The Nine Central Film Festival presented by Gustave White Sotheby’s International Realty is back!

The Nine Central Film Festival returns to the Jane Pickens Theater on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 2 and 3, with two nights of short films made by local filmmakers.

The festival started eight years ago as a group of friends screening their own movies in a backyard. Each night has a different lineup of roughly 10 to 15 shorts — comedies, documentaries, music videos and more — with the full slate announced about two weeks out, since submissions stay open through September. Doors open at 6 p.m., live music starts at 6:30 and films begin at 7:35. Gustave White Sotheby’s International Realty is the presenting sponsor.

Three days earlier, on Wednesday, Sept. 30, the theater screens “Situations” at 7:30 p.m., with filmmaker and lead actor Greg Vrotsos on stage afterward for a Q&A. The film had its New England premiere at the Jane Pickens earlier this year and is now on a national release tour.

“Situations” follows a Los Angeles photographer three months after a breakup, drifting through Silver Lake’s creative scene and dodging friends, career pressure and short-lived flings until an unexpected connection forces a reckoning. It’s Vrotsos’s directorial debut. His acting credits include “Twin Peaks,” “Orange Is the New Black” and “Mayans M.C.”

Tickets are at janepickens.com.

Ryan Belmore is the owner and publisher of What's Up Newp. He took over the publication in 2012 and has grown it into a three-time Rhode Island Monthly Best Local News Blog (2018, 2019, 2020). He was named LION Publishers Member of the Year in 2020 and received the Dominique Award from the Arts & Cultural Society of Newport County the same year. He has been awarded grants for investigative and community journalism, and continues to coach and mentor new local news publications nationwide. Ryan...