Cleveland International Film Festival Returns to Cedar Lee For First Time in 35 Years

The Cleveland International Film Festival is coming home.

Founded by Jon Forman in 1977, CIFF launched at Cedar Lee before growth drove its relocation to Tower City in the early 1990s. Festival staff announced this week that the 50th edition will include screenings not just at Playhouse Square, where CIFF has been headquartered since 2021 after Bedrock announced the closure of Tower City cinemas, but also at Cedar Lee, along with the Rock Hall and CSU.

According to CIFF director Hermione Malone, it’s a fitting decision at the half-century milestone and a chance to give filmgoers experiences they cherished from the last 35 years.

“One of the things we hear a lot is how much people miss certain aspects of Tower City,” Malone told Scene. “Just being in closer quarters, where you can bump into someone you know, someone you work with, or someone who just saw a film you’re thinking about and might say, ‘Oh my gosh! Run, don’t walk, to buy a ticket to that one.”

The addition of Cedar Lee allows CIFF to return to full repeat screenings of all films, excluding shorts. Which means a bigger, more diverse festival, officials said — 326 movies from 57 countries, with 170 screenings at Cedar Lee.

And it’s all been chosen and organized by CIFF’s new director of programming, Paul Sloop.

“The main focus for this year’s selection process was to deliver an entire program curated for Clevelanders by Clevelanders,” he said at a press conference Monday morning. “What we believe will emerge this year is the same globally focused program of diverse films from around the world, but curated with a nod to Cleveland independent film fans’ sensibilities.”

Those 300 showings include a remake of Believeland, the woe-is-me documentary on Cleveland sports, which includes footage from the 2016 Cavs Championship win. Other highlights include If I Go Will They Miss Me, a Los Angeles-set coming-of-age flick, and Power Ballad, John Carney’s meditation on music and fame starring Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas.

That CIFF has made it 50 years is a triumph worth celebrating, especially at a difficult time for movie theaters in general.

Last year, following the wrap up of CIFF 49, board president Joe Marinucci expressed worries about the nonprofit’s financial health in the coming years despite big ticket sales.

“Despite those gains, the overall financial results of this year’s festival were below projections,” Marinucci wrote at the time in an email to members. “I am acutely aware that we still have a significant challenge in securing a sustainable future for CIFF.”

Malone’s response was to make CIFF more of an experience. This April, guests will be able to learn about the art of sound recording from a foley artist; ride their bikes to the debut of Mark Hoffman’s A Simple Machine!; and hear Senator Nina Turner talk about the use of social justice in film.

Better said, things you can’t buy on Amazon Prime Video.

“Streaming’s honestly just another factor in our ecosystem. Its existence means people have options,” Malone said.

“And when you think about what’s going to get somebody off of the couch, out of their house and downtown or to Cedar Lee, it really has to be a little more than you’re just going to see a film,” she said.

A reality Forman, currently the marketing director for the Cedar Lee District, understands in his current capacity.

It’s no longer 1977. The Cedar Lee District in general is different: it has the Dobama Theater, the Heights Gallery, the Wizbang Theatre, roughly 30 bars and restaurants and new housing underway.

CIFF 50 is just another way to showcase Cleveland Heights’ growing entertainment district, he said.

“I’m thrilled and delighted,” he told Scene. “I hope this is an experiment not just being done for one year. But come next year, they say, ‘It was so successful we want to do this again.’”