There's a "Significant Challenge in Securing a Sustainable Future" for the Cleveland International Film Festival, Board Chair Says

CIFF 49 Opening Night Credit: Emanuel Wallace

From the outside, the 49th iteration of the Cleveland International Film Festival went pretty well.

Three-hundred films were shown by filmmakers from across the globe. Records were broken: One, for the number of attendees on opening night; and two, for the film “Lost & Found in Cleveland,” which topped the number for single-screening attendance, with 2,247 tickets.

But the reality behind the curtain, as detailed by a recent Ideastream report and a reaction email from CIFF Board Chair Joe Marinucci, is a lot more convoluted.

“Despite those gains, the overall financial results of this year’s festival were below projections,” he said, “and did not get us to where we need to be for the organization’s long-term success.”

He added, “I am acutely aware that we still have a significant challenge in securing a sustainable future for CIFF.”

Marinucci’s letter to festival friends and fellow board members comes after the Ideastream report detailing anonymous complaints about a “toxic” work environment under new CIFF Director Hermione Malone, who’s been accused of a “belittling” management style and an “embarrassing” recognition level of festival sponsors, as one worker said.

“I genuinely don’t even think that it’s going to make it to the 50th next year,” one former worker told Ideastream, “because of the way things are going.”

Employee cynicism doesn’t seem disconnected from reality. Festival visits from 2022 to 2025 were roughly a third of what they were pre-Covid. And CIFF revenue has plunged by about $1 million since.

There are also now far fewer full-time, non-contract employees — from eight under Marcie Goodman’s tenure down to one.

The move from Tower City to Playhouse Square hasn’t helped, as the new venue features fewer screens and, as Scene has detailed in the past, an atmosphere that feels almost completely separated from the fest’s roots.

Marinucci blames the usual suspects in a world seemingly still figuring itself out. Low movie theater turnout. Meager festival attendance worldwide. And the growing pains of shifting CIFF’s move.

Still, CIFF’s board chair says the film festival is planning to see its 50th anniversary next year. Which means cutting overhead costs by leaving their Ohio City office (and going virtual), along with hiring outside consultants to sort out the toxic from what’s working. And also ways to make more money.

All needed work that “reflects our shared commitment to manage through the pressures and challenges currently facing the festival,” Marinucci wrote, “while also working to ensure a healthy, sustainable foundation for its future.”