There is a certain magic in cinema. The saying is trite, yet its implications hold some truth. Watching a piece of art in the presence of strangers and friends alike while feeling emotions captured solely by a camera is an experience unlike any other.

However, Hollywood-produced blockbusters aren’t the only films to be accredited with this capability. In fact, there exists an entirely different venue in which the creativity of media is explored: film festivals.

While these films may not play at regular movie theaters, film festivals such as the ongoing local Cleveland International Film Festival (CIFF) at Tower City present a unique opportunity to view movies of all genres from around the world. Where else would one have an opportunity to watch a documentary chronicling the week-long road trip Revival tour of queer female poets of color or an Iranian film in Farsi about the unhealthy relationship between an activist journalist and a gang member?

“You’ll see things you won’t have any other opportunity to view,” said independent filmmaker and film professor Carla LynDale Carter-Bishop, whose documentary “Voices of the Hill” explores the racial divides in the nearby Twinsburg Township. “It gives you a chance to see some of the great things that are being produced in other places, so I think that’s important.”

Tower City remains swamped with guests poring over their multicolored film guides, and the RTA is packed with moviegoers every day of the week. Clearly, the audience for independent films exists– so why, with all of this support, do mainstream movie-viewers continue to negate the importance and credibility of the films showing at these festivals?

“You’re always going to have people that want to delegitimize you,” Carter-Bishop explained. “If someone wants to act like your film isn’t as important because it’s not in Hollywood or screening in major theaters, that’s okay because I have a very specific audience in mind when I’m making films and it’s not for everyone.”

Many films at festivals such as CIFF raise questions about serious social issues worldwide such as the refugee crisis in “Resistance” and reconciliation of multiple cultures in “Woven”— issues that the mainstream cinema typically does not address. As Carter-Bishop also concedes, there is certainly important entertainment value in huge Hollywood hits; but film festivals provide a special combination of ability to be both informational and enjoyable.

CIFF also presents a unique opportunity to view films created by diverse casts and crews. Whereas the most diverse movies shown at Solon Cinemas are usually Bollywood films shown at random times, CIFF goes as far as to categorize diverse films in order to make identifying them easier for festival-goers– there are even enough LGBT, African, Arabic, female and other minority-produced and -focused movies to have an entire section of sidebar categories. When compared to the fact that, according to a study by the University of Southern California, mainstream media film directors are only 3.4 percent female and just 7 percent of Hollywood films have a cast and crew with an accurate representation of the country’s balance of race and ethnicity, supporting film festivals like CIFF means supporting accurate diversity and representation.

So next time you want to watch a movie, consider attending a film festival or attending an independent film-showing at a theater such as Cedar Lee. With that ticket, you’ll not only be purchasing a thoroughly engrossing and thought-provoking experience, but you’ll also be supporting up-and-coming filmmakers in the universal quest in improving the lives of the underrepresented in both the local and global communities.

And if that’s not the magic of cinema, then I don’t know what is.

The Cleveland International Film Festival is an annual event that will continue through April 9. Tickets and film schedules are available online at www.clevelandfilm.org.