The schedule is out for the 48th edition of the Cleveland International Film Festival. Stories about Northeast Ohio natives and several sports films are among the 137 feature-length films and 225 shorts scheduled to screen in Playhouse Square April 3-13.
The festival opens with “Thelma,” centered on a 93-year-old determined to recoup her money after she is scammed.
“It’s a perfect way to open the festival,” said CIFF Executive Director Marcie Goodman. “It’s a feel-good story.”
There are notably a variety of sports-related films among the lineup, such as “Right to Fight” about women in boxing in the 1970s. “Rouge” tells the history of the noted high school basketball team the River Rouge Panthers and includes the perspective of Northeast Ohio’s Brent Darby Jr. Akron native and Olympian Butch Renolds’ story is told through “False Positive,” premiering at the festival.
There are also two docs about two very well-known bands from Akron, the Black Keys and Devo. The latter is the closing night film.
Other Ohio films include “Sofa, So Good,” a feature about cousins on a journey to transport a couch across Dayton. The festival honors the late Ohio filmmaker Julia Reichert with a screening of her doc “9to5: The Story of a Movement.”
“Shari & Lamb Chop,” a film about ventriloquist and children’s TV host Shari Lewis, is the centerpiece screening. The director, Lisa D'Apolito, gives a post-film Q&A, in Connor Palace.
As usual, the festival also features films from around the world with 60 countries represented.
‘In the Glow’
This year’s theme, “In the Glow,” acknowledges the total solar eclipse taking place a few days after the festival kicks off.
“Also, we feel like all of the pieces of the film festival and the participants, you know, our filmmakers, are in the glow,” Goodman said. “Our audience is in the glow and everyone who helps out with the festival, we're all in the glow of the amazing experience.”
In addition to the eclipse, there is also an NCAA tournament and Guardians’ home opener underway in Cleveland during the first half of CIFF. The festival will be dark during the afternoon of the eclipse.
“We’re hoping that there will be a lot of people around and looking for something to do, and we'll have that to offer,” Goodman said.
The festival also hosts the usual discussions with filmmakers, but festivalgoers should expect more of that programming during the second half of CIFF, Goodman said. This is in part due to the cost and availability of hotels during the first half of the fest.
CIFF also has scaled back production of its program guides in recent years. There will be some printed guides available in the community, such as at libraries and movie theaters. A PDF version is available online.
