36th cleveland international film festival :: march 22 - april 1, 2012
Film Festival Blog

April 1st, 2012 @ 7:30pm

Oh, about that whole Team Whale vs. Team Rhino thing...

So I put out a call earlier this week for people to tell us which of our lovely mascots was, essentially, their personal spirit animal. We had been hearing all kinds of rumbles about people being on Team Whale or Team Rhino, so I figured I'd try to get some hard numbers. Well, I had them all ready to share with you, but while I was away getting m... more

Posted by Lara Klaber

April 1st, 2012 @ 5:00pm

A Shout-Out To Everybody in the Sunshine-Yellow Shirts!

You've seen them all week long, everywhere in the Festival you've gone. Bright, vivacious people wearing sunshine-yellow CIFF shirts and sporting vibrant orange lanyards with badges that identify them as Festival Volunteers. Their jobs range from keeping the theaters clean to assisting staffers with sensitive tasks. This year, we had more than ... more

Posted by Lara Klaber

April 1st, 2012 @ 11:00am

You've Carried US Away!

And I would never have guessed how high you'd carry us, either! Do you have any idea how amazing all of you are? How much you rock? Well, I'm sure you've got an idea, because you're all extremely smart, but do you want some numbers to back it all up? How about this? Last year, we had our most amazing Festival attendance ever on our fi... more

Posted by Lara Klaber

March 31st, 2012 @ 9:30pm

As Day Ten Winds Down, We Prepare For Day Eleven

I'd say that things are winding down for the night, but I think a lot of people are still pretty hyped up and we still have a bunch of films that are preparing to go in! But the Hospitality Suite is preparing to close and it's time for me to catch my train, so for me the night is winding down! I know a lot of you are going to be par... more

Posted by Lara Klaber

March 30th, 2012 @ 10:40am

The Weekend Is Upon Us!

Okay, that could be a really depressing thing to hear if you're still stuck in your office (but if so, you should really sneak down and join us for Popcorn For Lunch!) but it's true. Things are about to go absolutely wild here! Yesterday was pretty wil... more

Posted by Lara Klaber

March 24th, 2012 @ 7:35pm

Back to ...Spring?

Well, it looks like the weather is on our side this year, and is conniving to lure you indoors for the rest of the Festival! After all of the gorgeous weather we had last week, we were a little nervous that things would continue to be so summery that people would just want to stay outside! But Mother Nature apparently is a film fan, and so things... more

Posted by Lara Klaber

March 23rd, 2012 @ 9:30am

Notice anything new about the Blog?

I'll bet you've spotted a major change in the blog already, haven't you? That's right: we're hosting a lot of articles from the Daily here! This is content that can only be read online, as a supplement to our printed edition. As part of our commitment to going green, we're reducing our paper consumption; taking the Daily online for mo... more

Posted by Lara Klaber

March 22nd, 2012 @ 6:15pm

It's time to be carried away again!

It's opening night at the 36th Cleveland International Film Festival and things are getting exciting! The huge crowd has yet to arrive -- no doubt, everybody is enjoying this magnificently unseasonable weather up to the very last minute -- but the place already looks amazing. Things have been going into overdrive, these last few weeks; look for a l... more

Posted by Lara Klaber

April 4th, 2011 @ 1:30am

Standing Up Meets Stand-Up

What a magical night. Okay, it didn't go off without a few hitches... but you were all so wonderful about those hitches! You may not have been able to see Soul Surfer, but we did get everybody a seat in a great film and virtually all of you were so gracious and understanding. This is why I've been calling you the best Festival crowd in ... more

Posted by Lara Klaber

April 3rd, 2011 @ 1:52pm

Dressed for success no matter what

Sorry I vanished! We're preparing for the Closing Night ceremony, which has me distracted in about ten directions at once. But here's that wild story I've been promising you, now that I've finally had enough of a quiet moment to write it up. We've had some wild and crazy times at the Cleveland International Film Festival over the years. Some o... more

Posted by Lara Klaber

April 3rd, 2011 @ 11:30am

Wow, were other things going on yesterday?

When 11,189 people -- yes, that's right, 11,189 -- are pouring through the walkway on their way to films, it's easy to lose sight of the fact that there's still this much bigger town around you and that other things were going on. I have to give a shout-out to our amazing crew, especially Jay in parking and Jessica's Stand-By team, for maki... more

Posted by Lara Klaber

April 3rd, 2011 @ 12:45am

My best Festival Day ever

Some days are just impossible to top, and I think this was one of them. Not only did I find myself face-to-face with Dan O'Shannon, a screenwriter I admire greatly, I also got to watch my editing mentor (the brilliant Laura Paglin) enjoy an encore performance of her film with a huge walk-up crowd, found myself in the midst of an incredible music... more

Posted by Lara Klaber

April 2nd, 2011 @ 5:51pm

Spontaneous Magic!

Oh, how I wish I could instantly put things on YouTube! I wish I could just upload things straight from my eyes! Because we just had the most amazing experience in the Hospitality HQ. It started innocently enough... Walt Mahlovlich, one of our stellar staff members, had mentioned to me the other night that his musical group, ... more

Posted by Lara Klaber

April 2nd, 2011 @ 1:10pm

Did we steal the Indians' mojo yesterday?

I doubt any of you are surprised when I tell you that we broke our Friday attendance record again! 7,179 of you were here yesterday, making it the best Friday we've ever had! You bought almost $2,500 in merchandise, too! And the Challenge Match now stands at $37,200!!! We're going to keep going with the Challenge Match all through the weekend... more

Posted by Lara Klaber

April 1st, 2011 @ 7:45pm

No parking crunch tonight!

I just got word from our amazing parking guru, Jay Bravo, that there are lots of spaces in the Tower City parking lots now. He's been working hard all afternoon to keep the lots open for you, and while there have been a few glitches things have gone brilliantly. We thought the Riverview lot -- which is where overflow from the parkin... more

Posted by Lara Klaber

April 1st, 2011 @ 5:05pm

AWOL but so worth it!

Oh wow. I went downstairs to ferret out a few people for that story I'm working on -- I still have to catch up with them -- and to snag myself one of the sweatshirts while we still have them in stock. And then I got swept up in a tide. This huge stream of people started coming in, and flowing into the theater for ... more

Posted by Lara Klaber

April 1st, 2011 @ 1:23pm

Some Festival numbers for Thursday...

Well, actually, I don't have the exact numbers for Thursday's attendance, because this day is keeping us hopping so much that I haven't been able to corner Bill and get them! I will, though. I do know that we broke yet another record and had our best Thursday ever. Meanwhile, I know that our Merchandising counter has been flying through... more

Posted by Lara Klaber

April 1st, 2011 @ 12:30pm

Important parking update!

The lots at Tower City are filling up fast. Patrick Shepherd put out a tweet an hour ago -- I need to remember to check Twitter more often -- saying that the primary self-parking lot is full and the Riverview lot -- where overflow would go -- was almost full at that time. If you haven't come down yet, you might want to seriously consider using ... more

Posted by Lara Klaber

March 31st, 2011 @ 4:20pm

The Nor'easter shouldn't touch us!

Did I mention I'm a weather geek? So if any of you are looking at the weather reports about a developing Nor'easter and getting worried, I just thought I'd let you know that your weather geek blogger is paying close attention to the situation. Right now, none of the forecasts indicate that we'll get any of it. There's only a 10% chance ... more

Posted by Lara Klaber

March 30th, 2011 @ 6:30pm

Update: Still snowing, but not that hard!

Yes, the snow is still falling! Back at my house up in Cleveland Heights, there's an inch or two of snow on the grass, bushes and branches -- giving things the look of a fairy tale winter landscape -- and some slush on the pavement. Down here we've got a dusting of white on the sidewalk right outside of the media hub, and some wet roads, but the ... more

Posted by Lara Klaber

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