Festival

Awards and Competitions

CIFF is honored to present numerous competitions and awards that recognize our filmmakers with over $130,000 in cash prizes.

Many of our awards are determined by audience vote, so make sure to cast your vote after each in-person screening by logging into your CIFF Eventive account or visiting the voting kiosks located in the lobby of the theatre. All awards will be announced at our Closing Awards Ceremony in the KeyBank State Theatre at Playhouse Square, immediately following the last round of films.

To see the list of films in each competition, you can use the filters on the Films listing page or click into each competition.

Roxanne T. Mueller Audience Choice Award

Award Presented By: Callahan Foundation

All CIFF feature films are eligible for the Roxanne T. Mueller Audience Choice Award, presented with generous support from the Callahan Foundation —started in 1968 by Cleveland nuclear engineer, inventor, and businessman Joe Callahan. Join us in celebrating the 35th year of this renowned award.

Based on audience vote, the winning director of this award will be announced at our Closing Awards Ceremony and receive a $15,000 cash prize.

ReelWomenDirect Award for Excellence in Directing By a Woman

Award Presented By: Deborah Bachman Ratner

We are thrilled to once again celebrate female filmmakers at the CIFF, thanks to Deborah Bachman Ratner.

In an industry historically dominated by men, we are honored to showcase these women and the empowered female perspectives they provide within their films.

Based on audience vote, the winning director of this award will be announced at our Closing Awards Ceremony and receive a $10,000 cash prize.

George Gund III Memorial Central and Eastern European Competition

Competition Presented By: The George Gund Foundation

At the 14th CIFF, we launched a special focus on films from Central and Eastern Europe, the native lands of many Clevelanders.

This year CIFF is proud to present its 21st Central and Eastern European Competition. And, for the eleventh year, we are deeply honored to showcase this competition in loving memory of George Gund III with the support of an endowment from The George Gund Foundation.

As determined by our jury, the winner of this competition will be announced at our Closing Awards Ceremony and receive a $10,000 cash prize.

Nesnadny + Schwartz Portrait Documentary Competition

Competition Presented By: Nesnadny + Schwartz

The Nesnadny + Schwartz Portrait Documentary Competition and the "May the Schwartz Be with You" Director's Award is dedicated to the life and work of our longtime board member and friend, Mark Schwartz (1956–2014).

For 19 years, N+S has sponsored the CIFF Documentary Competition. Seven years ago, we focused more exclusively on portrait documentaries. Like Mark himself, the subjects in these documentaries are determined, dedicated, and daring. The same qualities define the best of what art can achieve in all mediums, including graphic design.

The films are artistic and passionate, telling stories with insight, power, and revelation. Never a man to back down from controversy, this genre of filmmaking exemplifies the way Mark led his life and ran his design firm. Since his death, the firm has continued to honor his vision. Their work is big and bold, grounded in logic, and informed by research.

As determined by our jury, the winner of this competition will be announced at our Closing Awards Ceremony and receive a $10,000 cash prize.

New Direction Competition

At the 39th CIFF we premiered our focus on debut directors whose innovative films transform the traditional notions of cinematic storytelling.

We are proud to present our eighth New Direction Competition. Screening within this competition are films created by emerging filmmakers who we believe will define the future of filmmaking.

As determined by our jury, the winner of this competition will be announced at our Closing Awards Ceremony and receive a $10,000 cash prize.

Greg Gund Memorial Standing Up Competition

Competition Presented By: The George Gund Foundation

In 2005 The George Gund Foundation granted the CIFF with an endowment to create the Greg Gund Memorial Standing Up Competition as a tribute to Greg Gund. Greg's friends and family described him as "intensely creative and talented, and wholly without pretension."

For five years Greg lived in Playa Negro near Tamarindo, Costa Rica where he immersed himself by becoming part of the local community. As much as he deeply loved his home there, Greg was also an extensive world traveler with an adventurous spirit and an insatiable curiosity about different cultures and people. He lived by this Mahatma Gandhi quote inscribed in his passport: "Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever." Greg died at the age of 32 in a small plane crash off the Pacific Coast in 2005.

Standing Up started as a sidebar to focus on films with the mission to change the world and grew into a celebration of activism and the fight for social justice. Our Standing Up Competition includes "films with a conscience." Many of these films highlight personal stories featuring individuals who set out to teach lessons on how to live a better life. One of the aspects all these films share is the impact they make on viewers long after the credits roll. Through the films, Standing Up honors Greg Gund - as well as others with a different view of the world - and the continual fight to make it better.