Q&A with director Dawn Porter follows the screening. 
• Aanikoobijigan [ancestor/great-grandparent/great-grandchild] (Adam and Zach Khalil, 2026): A bold cry from the heart and the mind, Aanikoobijigan looks at the Michigan repatriation specialists working to return and rebury Indigenous human remains. An Ohio premiere. 
• Barbara Forever (Brydie O'Connor, 2026): Executive produced by Kristen Stewart, this is a sublimely exhilarating exploration of the life, work, and legacy of Barbara Hammer, an iconic, pioneering lesbian filmmaker and longtime friend of the Wex. A conversation between Brydie O’Connor and Jennifer Lange, director of the Wex's Film/Video Studio, follows the screening. A Columbus premiere.
• Once Upon a Time in Harlem (David Greaves, 2026): You are cordially invited to a 1972 reunion of the living luminaries of the Harlem Renaissance at Duke Ellington’s house. An extraordinary documentary with footage captured by the legendary William Greaves, Once Upon a Time in Harlem is already one of the year’s most buzzed about films. A Columbus premiere.
• American Doctor (Poh Si Teng, 2026): Perhaps the most vital documentary of the moment, American Doctor conveys the powerful messages that three US physicians bring home from their work in Gazan hospitals. Producer and journalist Poh Si Teng and film participant Dr. Feroze Sidhwa discuss the film after the screening.
• Do You Love Me (Lana Daher, 2026): A personal journey (and love letter to Beirut) through Lebanon’s audiovisual memory, composed entirely of archival footage spanning more than 70 years. A Columbus premiere.
• Everybody to Kenmure Street (Felipe Bustos Sierra, 2026): A timely and morale-boosting tale of a Scottish community’s collective actions to stop the detainment and deportation of two immigrants in their neighborhood. A Columbus premiere.
• The Oldest Person in the World (Sam Green, 2026): As charming and life-affirming as movies get, Wex favorite Sam Green’s latest film uses his interviews with the oldest humans alive to playfully ask life’s eternal questions. An Ohio premiere.
• The Other Side of Everything (Mila Turajlić, 2017): This fascinating early film by Mila Turajlić follows the troubled history of Serbia through the experiences of her mother, a tireless dissident against multiple regimes. Turajlić will discuss the film after the screening.

Get the complete schedule of films, screenings, and talks.