The Mystic Film Festival returns this week, running tonight through Sunday with an entertainingly wide range of movies — 73 short and feature-length documentary and narrative films in all.

Headlining the opening night is a film directed by actress/director Robin Givens. It’s titled “The Nana Project” and stars Oscar winner Merecedes Ruehl; it screens at 6:30 p.m. Thursday at Mystic Luxury Cinemas. Screenwriter and producer Carl Moellenberg will attend the screening, and there will be a Q&A afterward.

The festival will honor Old Lyme’s own Janet Roach, who earned an Academy Award nomination for co-writing “Prizzi’s Honor,” with a Lifetime Achievement Award. She will be feted at the Sunday awards ceremony, held at 6:30 p.m. at Mystic Luxury Cinemas.

There are also workshops during the festival, with Roach leading sessions on how to “to successfully captivate an audience and create a sellable script” from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, and how to “give your protagonist a worthy adversary and your script the conflict it deserves by learning how to love your antagonist” from 9:30 to 11:20 a.m. Sunday.

Festival events will be held at Mystic Luxury Cinemas, La Grua Center, United Theatre of Westerly, and the Mystic Aquarium Milne Center.

To see the full list of events and to buy tickets, visit https://mysticfilmfestival2023.eventive.org/welcome