By Audrey Matusz

The 17th annual East Lansing Film Festival is on a roll this weekend bringing independent films, documentaries, shorts, and student films from around the world to the local area.

The festival started last night and runs till Thursday, Nov. 6. Films are screened at Wells Hall and Studio C theatre in Okemos and vary from psychological thrillers to uplifting documentaries.

In spirit of Halloween, Wells Hall will be showing some bone-chilling films tonight such as Oculus starring Karen Gilligan. In addition, tonight Studio C will screen Only Lovers Left Alive. A dark romantic flick starring Tilda Swinton and Tom Hiddleston as two vampires who have been in love for centuries, but things go awry when Swinton’s sister, played by Mia Wasikowska, pays a visit.

During the following week, a wider selection of films will be shown such as the highly acclaimed French-Belgian cartoon Ernest & Celestine or Zero Motivation, a foreign film about a group of female Israeli soldiers. I personally recommend seeing Meet The Patels, a hilarious documentary about a first-generation Indian-American and his match-making parents. It was voted by audiences as the Best Documentary at the Traverse City Film Festival this past summer and is a must-see.

Tonight, on-campus students with a valid ID can attend films at Wells Hall for free. For the rest of the weekend, student tickets are $3 and general admission is $5. Tickets for screenings at Wells are to be purchased through the Wells Hall Box Office. Studio C ticket prices are $7 for college students, $8 for Seniors, and $10 for ages 12 and up.

For show times and the full festival schedule, go to www.elff.com