To many, “independent film festival” connotes sophisticated films with lots of opaque dialogue, a la Ingmar Bergman, or maybe a Michael Moore documentary portraying a complicated societal dilemma.

But to Rebecca Richards and Ellen Gitelman, a film festival featuring works from outside the studio system is simply a great way to see unusual movies whose parameters reach beyond those of mainstream cinema. And for parents, it might also mean far less violence and sensationalism than they have come to expect from Hollywood films.