CLEVELAND — The Cleveland International Film Festival is back for its 48th iteration at Playhouse Square.
This year's CIFF, which runs from April 3 to April 13, will feature in-person screenings of 137 feature-length films and 225 short films representing 60 countries, according to a media release.
Opening the festival this year at Playhouse Square's Conor Palace is "Thelma," an action comedy about a 93-year-old woman who is scammed out of $10,000 and goes on a mission to recover the money by any means necessary. The film features Oscar nominee June Squibb and one of the final performances of the late "Shaft" star Richard Roundtree.
Tickets for in-person screenings are $16 for CIFF members and $18 for non-members.
New this year is the CIFF Retro series, offering discounted tickets to retrospective films, many of which have played CIFF in years past. This year's $5 CIFF Retro screenings include a 10th anniversary presentation of the acclaimed documentary "Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine," about the life and legacy of the Wyoming college student who was killed in a horrific homophobic attack in 1998, and a special screening of "Twilight Saga: Eclipse" just hours after the April 8 solar eclipse.
For those who cannot make the in-person showings, organizers say CIFF48 Streams will screen more than half of the festival's in-person films and nearly all of the short films online. Streaming screenings are priced at $12 for CIFF members and $14 for non-members.
You can see the full CIFF48 film guide in the document below:
Founded in 1977 at the Cedar Lee Theatre in Cleveland Heights, CIFF moved to its Playhouse Square home in 2022 after taking place at Tower City Cinemas for 30 years.