MXO ‘The Arts Unplugged’: Cleveland International Film Festival Announces Online Lineup!

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Ideastream.org, By Carrie Wise, Posted March 30th 2021

The Cleveland International Film Festival (CIFF) announced its 2021 lineup. The online-only festival will stream 116 feature films and 182 shorts from April 7-20.

Nearly half — 46% of the offerings — are by women filmmakers, according to a release from CIFF.

This lineup also includes films made in Ohio, by Ohioans or about Ohio. For instance, “Apart” is a documentary following Ohio women in a reentry program outside of prison and “Holler” is Nicole Riegel’s semi-autobiographical tale of the harsh realities of breaking the cycle of poverty, set in her hometown of Jackson, Ohio, south of Columbus.

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Most films are available to stream nationwide and on-demand throughout the festival. Even though the streams are online there are still some capacity limits, and access will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Ticket on sale now. 

While online only, the 45th annual festival still provides a competition for filmmakers, virtual audience conversations with the filmmakers and other related programming.

Due to COVID-19, the in-person festival was canceled last year and eventually replaced with an online version. The longtime event concluded its run at Tower City Cinemas, now closed, in 2019, and announced a move to Playhouse Square.

Information on the 45th Cleveland International Film Festival available here.