On April 13, 1977, as Jon Forman screened “F For Fake” at the Cedar Lee Theatre, he had no idea whether his new Cleveland International Film Festival would still be going 50 years later.
On Thursday, CIFF50 opens with Dori Berinstein's “A Man with Sole: Kenneth Cole.” The iconic designer and the film's director will attend the screening at Playhouse Square. In a first for the festival, three venues in the Downtown theater district will be complemented by three screens at the Cedar Lee in Cleveland Heights. Films show in person through April 18 and then some stream online April 19-26.
“When you have milestone anniversaries, it seems like a logical time to look back at the beginning, at the evolution, at the key players in the story of the organization,” said CIFF Executive Director Hermione Malone when announcing this year’s schedule.
Forman said the expansion is not unusual.
“Cleveland audiences were spoiled for a number of years when the festival was at Tower City,” he said. “Everything was under one roof, which is very rare for a festival. Having been to Toronto, having been to Sundance myself, you run all over town going to different screenings.”
This year’s slate includes 236 shorts and 90 features, several of them coming to CIFF after Sundance premieres.
“If I Go, Will They Miss Me?” is Walter Thompson-Hernández’s story of a working-class neighborhood in Los Angeles. The director will attend the screening on April 16. “Union County,” produced in Ohio last year, runs two days later. A third Sundance premiere, the Cleveland-based “Carousel” with Chris Pine and Jenny Slate, is not on the schedule. Paul Sloop, director of programming, said last month that they were in talks to possibly add it to CIFF50.
“We just were able to add ‘FreeLance,’ that world-premiered at Sundance and was made in Columbus by a pair of brothers that are from Columbus,” he said.
Three programs titled Local Heroes include movies made by Ohioans and/or about Ohio. For example, Adam White’s “Photography” was produced through Tri-C’s film workshop. Andrew Easterling made “Love in the Lanes” as his senior thesis at Cleveland State University. He’s now an employee of Ideastream Public Media.
“My story’s about a competitive bowler, and he’s going against his former lover and partner,” he said. “He challenges her to one last bowling game to show that he’s changed.”
Another short, “Magan’s Fare,” is the latest work from Kent State University professors Dana White and Chris Knoblock, who live in Willoughby Hills. It stars Barkhad Abdi, the Oscar-nominated co-star of “Captain Phillips.”
“His agent told him, ‘They wrote it for you,’” White said. “I like to think that he felt himself in the character. There's no way to describe how good he is in this movie. Working with him is the most incredible, crazy, wonderful, intimidating, scary experience ever, because he's so talented. And you just kind of want to get out of his way and let him do his thing.”
Oberlin grad Drew Dickler’s “Big Bass” reflects on her childhood in the ‘90s. It’s running as part of the LGBTQ-themed DReam Maker Shorts program.
"It's about embracing who you are and embracing the idea that there's no wrong way to grow up," she said. "That lens is through a really supportive teacher and a queer role model, even if I didn't necessarily know that at the time. [It's about] loving yourself at all costs and finding ways to find community around you who make you feel comfortable and make you feel like you can blossom into who you are."
Dickler and producer Nikki F. Heyman, another Oberlin alum, will participate in Q&A sessions after each showing.
On the feature side, “My Pathetic Career” follows Robert Post and his one-man variety show. “Free Beer Tomorrow” tells the story of a Columbus bar that’s served as a safe haven for five generations of lesbian customers. Ry Levey's "Song Silenced: Coming Out In Christian Music" is about Cleveland jazz and gospel singer Billy Newton-Davis, who will attend both screenings.
CIFF’s Paul Sloop said he’s been “impressed” by the diversity of stories and talent in the state.
“The stories in Ohio are very much like stories everywhere,” he said. “The power of film is that it reminds us, we sit together in a dark room, we get outside of ourselves for a minute and we're reminded that no matter how different we all are externally, internally we experience a lot of the same things.”
Changes in latitudes
During its years at Tower City Cinemas, CIFF held satellite screenings as far away as Oberlin and Akron and as close as the Capitol Theatre. Jon Forman’s Cleveland Cinemas now runs the latter.
“We'd love to host them at that theater,” he said. “There have to be some technical upgrades ... and I think that next year and going forward, the theater would be a logical place for them to expand.”
Akshay Kalra, economic development director for the neighborhood development corporation that owns the theater, said grants are on the way to upgrade the historic three-screen cinema in Gordon Square.
The Cleveland International Film Festival moved to Playhouse Square in 2019, going virtual for two years before officially debuting in person inside its new home under an agreement that runs through 2032. Malone said last month that they have not yet discussed continuing at the Cedar Lee beyond this year. At the time, Forman said he was hopeful.
“I really hope they do this again next year and in future years,” he said. “My hunch is, if it's successful here, they're going to have to give it serious consideration.”
As co-founder of the fest, he'll be part of a “Spill the Tea” discussion on April 16 alongside actress, writer and Cleveland native Ann Elder known for roles in “Laugh In” and “Mama’s Family.”
Other discussion programs include Rock & Roll Hall of Fame VP for Education Jason Hanley discussing movie soundtracks. Radio on the Lake will present a workshop on the art of live sound effects. Nina Turner, a former Ohio state senator, will interview Catherine Gund about social justice in film. Former Cleveland Brown Earnest Byner will be part of a panel discussion following “Believeland,” an encore presentation of the documentary that set a CIFF attendance record after premiering here in 2016. This year’s screening includes a new ending, created after the Cleveland Cavaliers brought home a championship two months after the film fest that year.
