Creating Columbia, SC's New Home for Indie Film

Filmmakers David Axe and Christopher Bickel noticed a problem, a big problem. Before Axe founded the Babylon Kino, there was and is an independent theater in this region–The Nickelodeon; however, it isn’t showing local filmmakers' work. In fact, they are flat out refusing to. If the independent theater isn’t supporting the independent filmmakers, then who is? Until now, no one.

The door to the Babylon Kino at 631 Harden St. Ste. i, Columbia, SC 29205.

The Spark

Axe, a journalist by day, assisted and attended the 2nd Act Film Festival, organized by Columbia commercial director Wade Sellers. The energy was lively, with great films and even greater attendance. The issue is that it was fleeting. There was no permanent place for this energy to live. So, Axe said, “Fuck it, we’re doing this.” 

Axe and Brittel tried to show their film, Theta Girl, at the Nickelodeon, just to see it on the big screen–see their editing choices worked. But they were turned down to rent the screen. They were told, “This is the kind of thing we would never show here.” Axe wanted to create a place where the default answer is yes. 

The major issue is that most large cities have a home for indie filmmakers; however, Columbia, SC, has been missing this piece of the puzzle to create a city that actually centers local art and artists and not just says they do.

The Journey

Robin Dial, local South Carolina realtor and partner in the Babylon Kino, helped Axe along this journey. Dial worked, and they found a place in October 2024, and Axe secured the lease in December 2024. They met through mutual friends. Dial said that, “...Once you start working with the talented and creative people in Columbia, then it starts to narrow down real quickly.” 

They came from different areas. Axe works in writing, and Dial works in production. Dial actually produced many of Axe’s films, beginning with Theta Girl. They connected over this shared world, which all ultimately led to the beginning of the Babylon Kino. 

Now

The Babylon Kino soft-launched in February 2025, opened officially in March 2025, and hosted the Babylon Film Festival in June 2025. Axe details that the festival “... was just such a great chance to fill the room with all my favorite people and do something that is good for us, good for the community, and was a damn good time. I can't believe it worked.” 

Right now, the goal is to break even, and they’re close. Meeting this means curating the right films, one of Robin Dial’s major contributions to the Babylon Kino. In addition to showcasing films, they have comedy, anime, and are about to start experimenting with karaoke nights. Ideally, one day the goal for Axe and Dial is to grow financially, in terms of physical location and community. Dial states, “...It's almost like that TV show Cheers, where you go to your local bar and everybody knows your name. Well, that's kind of how it is with us.”

The Power of the People

“This is amazing. How come you guys aren't marketing?” Axe hears, but he is marketing. They had television, radio, newspaper, flyers, and are on social media, but the real deal on spreading the news of this independent filmmakers’ hallelujah. Sometimes, people scroll, or click to fast too much to see what good is right under their noses (I’m looking at you fellow college students).

Bickel used to host movie nights at the Nickelodeon before it became a larger non-profit institution. Dial hosted a film club on Monday nights where he met Axe. Now, Axe has the Babylon Kino with movies featuring blood, guts, and even Bigfoot. 

Dial tells people who are unsure to, “Come on down, even if it's a movie you've never heard of, even if it's a movie you've read a review of that looks like a stinker deliberately choose quote unquote bad films sometimes because we have found something entertaining about them. Some they're the most fun to laugh at.”

So, to people not sold yet, Axe states, “Do you like living in a place with art and energy and community and meaning, beauty, right?…A lot of these intangible things, but they are also things that exist on an infrastructure of people, places effort, ideas. And when…that infrastructure goes away, you begin to feel it.”

I’ll always owe the Babylon Kino for taking a risk on my crazy little short film, where I had absolutely no clue what I was doing at times, which you can definitely tell in some moments. A lot of it was self-taught, or self-guessed. Thanks to the Babylon Kino, I know Axe, who is so genuine, kind, and determined. I know John Valley, who speaks with such passion and care that every word he says, you can’t help but naturally listen. There are also many other talented and just genuinely nice artists I haven’t mentioned, but they are there in my mind. Needless to say, I will always be thankful for that yes from the Babylon Kino, and you should stop by.

David Axe inside the Babylon Kino.