Cleveland International Film Festival remains virtual

The lifeline to survival for the movie industry during the pandemic has been video on demand and streaming services. This also pertains to movie festivals, which over the last year learned quickly how to pivot from in-person affairs to virtual screening rooms. That's exactly the scenario that transpired last spring for the Cleveland International Film Festival, which — weeks away from presenting its 44th annual event — canceled the festival, which normally attracts more than 100,000 attendees. "We were very fortunate because our audience followed us online," Cleveland International Film Festival Associate Director Patrick Shepherd said. "It took us two weeks to pivot but on March 25 we announced what we called CIFF44 Reinvented, which put the festival online in April. "Last year we had 42,107 streams, which we defined as having at least 70 percent of the film viewed. It's a relatively high mark." While the in-person CIFF44 was originally scheduled to screen more than 400 films, the Reinvented program ended up offering 325 titles. Fast-forward to this year, and COVID-19 is still keeping audiences out of theaters. Still, the festival — called CIFF45 Streams — returns showcasing 116 feature films and 182 short films during its extended 14-day run April 7 through 20. Tickets are $8 for CIFF members and $10 for nonmembers, with the exception of the opening-night screening of the Ed Helms comedy "Together Together," which is $20 for CIFF members and $25 for nonmembers. "What we're really looking forward to this year is presenting a bunch of online engagements of filmmakers to accompany all of the films," Shepherd said. "We're also pretty big for a streaming festival. "There are other festivals that were larger than us in-person that have a smaller (virtual) program than us this year. Overall, we do have a smaller number of films." It turns out the slight reduction in CIFF film offerings was already in the cards due to the festival's planned 2021 move from Tower City Cinemas to its new permanent location at Playhouse Square. "We're very content with these numbers," Shepherd said. "We think we're going to keep the Cleveland audiences busy for two weeks." There are a few changes for CIFF45 Streams. This includes the closing-night screening of "Best Summer Ever" taking place on Saturday, April 17, with an award ceremony to follow. "This gives people a chance to do something they've been asking for, which is to bring the award-winning films back," Shepherd said. "Now, you're going to know the award winners and you have three days to watch those films." Something new this year is called the "Centerpiece Screening." The midfestival event featuring comedy-drama "Summertime" is scheduled for April 13. What opening night, "Centerpiece Screening" and closing night films have in common is they're the only offerings that must be viewed on their respective CIFF44 Reinvented screening dates. "All three of these (films) are scheduled screenings you can only watch during certain time windows," Shepherd said. As for how the virtual screening room will impact future CIFF events, Shepherd said organizers last year learned many people participated who either never attended the in-person festival or hadn't returned in years. "We see CIFF Streams as a bridge to our future and our future home at Playhouse Square," Shepherd said. "It'll be interesting to see what the model will be next year. We'll have all summer and fall to figure it out, but we do think we want to keep streaming options as part of our delivery model in some way. "We think the industry is going to realize to some degree people's habits have changed a little bit. They've adjusted in the wake of the pandemic, but I'm a firm believer it's truly special to have in-person screenings with filmmakers, which we really want to get back to next year if everything permits. I think our audience is hungry for that as well." For more information, visit www.clevelandfilm.org. Contact John Benson at Ndiffrence@att.net.