On Friday and Saturday, April 3 and 4, the Yellow Springs Film Festival’s Mini-Fest is returning to the village and beyond with a slate of cinematic programming.

The weekend begins in Yellow Springs at Little Art Theatre, where three Ohio-centric indie films will make their statewide premieres on the festival’s opening day. All three films were made in Ohio or were shot by filmmakers from the state.

The next day, renowned actor, singer and author Sandra Bernhard will headline the Mini-Fest and will take the stage at The Brightside, in Dayton, for a moderated conversation and Q&A with YS Film Fest founder and occasional village resident Eric Mahoney.

Now in its third year, the annual Mini-Fest is a way to drum up mid-year excitement for the forthcoming full YS Film Festival — returning to Yellow Springs for its fourth year in October — Mahoney told the News earlier this week.

“We’re six months out from the big festival,” he said. “So this Mini-Fest is kind of like a reminder that we haven’t gone anywhere, we will be back, and for now, here are some cool movies that just came out of Sundance.”

Showing at Little Art Theatre at 3:30 p.m. on the first day of the Mini-Fest is “Union County,” directed by Adam Meeks. Set in the shadow of the opioid epidemic in central Ohio — where director Meeks lived until he was 6 — the film stars Will Poulter as the film’s protagonist, a man taking life one day at a time as part of his county-mandated drug court program.

Next up at 5:45 p.m. is “The Bulldogs,” directed by Noah Dixon and Ori Segev. The film follows residents of East Palestine, Ohio, over  the course of a year following the 2023 train derailment that wrought environmental havoc in the small community. A Q&A with the directors will follow the screening.

Rounding out the first day is the screening of “Freelance,” directed by Julien and Justen Turner. Shot as a narrative series, “Freelance” follows a young filmmaker who documents his journey toward his first movie as he moves in with a friend group of ambitious creatives. A Q&A with the directors will follow the screening.

The second day of the Mini-Fest moves to Dayton — an intentional decision, Mahoney said, to broaden YS Film Fest’s reach and to engage with the wider Miami Valley audiences.

“In the end, we’re trying to grow our visibility — to bring more people to the village for the festival in the fall,” Mahoney explained.

He’s confident that Saturday evening’s live conversation with actor Bernhard will do just that.

She’s been on the screen and stage for nearly five decades. Past television credits include “American Horror Story,” “POSE,” “Broad City,” “Difficult People,” “2  Broke Girls,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine,” “Will & Grace,” “The Sopranos” and “Roseanne.” She was also in the Martin Scorsese-directed film “The King of Comedy,” opposite Robert De Niro, for which she won Best Supporting Actress by the National Society of Film Critics. She is currently cast to film Season 4 of “The White Lotus.”

“I just love her work, I always have,” Mahoney said. “I don’t remember a time when I didn’t know who she was. I think she’s just wildly talented, and watching her as an impressive conversationalist give such thoughtful interviews has made me really, really excited to talk to her.”

Mahoney gave a nod to the present state of the world — “With no shortage of sadness and heaviness these days,” he said. — and stressed the importance of carving our space in our lives to gather and commune in art. Going to the movies, he said, is a great way to connect with one another.

“So, you know, set aside all the bad stuff for a few hours, and lean into and engage with art — maybe have a thought-provoking conversation, heal and connect,” Mahoney said. “That’s been the mission statement of the YS Film Festival all along: to provide space to connect with each other, ourselves and all of humanity.”

Tickets for the three films screening at Little Art Theatre on Friday, April 3, can be purchased a la carte at http://www.ysfilmfest.com/2026-minifest, with ticket prices beginning at $15.18. Tickets for the moderated conversation, Q&A and meet-and-greet with Sandra Bernhard begin at $44.52 and can also be purchased at ysfilmfest.com/2026-minifest. That event will take place on Saturday, April 4, 7-9:30 p.m., at The Brightside, 905 E. Third St. in Dayton.