The Rock n’ Roll capital of the world, the city of Cleveland in the state of Ohio, has been the home of one of the most successful and long-running film festivals of the world, the Cleveland International Film Festival (CFF). Since it began its voyage of the splendid showcase of various films from all around the globe, in 1977, the festival has come so far that it has been accredited by IdieWIRE as one of the top 50 leading film festivals in the world.
Getting Bigger, Better and Stronger
The Cleveland International Film Festival, the biggest film festival in Ohio, was initiated by the Cleveland Film Society with a rather small set of featured films; the people of Cleveland had the opportunity to witness 8 films from 7 different countries over a period of 8 weeks, during the first instalment of the festival. The great support and enthusiasm from the residents of Cleveland made it clear that they wanted to enjoy this event again, and thus, from that point onward, the festival has strived towards evolving into a truly international film festival. As a matter of fact, this year, in the 38th edition, around 9,800 people had congregated to watch 186 feature films and 168 shorts from 68 countries, breaking all previous records!
Promoting and Addressing Various Cultures
Although International films are the main focus of the festival, there are other programs that have recently been held in order to diversify the usual screenings based on the issues in the surroundings; the programs display films or documentaries based on LGBT disputes, environmental issues, feminism concerns and Jewish and Israeli affairs, and lastly, Central and Eastern European based cultures.
The festival also offers a chance to the prospective winners of the CIFF Best Live Action Short Film and Best Animated Short Film awards to participate in the Academy Awards and there are also other categories of films which the viewers will be able to enjoy; some of which include:
- Narrative features
- Documentary features
- Animated features
- Documentary shorts
- Narrative shorts
The weather of Cleveland may seem somewhat cold for many, but this heart-warming and extremely friendly film festival makes up for the low temperatures, ensuring a once-in-a-lifetime experience of being a part of this wonderful film fiesta.
Website :www.clevelandfilm.org
Facebook :www.facebook.com/ClevelandInternationalFilmFestival
Twitter :twitter.com/ciff