More than 140 movies lend Hobnobben Film Festival diversity of voices in downtown Fort Wayne

Lars Arwood | For The Journal Gazette

If you’re looking for something to watch at the Hobnobben Film Festival, don’t ask the organizers what flick they’re most excited to see.

“That’s like asking us to pick our favorite child,” says Alix Watson, festival co-chair. “Tell us what you like instead.”

There’s a lot to choose from with 141 films, in an array of genres and styles, coming out of 42 countries and in 26 languages. Depending on taste, the organizers might suggest a documentary on a metalhead breeding chickens, or a short on a beautiful and bittersweet fleeting love in Los Angeles.

The ninth Hobnobben Film Festival begins Thursday and continues through Oct. 7 at Fort Wayne Cinema Center, 437 E. Berry St. There will be awards presented Oct. 4, and workshops and panel discussions for filmmakers throughout the weekend. A virtual arm of the festival continues until Oct. 19.

The films are split into 32 blocks, about two hours each, categorized by genre or an underlying theme. The full lineup is available at hobnobben.org/2024-festival.

Opening night’s feature film is “Last Days of Summer,” directed by Indianapolis filmmaker Alex Rodgers. Producer Victoria Britton, who is also the festival’s hospitality lead, says the film is a story of a woman who has gone missing, pieced together through flashbacks.