Based on a True Story set in 1935 Schenectady, New York.  After the company he works for refuses to invest in his solar energy project, Lebanese scientist Camil Al-Sabbah pursues another opportunity to achieve his dream, but becomes increasingly suspicious of forces that seem to be conspiring against him.  Supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and BAFTA.

To Fade Away

English

The Groundbreaker Program is committed to the importance of working toward racial equity through film, while also elevating and supporting filmmakers of color to ensure that these stories are told by artists who share lived experiences. CIFF's Groundbreaker Shorts program is a collection of short films sharing racially diverse stories made by racially diverse filmmakers.

A young NIL student-athlete, David, grapples with anxiety, identity, and survivor’s guilt, as he navigates the hidden costs of success. Through a symbolic therapy session, the film reveals the mental strain of balancing opportunity with overwhelming pressure.

Uncaged

&quot;I Forgot To Tell You About ...The Story of The Cleveland Buckeyes&quot; captures the love, loss, grace under fire, and phenomenal ingenuity. This improbable yet compelling story of the overwhelming odds of an unlikely team who won the forgotten championship of 1945. The Buckeye&#39;s should have become one of the nation&#39;s celebrated baseball teams of the early 20th century. They were not recognized for their greatness until 2020 when the Major League Baseball organization honored Negro Leagues by giving them Major League status, correcting a shameful &quot;Longtime Oversight&quot;. Further engagement at the Westfield Studio Theatre: Occurring prior to Groundbreaker Shorts Program at 2:25pm in the Allen Theatre (where the short will be featured), Ideastream&#39;s Gabriel Kramer will moderate a panel conversation in the Westfield Studio Theatre from 1:15-2:15pm  with Stephanie Liscio (historian and author of Integrating Cleveland Baseball: Media Activism, the Integration of the Indians, and the Demise of the Negro League Buckeyes), Herbert Walker (grandson of one of the owners of the legendary Cleveland Buckeyes), and Evelyn Gregory (Director) will take place in the Westfield Studio Theatre. In partnership with the Baseball Heritage Museum. This engagement event is FREE and open to the public -- no reservation required.

I Forgot To Tell You About...The Story of the Cleveland Buckeyes

An Indigenous man takes a Happy Thanksgiving wish from a bank teller so personally, his rage drives him to carry out a bizarre revenge plan.

Happy Thanksgiving

A young man sits in the car with his girlfriend. Two policemen in an unmarked car pull up to command a routine identity check. They invite him out and proceed methodically to a pat-down, as he stands in front of the car, under the dismayed eyes of his girlfriend.

Genealogy of violence

When a Latinx filmmaker is offered a dream-job abroad, she discovers a supernatural way to navigate the US immigration system and get the coveted travel permit she desperately needs. But  what seems like a magic solution soon shows unexpected consequences.

Border Hopper

Tasked with installing self-service manicure stations at a nail salon, an automation technician meets a Vietnamese American nail tech whose job he is there to replace.

Technicians

Groundbreaker Shorts

General Admission

Passholder Admission

Allen Theatre

Virtual Admission

Passholder Virtual Admission

SCREENING EXCLUSIVE TO <a href="https://www.clevelandfilm.org/programs/filmslam?filters=%7B%22type%22%3A%22%22%2C%22search%22%3A%22%22%2C%22title%22%3A%22%22%2C%22sidebar%22%3A%22%22%2C%22competition%22%3A%22%22%2C%22country%22%3A%22%22%2C%22subtitles%22%3Afalse%2C%22audioDescription%22%3Afalse%2C%22page%22%3A1%2C%22festival%22%3A%22a12UU00000148ODYAY%22%7D" target="_blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">FILMSLAM</a> (GRADES 5-12 ONLY) Ms. Hopkins is rehearsing Much Ado About Nothing with her middle school theatre class when it is interrupted by a school shooter. Starring Jenifer Lewis in a tour-de-force as Ms. Hopkins.

Set in a rapidly changing world, &quot;Snow Bear&quot; tells the story of a polar bear in an unforgiving environment on his quest to find a friend.

Snow Bear

A young speech therapist disconnected from her Tongan heritage lies about her Tongan language skills to get a job. Out of her depth, she must find a way to communicate or risk her patient’s life.

Mother Tongue

In 1893, an endearing Cornish fisherman’s wife captures the attention of the medical profession as the first person to ever cure someone of Tuberculosis.A doctor, hell bent on proving a woman’s place is in the home and not practising medicine, is sent to investigate her miraculous claim - only to discover the source of her unearthly power...

The Pearl Comb

ON HEALING LAND, BIRDS PERCH is a short documentary that tells the remarkable stories behind one of the most iconic photos in history, while acting as a portal into the “varied carols,” to borrow from Walt Whitman, of trauma and the American journey. This is the first documentary, from a Vietnamese born filmmaker that explores the continuing aftershocks of the Vietnam War from the perspectives of both sides of the war: North Vietnamese and South Vietnamese including Vietnamese Americans alive today. The story is told through the iconic Pulitzer winning photo of General Loan shooting a Vietcong captain Nguyen Van Lem in the head on the second day of the 1968 Tet Offensive.

On Healing Land, Birds Perch

The Singers is a short film adaptation of a 19th-century short story written by Ivan Turgenev, in which a lowly pub full of downtrodden patrons connect unexpectedly through an impromptu sing-off. With a cast comprised of viral video singing talents and other one-of-a-kind personalities from the unlikeliest corners of the internet, the film is an experimental docu-musical hybrid crafted like an improvisational play.

The Singers

A highly imaginative 10-year-old boy befriends his superhero-themed piñata, leading to a heartfelt struggle as his birthday party approaches.

Marcel's Piñata

For the last quarter century, retired schoolteacher Arden Eversmeyer journeyed from Houston across the country to record hundreds of oral &quot;herstories&quot; with a mostly invisible population that is rapidly disappearing. Old Lesbians honors Arden&#39;s legacy by animating the resilient, joyful voices she preserved in the Old Lesbian Oral Herstory Project, from first crush to first love, from the closet to coming out, and finally from loss to connection.

Old Lesbians

When a burglar unexpectedly runs into a homeowner during a theft, a simple robbery morphs into a makeshift therapy session with the burglar helping the homeowner process his impending divorce - all while the homeowner continues to help the burglar rob his apartment.

Night Session

Alongside his wife and daughter, Lennox joyously unpacks their new home but is left speechless when he finds a letter in a moving box labelled &#39;mom&#39; that predestines a different life for him – it’s not as he remembers.