The 35th anniversary of the Athens International Film and Video Festival, which begins today, marks the first time that Ohio University students will be able to see some of the festival’s feature films for free.

The Athena cinema will provide a limited number of free tickets to Ohio University students with a student ID. Before 6 p.m., competition shows at the Athena Cinema are free and non-competition shows are $5. After 6 p.m., tickets are $6.50 at both the Athena and The Athena Grand. All shows at Baker University Center and Stuart’s Opera House in Nelsonville are free.

Since its creation, the festival has given residents the opportunity to see obscure and foreign films while providing up-and-coming filmmakers with the chance to have their work seen and judged as part of the festival’s competition. A panel judges the competition films and gives awards in four genres: documentary, experimental, narrative, and animation. The festival orders films from various distributors.

The festival found its competition films for the first time through www.withoutabox.com, a Web site that allows filmmakers to submit their work to several festivals at once. The Web site has more than tripled the number of entries received by the festival. Three years ago, the festival received about 300 entries, compared to this year’s 1,024, said Ruth Bradley, director of the festival and the Athens Center for Film and Video.

Post movie critic Chris Bruce chose six of the festival’s 31 features and 215 competition films to highlight.

Chicago 10 — Similar in visual style to films like Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly, Chicago 10 uses animated footage of the 1968 riots at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago and the trial that followed.

The Edge of Heaven — Directed by award-winning German director Fatih Akin, the film deals with the clash of cultures between Germans and Turks living in Germany by following two Turkish immigrants as they deal with life in a new country. The movie was nominated for the 2008 Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film.

King Corn — A documentary looking at corn subsidies in the United States. While this might sound dull, the crux of the film’s story is two friends who plant an acre of corn to see how the system really works. Think of the book Fast Food Nation, but with corn.

Persepolis — Based on the graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi, the movie tells the story of a young girl growing up during the Iranian revolution and her love of Western culture. The second part of the film shows her in France coping with her changing country.

Youth Without Youth — The most recent film by director Francis Ford Coppola was entirely financed by his winery. The film follows a man who, after being struck by lightning, gains unlimited intellect, telekinesis, and is reborn into his 40s.

Long Shot – A competition film directed by OU professor Eric Williams. The film compares Ukranian and American media and examines the concept of free media.