Festival Fine Print

CIFF Programming

Rating System

CIFF films are unrated by the M.P.A.A. Viewer discretion is advised for all films.

Content warnings listed on CIFF film descriptions are specific to films that include scenes or references to topics such as suicide, domestic violence, sexual harassment or assault, eating disorders, animal cruelty, post-traumatic stress disorder or other topics that some viewers may find disturbing or triggering. No person under 10 will be admitted to CIFF in-person screenings, except those deemed to be Family or Teen Friendly Films. All children must have a ticket or pass and be accompanied by an adult.

Children under the age of ten are also not recommended to view films in CIFF Streams except for films and shorts programs included in the Family Films and Teen Friendly Films sidebars.

Programming Updates

Visit clevelandfilm.org for CIFF programming changes and additions. Programs and schedules are subject to change without notice and CIFF reserves the right to postpone, reschedule, or cancel any film or screening.

Standby and Sold-Out Screenings in Person

Once all regular tickets to an in-person screening have been sold, remaining patrons will form a standby line forming at least 30 minutes before the scheduled start time of the screening. Once passholders and ticket holders have been admitted, Festival Staff will sell available standby tickets to patrons in the order in which they are queued on a space-available basis until the theatre is full and considered SOLD OUT. Member discounts and Ticket 10-packs do not apply to the purchase of standby tickets.

(Hint: buy your tickets early or become a Cinephile member to more easily attend popular screenings!)

Sold-Out Screenings Online

All films in the CIFF Streams program are limited to a maximum number of streams set by distributors (called a streaming cap) and are therefore available on a first-come, first-served basis. Once all available tickets have been released, a film's status will change to SOLD OUT and no further streams will be available for purchase.

Tickets, Passes, and Memberships

Each CIFF Ticket, Ticket 10-Pack, Voucher, and Pass is a revocable license that may be withdrawn and access may be refused at any time at the sole discretion of the Cleveland International Film Festival.

While tickets to the same CIFF in-person screening can be purchased within the same order, tickets to different CIFF in-person screenings cannot be purchased in the same order. Instead, a ticket or tickets to each CIFF in-person screening may need to be purchased separately.

While you may purchase more than one ticket to a CIFF Streams online screening, you may need to do so in separate orders. Streaming ticket purchases are limited to one ticket per film per order. Ticket holders with streaming access must pre-order or unlock a ticket to a specific online screening to stream it.

Digital Tickets

Paper tickets to in-person screenings during CIFF will not be issued. Instead, QR-coded, printable PDF tickets will be enclosed in an emailed Order Confirmation sent within minutes of purchase. CIFF ticket holders can either print their ticket(s) and bring them to CIFF in-person screenings or access their QR-coded CIFF tickets on a smartphone from their emailed Order Confirmation or from “My Tickets” on the CIFF Eventive account dashboard. Tickets will be scanned by CIFF Staff or Volunteers at the entrance to the theatre for all in-person screenings.

Service Fees

All CIFF50 tickets and passes utilize inclusive pricing, thus all fees are included.

Refunds & Exchanges

CIFF50 tickets are not refundable or exchangeable, except for a canceled screening or film. Tickets to in-person screenings cannot be exchanged for tickets to online screenings or vice versa. Refunds and exchanges on CIFF Streams tickets will not be issued for technical difficulties with a ticket holder's infrastructure or equipment. Unused CIFF50 Tickets, Ticket 10-Packs, PSQ Parking Passes, Vouchers, Memberships, and Passes cannot be refunded or exchanged.

Ticket 10-packs

Tickets ordered with CIFF50 Ticket 10-Packs cannot be exchanged. Refunds are not available for partially redeemed or unused Ticket 10-Packs, and credit cannot be applied for future use beyond CIFF50 (April 9-18, 2026) in-person screenings. Ticket 10-Packs cannot be redeemed for CIFF50 Streams tickets.

Vouchers

Voucher Codes and paper vouchers expire at 11:59 PM ET on the final day of the Cleveland International Film Festival. Unused Voucher Codes and paper vouchers have no assigned monetary value and, therefore, cannot be refunded or reserved for future use.

Disruptions

CIFF is not responsible for physical or technical disruptions to the extent that performance is prevented by force majeure (conditions beyond the control of CIFF, including acts of nature, acts of terrorism, voluntary or involuntary compliance with any regulation, law, or order of any government, war, acts of war, labor strike or lock-out, civil commotion, epidemic, failure or default of public utilities or common carriers, destruction of production facilities or materials by fire, earthquake, storm or like catastrophe).

CIFF Membership Policies

CIFF Members may purchase up to 2 tickets per screening or event at the member’s discounted price. Additional tickets will be sold at the general admission price. CIFF50 Members may purchase one Ticket 10-Packs. CIFF50 Members may purchase one CIFF50 PSQ Parking Pass. Additional Parking Passes cannot be purchased once the one per member limit is reached.

By purchasing a membership to the Cleveland International Film Festival (CIFF) you agree to adhere to the CIFF Code of Conduct and CIFF's Membership Policies stated below. Failure to observe organizational policies regarding member conduct at CIFF events and screenings may result in the termination of your membership without a refund.

CIFF Memberships are annual and only valid for one Festival cycle. Most members will be issued a renewal date one year from the time of their membership purchase or if renewing early, one year from their current renewal date. However, CIFF Memberships will not be issued for two Festival cycles. CIFF Memberships are per individual. Memberships and membership passes cannot be transferred or shared with other individuals. Members in violation of this may have their membership revoked without a refund.

CIFF members receive goods and services in exchange for their membership contribution, the value of which often exceeds their contribution, depending on the level of use. It is up to the individual to determine the tax-deductible value of their contribution based on their individual amount of use.

Seating Policy

For most screenings, passholders will be admitted into theatres 30 minutes before show time. Early arrival does not guarantee admission.

For most screenings, ticket holders will be admitted into theatres 15 minutes before show time. Late arrival may result in not being admitted.

General admission seating for ticket holders is available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Ticket holders will line up in the lobby of the theatre and their ticket will be scanned for admittance to the screening.

Passholder seating is also available on a first-come, first-served basis. Passholders will line up in the lobby of the theatre, and their pass will be scanned for admittance to the screening. Passholders must have reserved a ticket to a screening to be admitted. Having an all-access pass alone does not guarantee entry without a confirmed ticket.

Seat-saving is not permitted.

Festival personnel may refuse to permit late seating.

All attendees must exit the theatre following each screening and take any personal belongings.

Seating policies are enforced at all CIFF theatres, although the number of available seats for ticket holders and passholders will vary based on the theatre.

Prohibited Items & Behavior

The Film Festival does not tolerate illegal activity of any kind at any of its venues, including but not limited to:

  • The possession and use of illegal and illicit substances.
  • Underage consumption of alcohol.
  • Harassment and/or assault as outlined in the CIFF Code of Conduct.
  • The possession or use of firearms, explosives, and weapons of any kind (including, but not limited to: guns, pocket knives, pepper spray/mace, fireworks, tasers, etc.).
  • The use of cigarettes, e-cigs, or vaping devices.
  • Reselling of CIFF Tickets, Vouchers, and Passes within the premises of any venue.

Playhouse Square, CSU and the Cedar Lee Theatre are private property. Failure to comply with CIFF guidelines may result in immediate removal from the Festival and these venues by security and notification of law enforcement.

Devices & Piracy in Theatres

The use of electronic devices (including messaging) is not permitted during screenings. CIFF asks all patrons to turn off or silence all devices during screenings. Audio or visual recording devices are prohibited inside Film Festival theatres. Theatre security will enforce this policy at all screenings and will immediately remove any person possessing an unauthorized recording device. The recording device and any recordable medium may be seized by theatre security and turned over to law enforcement authorities. Additional anti-piracy security measures will be in effect.

Lost & Found

Items found in the Playhouse Square complex will be delivered to Playhouse Square’s Central Security, located backstage of the KeyBank State Theatre. If you have lost an item, a Playhouse Square House Manager can assist you, or you can call 216.640.8777 with inquiries regarding misplaced items. CIFF and Playhouse Square are not responsible for damaged, lost, stolen, or unclaimed items.

Cash Policy

Cleveland International Film Festival (CIFF) is a cashless Festival for the safety of our staff and the efficiency of our operations.

All patrons and guests are strongly encouraged to pay using credit, debit, or another cashless option. If paying in cash is your only option at our Box Office or Merchandise Store, we will round up your transaction to the nearest dollar due to reduced change in circulation.

Please contact us at cfs@clevelandfilm.org with questions.

Consent to be Photographed/Filmed

The Cleveland International Film Festival and its representatives may photograph, film, and/or otherwise record attendees at all Festival activities. By attending, you consent to such photography, filming, and/or recording and to any use in any and all media throughout the universe in perpetuity and without compensation for the use of your appearance, voice, and name for promotion and/or advertising, or any other purpose by the Cleveland International Film Festival and its affiliates and representatives.

CIFF Streams

Devices & Piracy Online

Sharing CIFF Streams tickets with those outside of the same household is considered an act of piracy, which may be monitored, and any violations will result in an immediate suspension of CIFF Streams access without refund.

The CIFF Streams platform uses multi-DRM technology to prevent piracy. Users caught committing acts of piracy will have their CIFF Streams access revoked without refund and may be turned over to law enforcement authorities.

CIFF Streams Guidelines & Distribution Restrictions

Only one ticket can be purchased per film per order for CIFFStreams online screenings. Streams ticket holders must pre-order/unlock a ticket to an online screening to stream it.

Unlocked Streams

Tickets to CIFF Streams filmscan be ordered by selecting “Unlock Now” from a film’s description page or listing on the CIFF Streams page and then completing the checkout process.

Ticket holders will see a “Watch” button on the film’s description page just after ordering and on their “My Streams” page on their CIFF Eventive account dashboard. Ordered/unlocked screenings will be accompanied by a "Watch" option, which, when clicked, will take them to the virtual film detail page on the CIFF Streams Eventive Platform, where they should begin streaming the film or shorts program before 11:59 PM ET on Sunday, April 26, 2026. Once "Watch Now" is selected, viewers will have 48 hours to stream the film or shorts program before their streaming access expires.

Streaming Cap

Every film in the CIFF Streams program is limited to a maximum number of available streams (or a Streaming Cap). We suggest prioritizing the films you want to see most when ordering CIFF Streams tickets as they may sell out. For CIFF Streams programming updates, visit the Latest Updates page.

Geo-Restrictions

Films streaming online during CIFF Streams are available for streaming nationwide in the United States unless otherwise noted. Some films are geo-restricted to viewers regionally (in Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania) or only in Ohio. Geo-restrictions on films are listed under the “Access” section of the film’s description page. Applying the “Streaming Location” filter on the CIFF Streams page will generate a list of all CIFF Streams films and shorts programs available to stream from a specific location.

CIFF Code of Conduct

All guests of CIFF, both in-person and via CIFF Streams are subject to the CIFF Code of Conduct.