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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This article appears in Apr 3-9, 2019.
Why is it “curious” that CIFF attendance continues to increase? You’re surprised people want to see interesting movies that will never screen in other theaters in Northeast Ohio? Or that the growing population of retirees have more discretionary time to do interesting things on weekdays? Or that Northeast Ohio’s diverse ethnic and racial population want to see movies from Europe, Asia and Africa? Or that CIFF is apparently very well managed and marketed? What’s so curious about this?
@Andrew Lang
My guess would be because it’s always well-run and well-attended and because it’s not like they can simply create more space at Tower City. So, yes, it is curious that they’re always able to increase attendance. Calm down.