Film Independent, the non-profit arts organization that produces the Spirit Awards and the Los Angeles Film Festival, has launched a new Documentary Lab, sponsored by Latino Public Broadcasting, with 14 filmmakers and 9 projects participating. Taking place in Los Angeles, the Documentary Lab is an intensive seven-week program, with a main focus of assisting documentary filmmakers on their works-in-progress and providing creative feedback. All of the Film Independent Labs are designed to suppor...

The Cleveland Film Society and North Coast Podcasting have launched the Cleveland Film Society podcast to promote the upcoming 30th Cleveland International Film Festival (March 16th - 26th). Marcie Goodman, Executive Director of the Cleveland Film Society, says, “Anniversaries are great opportunities to try new things such as podcasting. We’re thrilled to be partnering with North Coast Podcasting on this. We have so much to celebrate! ““We are very excited to have the opportunity to ...

Local Celebrities Lend Their Voices In Support of the 30th International Film FestivalCounty official Peter Lawson Jones, city officials Zack Reed and Valerie McCall, Plain Dealer columnist Dick Feagler and Q104 deejay Rebecca Wilde will be present at The Cleveland Professional 20/30 Club’s MOVIEOKE to either sing or judge. Partnering with the Cleveland International Film Festival, The 20/30 Club will host MOVIEOKE, in which participants will karaoke to film soundtracks to help raise money for...

HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE 29th CLEVELAND INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (CIFF)MARCH 10-20, 2005Attendance of 43,000 (almost a 10% increase over last year)Biggest Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday attendance ever.Biggest single attendance ever on Saturday, March 19th – 5,584 breaking the record of 5,281 on the second Saturday in 2001 (the 25th anniversary).28 sold-out screenings105 feature films80 short subjects 50 countries of origin65 visiting filmmakers and other guests from around the worldOver ...

Opening Night film, LONESOME JIM, sells out four theatersLONESOME JIM, the new film directed by Steve Buscemi, opened the 29th Cleveland International Film Festival (CIFF) on Thursday, March 10, 2005. Over 1100 film lovers attended the Opening Night festivities, breaking all previous attendance records of the CIFF. And for the first time, the opening night film was sold out on four screens at the festival’s venue, Tower City Cinemas on The Avenue at Tower City Center in downtown Cleveland.LO...

HIGHLIGHTS FROMTHE 28th CLEVELAND INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (CIFF)MARCH 18-28, 2004TOWER CITY CINEMAS ON THE AVENUE AT TOWER CITY CENTERCLEVELAND, OHIOAWARD WINNERSThe Roxanne T. Mueller Award for Best Feature Film (audience choice award) goes to BORN INTO BROTHELS directed by Ross Kauffman & Zana Briski (USA).Runners up include HOME OF THE BRAVE directed by Paola di Florio (USA), BUDDY directed by Morten Tydlum (Norway), A PANTHER IN AFRICA directed by Aaron Matthews (USA), KOPS directed by J...

CLEVELANDERS SUPPORT OF 28th CLEVELAND INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL CREATES RECORD BREAKING ATTENDANCE• Saturday, March 20th was the second biggest day in Cleveland International Film Festival history, with 5,009 admissions. The biggest day in film festival history, with 5,200 admissions, was on Saturday, March 24, 2001 during the film festival's 25th anniversary year. • There were eight sold out screenings and two of them had to be interlocked (put on two screens) to accommodate ticket buy...

CLEVELAND INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL TO PRESENT CULTURAL JOURNEYS WORLD CELEBRATION EVENT Saturday, March 27, 9:00 pm to 1:00 am At Colonial Marketplace, ARTcade (Enter at 503 Prospect Ave.) Founded in 1977, the Cleveland International Film Festival is the premier film event in the region. For eleven days every March, the Film Festival presents a full survey of contemporary filmmaking from around the world. Close to 90 feature films and more than 70 short subjects from over 50 countries are s...