Updated: 9/18/2009

Underneath Cincinnati film festivals feature independent filmmakers from the Ohio/Kentucky/Indiana Tristate area.

Southern Ohio Filmmakers Association (SOFA) in partnership with the MidPoint Music Festival (MPMF) presented the 2009 Best of Underneath Cincinnati awards show at 8p.m. on Sept. 26 at the Garfield Suites.

Congratulations to all of our filmmakers! We had an amazing line-up for the night. The winners were:

"Measured Sacrifice" by Arbor Films "Best of Underneath 2009",  "Best Editing" & Honorable Mention - Cinematography

Emulsion by Cider Mill Productions "Best Cinematography" & "Best Ensemble Acting"

End of All things by Star Com/MAFIA "Best Sound"

Relationship Card by Sonnyboo Productions "Best Concept"

Amanda Howell "Best Actor/Actress"

There Will Be Love by Mike Haverkamp Productions "Audience Choice"

Other nominees screened included:

Earlier in the day we had additional workshops and events. Thank you to all who attended and our workshop presenters:

About this event: Underneath Cincinnati is a tri-annual event that gives local filmmakers a venue and audience for their short films. Each tri-annual screening, the top two films selected by the audience will automatically move to the yearly "Best of" event. Additionally, judges will screen all films and select an additional number of films to be included in the "Best of Underneath" event, and selected seven outstanding films for awards: Best Cinematography, Best Sound, Best Editing, Best Acting/Best Actor, Best Ensemble Acting, Most Original/Best Concept, and the coveted "Best of Underneath". The audience will also get to pick their favorite as the Audience Choice of the year.

Thank you to everyone who came out to our summer screening on July 30, 2009 at the Esquire Theatre in Cincinnati.  We had a great crowd and thank you to our event partner, the Oxford International Film Festival!

We featured 12 great films by talented local and regional filmmakers including:

Christian Appleby - Visionaries and Voices

John Whitney - Measured Sacrifice

Underneath Cincinnati was ranked "Best of Cincinnati 2006" by CityBeat!

History of Underneath Cincinnati

In 1999, before Underneath was Underneath, Phil Morehart, David Enright, and Dave Waddell began the Happy, Catchy, Flashy Named Motion Picture Festival. This annual event featured local films that were all under 10 minutes in length. The screening was first held at Sudsy Malones, and then moved on to the Shoutgate House for the next two years. The evening always drew quite a crowd of filmmakers, film lovers, and the just plain curious. When Wendell moved Seattle , the Happy Catchy crew disbanded. Morehart decided that in some shape or form, the Queen City needed a local film festival. That's when he teamed up with the Cincinnati Film Society. After seeing the success of Happy Catchy, they knew that Cincinnatians did indeed make and support local film, even though it might not always seem that way on the surface. They just needed a new name.

Underneath Cincinnati was born. The first show in August of 2001 was held in a then brand new space, the SSNOVA Gallery. The show was a compilation of the Best of Happy Catchy, and the response was solid. After that, Sara Mahle came on board and the quarterly screenings began. The problems with doing something four times a year instead of just once became apparent. Finding new work was difficult. Attendance at first was strong, but not overwhelming. But Underneath pressed on, and the word got out. New film and video makers started submitting work, and audience numbers took an upswing. People were surfacing to prove that independent film was alive and well. In the end of 2002, Phil said a farwell to Underneath and to Cincinnati as a whole. He moved on to his dream job in Chicago, writing about films for Facets Multimedia. John Hendricks joined Underneath as the Creative Director and partnered with Mahle to continue the festival. In 2003, they moved Underneath onto it's next phase. Judges were assembled, voting was held, and the numbers were counted. The first annual Best of Underneath Festival was held February 20th at the Cincinnati Art Museum. The 2004 year brought a few changes to Undereath. Hendricks left the group and James Billiter joined us as the new design guru. We dropped our affiliation with the Cincinnati Film Society and partnered with Media Bridges to continue bringing you the festival. New filmmakers and audience members have joined, and Underneath has remained strong. To become a member of the Underneath Cincinnati family, send an email to info@underneathcincinnati.com.