Terrence Todd “tt” stern-enzi will continue to help Greater Cincinnati filmmakers for years after his death last September. ArtsWave has established a $5,000 grant in his name, the tt stern-enzi Memorial Award for “an emerging Cincinnati filmmaker.”
“I wanted to honor his legacy in some way. It felt so wrong to end this way,” says Jessica Stern-Enzi, whose husband died at age 56 on Sept. 29 last year. She took him to the hospital Aug. 30 with what they thought was “bad pneumonia,” but doctors found a rare form of cancer that had metastasized to both of his lungs.
A huge supporter of the Greater Cincinnati film community, stern-enzi was part of the Over-the-Rhine International Film Festival leadership team since 2018. For more than 20 years he was a freelance writer and Greater Cincinnati film critic. He had contributed film reviews to CityBeat, discussed movies on Cincinnati Public Radio’s Cincinnati Edition, and did his “tt’s take” reviews Friday mornings on Fox 19 Now.
And he always found time to advise prospective or novice filmmakers.
“tt spent 20 years telling Cincinnati which films to see, and just as long telling Cincinnati filmmakers like myself that they were good enough to make their own,” says Yemi Oyediran, the writer-director of The King Of Them All, the King Records documentary which premiered on PBS last October.
“Anybody who reached out to him, he gave them his time,” says his widow. “I’d ask him, ‘Who are all these people you’re having coffee with?’ He was always willing to share his wisdom, his guidance. A lot of times they were going for the same grant he was.”
Grant applications are open through Friday, July 3, 2026.
“The award recognizes a filmmaker whose work reflects stern-enzi’s vision and values,” ArtsWave announced. Here are the details from ArtsWave:
- Award amount: $5,000, paid in cash to one recipient.
- Eligibility: Aspiring filmmakers “in the Greater Cincinnati region.”
- Applications: Apply at this ArtsWave link by July 3.
The memorial award was endowed by an anonymous donor, plus donations from stern-enzi’s family, friends and colleagues. Contributions to the fund can be made here. His widow says a memorial grant will be awarded annually.
“After tt died, I heard from so many people who told me he’d talked them into chasing something they were scared to try. A film, a grant, a job they didn’t think they’d get. He did that for people constantly, and... this award is how we keep him doing it. Somebody out there is going to make a movie because of tt, and they may never have met him. That’s exactly how he’d want it,” Jessica says.
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