37th cleveland international film festival :: April 3 - april 14, 2013
Film Festival Blog
March 28th, 2010 @ 5:12pm

Just one more round left...

Wow. Just... wow. As those of you on Twitter have probably already seen, we officially broke last year's attendance record during the 2pm round, and that was still with time to spare to set a new record tonight! It's not counting the round that just went in, after all, and there's still one more round to go!

So it's time to talk about the final round in the 34th Cleveland International Film Festival, on our Closing Night at Tower City Cinemas. Before I do, I just have to say that you're the most incredible group of filmgoers in the world and that being here is one of the brightest points in my year. I hope you're all with us tonight to celebrate after this round concludes. We'll be gathering around the fountain at 9:00. It's going to be epic, just like this Festival, just like you.

So let's talk about the 7pm round!

It begins at 7:00 sharp with Looking For Eric, our official Closing Night Film. It's a pretty special trip into the life and mind of a middle-aged man with a lot of regrets, who suddenly has more opportunities to turn his life around than he might even want.

But that's not all we have playing...

You can enter The Lottery at 7:05, and discover just how much of modern American schooling is dependent on the luck of the draw. If the issue of modern public education is important to you (and it undoubtedly is), there are a number of things you can do to help, and our Lights, Camera, Action Steps crew has put together a flyer with all kinds of good ideas about where to start.

Meet the Paper Man at 7:10, and take a journey into his psyche as he (rather like the lead in Looking For Eric) faces life in the company of an imaginary friend. (Am I sensing a theme for the evening?)

Take a trip into a very special bar in The Good Heart, starting at 7:15, as an unlikely alliance forms to keep it afloat. (Nope, no imaginary friends here!)

Delve into the worlds of beekeeping, colony collapse disorder, and a hidden threat to our ecosystems and dinner tables with Colony, starting at 7:20. If you haven't heard of disappearing bee populations around the world, you might want to check this film out and find out more about the threats facing them. And if you have, this film will tell you everything you didn't know. And yes, there's a Lights, Camera, Action Steps flyer to go with it, because this is an urgent issue.

But if you'd like something a lot lighter, take a trip to A Town Called Panic, where cows skydive, penguins have snowball fights, and sea creatures shoplift. (Or an unreasonable facsimile thereof!) There are alternate universes, trippy animations, and too many other inexplicable things to talk about -- the only way to really explain it is to see it.

Our final film in the round is the riveting, important City of Borders, a film about the Jerusalem GLBT community, the terrible struggles they face in their communities -- both Israeli and Palestinian -- and the incredible, transcendent bonds they've forged with each other.

After these films have finished screening, please join us at the Tower City Fountain for our Closing Night Ceremony. We'll be announcing the winners of the different competitions and awards -- and presenting them to filmmakers who are still in attendance -- and we'll be able to tell you just how high our attendance went, along with how generous you've all been in our annual Challenge Match. (And from what I hear, you've been phenomenally generous!)

Have I mentioned lately that you're the best filmgoing audience in the world? Because you are. Have a wonderful time in your film, and I'll see all of you soon at the Fountain.

Posted by Lara Klaber

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