The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
Cleveland International Film Festival to be online this year
The fast-approaching, online-only 45th Cleveland International Film Festival is nothing like how Marcie Goodman would have envisioned it a little more than a year ago. ¶ In early March 2020, the executive director of the Ohio City-based nonprofit organization that puts on the festival and shares its name was in the final stages of preparing for CIFF 44. It was to have been the final time the week-and-a-half-long event — which annually screens hundreds of feature and short films, both narratives and documentaries, from all over the world — would take place in Tower City Cinemas in Downtown Cleveland. ¶ Instead, of course, it didn’t happen — at least not when and how it was supposed to — due to the novel coronavirus-related banning of public gatherings.
“To be shut down two weeks before opening night of 2020 — it was a devastating blow,” Goodman says in a recent phone interview.
In recent years, CIFF had brought more than 100,000 folks downtown for its morning-to-night celebration of cinema — nearly 106,000 attended CIFF43 in 2019 — and to know that wouldn’t be happening brought feelings of mourning and grief, she says.
The cancelation of the fest came on March 11, a day the organization already had an executive community meeting scheduled, and board members came to the offices to show their support.
By the time the board’s first Zoom meeting took
place a week later, an idea had formed.
“We decided we wanted to do an online festival,” Goodman says. “We didn’t know how — we just decided we’re going to do it. And our finances at that point were very precarious.
“We said, ‘We want to do an online festival. We
don’t know how. It’s going to cost at least this much money, and we need this much money by the end of the meeting.’ And by the end of the meeting, we had it — and that’s just how incredible our board is, not to
question this.”
On what was to have been opening night, March 25, the organization announced CIFF Reinvented. A big celebration of the final year at Tower City was out, and CIFF44 Streams
was in. Taking place April 15 through 28, the virtual fest offered at-home viewing of about 100 features — roughly half the number planned for the original event — and most of the shorts, Goodman says.
The response, she says, was fantastic.
“We didn’t know what to expect. I mean, we’d never done this before. We had zero expectations.”
According to the CIFF website, 325 total films were screened, earning a total of 42,107 streams. (Goodman says for a stream to count, at least 70 percent of a movie must be viewed.) Also, the annual Challenge Match campaign raised $135,615 for the organization.
“Our audience was just so happy to have something of the festival to engage in, and our filmmakers were so happy that people got to see their films, and we were so happy to be able to do something.”
Soon after the festival, as it always does, the organization’s focus turned to the next CIFF. The 45th incarnation already had been planned for a debut in Cleveland’s Playhouse Square, but would large gatherings be possible by April 2021?
“In the summer, we created this giant spreadsheet, and we took every piece of the festival, really drilled down to details, and we said, ‘What would this look like if we were able to move to Playhouse Square in 2021? Or what would it look like if it were entirely online again? Or a hybrid?’
In the next few months, following the trends of the pandemic, the choice became clear.
“Our only option was to have an entirely online festival in 2021,” Goodman says. “We just thought that was the safest … way to go for all involved.”
On Oct. 5, the organization announced CIFF45 Streams for April 7 through 20. She says making the announcement so early was in contrast to some other film fests, which waffled on formats for as long as possible.
“We were like, ‘No, we’re making our decision, and we’re sticking to it,’” she says. “Our audience was so appreciative to know there would be a festival, and … it meant a lot to (filmmakers) to know what kind of festival they were submitting their films to.
“And, obviously, we made the right decision because there’s no way we could have had an in-person festival this year — at least not at this part of the year.”
One reason that decision may have been easier is CIFF’s collaboration with Cinesend. When the decision was made in March 2020 to take CIFF44 virtual, the Toronto-based company, which had been providing services to CIFF related to digital projection, was able to help them create the online platform they would need to get films streamed to pass holders and ticket buyers.
“I think we were the first festival platform that they built, and they’ve gotten a lot of business subsequently.”
As with last year, there are multiple ways to watch films, including the CIFF Streams app for Roku and newer Apple TV devices. (Check out the website’s FAQ page for videos walking through the various options.)
Understandably, the organization wanted to offer something much more robust than it was able to on the fly in 2020.
“Last year, yes, we got the films on a platform for people to watch, and that was it,” Goodman says. “This year, of course, we have the films, but we have prerecorded and live filmmaker conversations and Q&As and panels and we have (a virtual) happy hour every weeknight.”
As for the films, there are 116 features and 182 shorts set for CIFF45 Streams, beginning with the openingnight selection, “Together Together,” with Ed Helms (“The Office”) among its cast members. Written and directed by Nikole Beckwith, the 90-minute film from the U.S. comes with a ticket price of $25 — $15 more than the standard cost for CIFF films for nonmembers. And as the website’s Fine Print page notes, films “are limited to a maximum number of streams set by distributors and therefore, all CIFF45 Streams films and shorts programs are available on a firstcome, first-served basis until sold out.”
This is the first fest with Mallory Martin as the top programmer, the CIFF vet having been promoted to artistic director in October.
“We’re so proud of the content of this festival,” Goodman says. “She’s been phenomenal.”
Along with its Sidebars — collections of films that tie together thematically — CIFF again will present the DReam Catcher program and award, established in 2019 to honor the life and memory of CIFF trustee David K. Ream, who died in 2017.
It was created to recognize LGBTQ+ directors, and this year’s award recipient is Todd Stephens. Born and raised in Sandusky, Stephens is responsible for films including his “Ohio Trilogy” — “Edge of Seventeen,” “Gypsy 83” and his latest film, “Swan Song.” All three will be screened during the festival.
Another program makes its debut this year: Groundbreaker, which stems from CIFF’s Focus 2020: Racial Equity program. Its aim is to promote BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, people of color) filmmakers, with the first Groundbreaker Award going to Ashley O’Shay, the director, producer, and cinematographer of the CIFF45 Streams film “Unapologetic.”
A year-plus into the pandemic, so many folks are more familiar with ways of virtual life, and Goodman expects that to lead to a smoother online festival this year. She’s not taking anything for granted, however.
“You know, technical difficulties are a problem, And we have a support team that’s phenomenal, but there’s only so much we can do. We can’t go to your house — we can’t improve your WiFi. And because of the technical components of an online festival, I keep saying that for an in-person festival, what took one step takes 50 steps for an online festival, which means 50 things that can go wrong.
“It’s really, really hard to do an online festival. It’s so hard … but we’re doing it.”
Of course, after all the movies have been devoured and the awards virtually handed out — as usual, voters will pick the coveted Roxanne T. Mueller Audience Choice Award — the organization’s thoughts will turn to 2022.
Unsurprisingly, the future is cloudy. For starters, Goodman says government programs, such as the CARES Act, have been hugely helpful, but she is unsure what kind of funding may be available to help struggling arts organizations going forward.
Expect some virtual components to remain, with at least certain films offered for streaming — that makes the festival accessible to so many more people, Goodman says. And moving the FilmSlams program, for students in grades five through 12, took the involvement from about 11,000 youths to 50,000. Whether next year or later, that program is likely to have both inperson and online participation.
“The kids can have their field trip, but we’re keeping FilmSlam Streams — that’s not going anywhere.”
Goodman now describes the move to a largely in-person festival at Playhouse Square as “risky.”
“We’re not in a position where we can take risks,” she says. “You have to make sure the money is there.
“If we’ve learned one thing this past year, it’s that none of us can predict what tomorrow will bring,” Goodman continues. “So how do we predict what we can do next April? We can’t.”
That’s not to say CIFF46 won’t be much like previous incarnations but in a new home.
“Our intent is to be able to move there next year. I keep saying we’re only running a year late,” she says. “But man, oh man, I don’t know. We’ll see.”