The Cleveland International Film Festival is hitting the big 5-0 this week and celebrating by going back to where it all began. CIFF50 returns with screenings across Playhouse Square and the Cedar Lee Theatre, opening Thursday, April 9, with a red-carpet screening of the documentary A Man With Sole: The Impact of Kenneth Cole and running through April 18. For Cleveland audiences, the milestone year brings a mix of big-screen premieres, short programs, and filmmaker events spread between downtown and Cleveland Heights.
When and where
CIFF50’s in-person program runs April 9-18 and is centered at Playhouse Square and the Cedar Lee, with additional screenings at Cleveland State University and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, according to the Cleveland International Film Festival. The festival schedule lays out exact theaters and showtimes, so anyone hoping to pack in multiple screenings will want to map out their viewing strategy early.
Opening night and Cedar Lee’s return
Organizers have put a spotlight on Cedar Lee’s return to the festival footprint, the neighborhood theater where CIFF first launched, and say the venue will handle a large portion of this year’s programs. Opening night features the Kenneth Cole documentary A Man With Sole and will include appearances by Cole and director Dori Berinstein, as reported by Ideastream Public Media.
Lineup and member-only screenings
The CIFF50 film guide notes that the festival will screen more than 85 feature films and over 200 short films from nearly 60 countries. The guide and individual film pages lay out shorts bundles, feature-length titles and special programs in detail, according to CIFF50. The guide also specifies that some screenings, including Maude Apatow’s Poetic License, are reserved for CIFF members only.
Awards, tickets and what to know
CIFF’s jury awards and special honors will roll out during the festival’s run. A Jury Awards Program is slated for Sunday morning at the City Club of Cleveland on April 12 and is free for the public to attend, as reported by WKYC. Tickets are on sale for individual films, day passes, memberships, and all-access passes, so anyone eyeing opening-night slots or member-only screenings should grab their seats sooner rather than later.
