Value for the entertainment dollar is a matter much sought after. The admission price of a feature film at an area theater plus popcorn plus a beverage can easily top twenty bucks per person. If the movie sucks, one has experienced rolling the dice of seeing only “snake eyes.”      There are a few entertainment bets that produce “wins” for less of an investment.  
   The Indianapolis International Film Festival starts Thursday, July 17 and runs until Saturday, July 26. This will be the third year “Civil Discourse Now” has been privileged to cover some of the events at the Festival. We will stream “live” from the Festival on Saturday, July 19. The Festival ends the following Saturday, July 26.
   Films run every day and evening during the Festival. Details of the films that will be shown can be found at the Festival’s website, indyfilmfest.org. Last spring, the Festival’s president, Craig Mince, talked about the process of screening the films.
   There are feature-length films in the lineup. There also are documentaries, animated films, “shorts”—films of about every type one can imagine.  The “shorts” usually are run three or four in an hour or 90-minute set.
   The venues for the Film Festival are the Indianapolis Museum of Art on 38th Street, just west of Michigan Road, the Indianapolis State Museum, and the IMAX downtown.
   One can buy individual tickets for showings or buy a pass for entire Festival for $150. That might sound like a lot, but really it’s what you might pay for tickets and popcorn to watch a few car chase scenes and mediocre dialogue in a “smash hit.”
   Some of the films are great. Some of the films might appeal to a small segment of the community. A few might suck. This is art. Not everyone has the same tastes. But compared with what one risks at the cinema to watch a product of the big studios, the Indianapolis International Film Festival spreads risk across the board. You will see films of types you usually do not see.
   Like I said, the Festival runs from July 17 to July 26. Visit the website. I encourage anyone interested in film to go to the Festival. Also, listen to CDN the entire ten days. We have our own “network” on the internet. We shall try to interview as many directors, screen writers, actors, editors and Film Festival people as we can. Tune in to 7bitsofinfo on Live 365, or the link on FB or on this web page.