The Ridgewood Off-Kilter Film Festival (ROFF) is set to return for its third year next month, with 66 independent films lined up for a jam-packed weekend of entertainment.
The festival, which runs from Sept. 11-14 at Ridgewood’s Stone Circle Theatre at 59-14 70th Ave., celebrates weird cinema, community filmmaking and uniquely crafted stories.
This year’s festival features a record 66 entries, boasting a line-up of animated shorts, live action shorts, short documentaries, music videos and autobiographical microshorts – a new category for 2025.
The Hedonist, a feature film directed by Nick Funess which follows a young office assistant who fleas his parents’ home after suffering a nervous breakdown, will also screen at the festival at 9:15 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 13.
The festival kicks off with a free community mixer from 8-10 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 11 at Topos Too at 59-22 Myrtle Ave., featuring performances from ROFF alumni Carla De Jesus Jerez and Wyatt Bertz.
Screenings and Q&As will begin on Friday, Sept. 12 and continue through to the final day of the festival on Sept. 14.
ROFF will wrap up with a closing night event featuring a free music video screening and Q&A followed by the ROFFIES, an annual award ceremony acknowledging filmmakers in each category. The closing night event also features a performance from Latin disco pop group Taxi Vision.
Festival founder Jeremy Finch said the event has grown significantly since last year, noting that over 30 local filmmakers will be taking part in the 2025 festival.
“There are some wild films this year,” Finch said in a statement. “In 2024, we screened 55 films. This year it’s 66 strong, original films with over 30 local filmmakers sharing work.”
Cat Tassini, a filmmaker who took part in the 2024 festival, showered praise on ROFF for bringing artists together last year.
“I wish every film festival could be this warm and lovely,” Tassini said last year. “The vibes were supportive and communal. The programming was excellent and I loved the video art gallery. 10/10 would recommend.”
Tickets for the 2025 festival start at $15 for a single day and $30 for a weekend pass. The event also features a “ROFF Gallery” at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 13.
