The Cleveland International Film Festival (CIFF) is in its 35th year and this year runs from March 24 – April 3, 2011.

Please visit ClevelandFilm.org or call 877.304.FILM for details.

When: March 24th through April 3rd 2011.

Where: Numerous area theaters — with the main event taking place at Tower City Center in downtown Cleveland at 230 West Huron Road, Cleveland, Ohio 44113.

FAQ: For the skinny on this event.

Here is just one excerpt for this year’s event:

FilmSlam for Students (March 28 – April 1, 2011, 9-noon): High School kids all over Northeast Ohio have the opportunity to see three new films by some of the world’s most innovative filmmakers.  (Contact: Beth Steele Radisek, FilmSlam Director, 216.623.3456, ext. 13 or filmslam@clevelandfilm.org).

Three documentary films will be shown:

1) JANE’S JOURNEY — A film about Dr. Jane Goodall.
2) MY SO-CALLED ENEMY — Follows a group of Palestinian and Israeli girls who travel to the U.S. to take part in Building Bridges for Peace
3) THERE ONCE WAS AN ISLAND — Learn about island people off the coast of Papua New Guinea whose culture is being threatened by the rising tide waters caused by climate change.

A few highlights of this year’s film festival:

• Storytellers — Hear discussions on the art, craft and business of moving image production — A series of interactive panel discussions featuring visiting filmmakers.
• 2011 Artist Award — Each year, the CIFF invites a prominent local artist to design the awards for the festival.  This year, Scott Goss is the winner so please visit his website for details.
  
• Cleveland Cinemas — Operates 75 screens at 9 locations and is the host of this year’s event.  Note: Films are being displayed at the various theaters, from downtown Cleveland, to Cuyahoga Falls, to Shaker Square, to the infamous Cedar Lee Theater in Cleveland Heights, and more.
• Did you know? Only 7% of working filmmakers are women?  Women of the World was established three years ago to promote films made mostly by women and occasionally men that are about empowered women. Special thanks to The ACADEMY of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for supporting this worthwhile sidebar.
• Several other Sidebars are: 10% Cinema, American Independents, Cinema en Espanol, Family Films, Film is Art, Global Health, It’s Easy Being Green, and Jewish, Israeli Visions, Local Heroes, Pacific Pearls, and Pan-African Images.  There are many films in most all of these sidebar categories.
• Central and Eastern European Film Competition.
• Greg Gund Memorial Standing Up Film Competition — Films celebrating social justice and activism.
• 7th Annual Nesnadny + Schwartz Documentary Film Competition.
  

Enjoy the films, enjoy the people, enrich your life and support our local institutions 🙂