East Lansing Film Festival

The 27th annual East Lansing Film Festival, the longest-running non-experimental film festival in the state, according to the event website, kicks off Thursday (Nov. 7) at Studio C! in the Meridian Mall with a screening of “Unlikely Allies,” a documentary following Weldon Angelos, whose 55-year marijuana-related prison sentence led entertainers like Snoop Dogg and Alicia Keys and political figures like U.S. Sen. Cory Booker and right-wing financier Charles Koch to help him fight his case. Director Anthony Pedone and Angelos, who was released in 2016, are both expected to attend the showing. The evening will also feature a screening of another 2024 documentary, “Homeschooled,” which follows homeschooled students preparing for their first prom.

The festival continues through Nov. 14 at Studio C! with several blocks of short films and full-length titles like “Sweet Dreams,” a 2023 drama depicting the fallout after a Dutch sugar plantation owner dies and leaves his entire estate to an illegitimate son he had with his Indonesian housekeeper; “Oliver Sacks: His Own Life,” a documentary about the late neurologist and writer; “Between the Lights,” a 2023 romantic drama set in England; “The Diamond Couple,” a  2024 documentary about a husband and wife who have both made it past 100 years old; and “The Teacher Who Promised the Sea,” a 2023 historical drama set partially during the present day and partially during the Spanish Civil War. All full-length films are slated to be shown twice throughout the festival.

For a full schedule of screenings, visit elff.com. Tickets for each range from $8 to $15 and can be purchased at the theater or in advance at celebrationcinema.com/cinemas/Studio-C-Meridian-Mall.