The 44th Cleveland International Film Festival will take place from March 25 - April 5, 2020, and will remain, at least for one more year, at Tower City Cinemas downtown.
The local VP of Bedrock real estate, Ken Till, announced this news Sunday at the closing night ceremony of CIFF 43. Organizers had been on pins and needles, but learned a few days ago that Cleveland's annual film fest would remain in its central location next year.
This year, satellite screenings in Detroit-Shoreway and University Circle seemed to be preparing attendees for the idea of a festival at scattered locations across town. It's possible that even more sites will be added next year, in an effort to transition gradually to a multi-site festival when and if Tower City Cinemas is demolished or converted.
Attendance for this year’s fest was reported at 105,839. CIFF's attendance curiously always seems to rise. And sure enough, this year's reported total was about 200 higher than last year's (105,656). It's the fifth consecutive year that attendance has topped 100,000.
The closing night film was Emilio Estevez's The Public, a drama about Cincinnati librarians whose downtown branch is on the verge of becoming a flophouse for the homeless.
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