All Access at the Cleveland International Film Festival

Imagine experiencing Hungary, Finland, France, Russia, Israel, Italy, Japan, Argentina, Germany, India and fifty other countries, all in eleven days. Imagine doing so without having to get a passport, exchange currency or cross a single border patrol.

And, imagine accomplishing this tour all in one city and you have a better sense for this year’s Cleveland International Film Festival, held March 18-28. World-renowned and highly acclaimed, and now in its thirty-fourth year, this event always draws diverse crowds and sometimes launches stars.

More importantly, it provides festival goers, comprised of film fanatics, journalists, studios, distributors and an army of volunteers the opportunity to witness a movie marathon like no other: all the quality and variety of any other major festival of its kind, yet completely accessible.

When I first moved to Cleveland, my friend Daniel and I used to talk about how fantastic it would be to take a week’s vacation, invest in a full pass and spend that time watching hours upon endless hours of independent cinema. Truly, very few things in life could possibly come even close to this kind of viewing pleasure. Some people collect stuff. I collect experiences. Given the choice between receiving either a $100 gift card to Niemen Marcus or one to Amazon.com becomes almost absurd – I’ll take ten delicious movies over one pair of shoes any day.

Movies and music help me breathe. They allow me to exist in world that otherwise seems awfully complex and chaotic. The Universe knows this and several years ago arranged itself so that a certain film professor just showed up one day and, quickly and thoughtfully, nurtured my creative voice. This has pivoted life into an expressive direction once unimaginable. And, if, six years ago someone would have said that not only would I have a flexible working schedule but also a full press-pass to attend the Cleveland International Film Festival, I wouldn’t have expected it to be real, on any level.

About the same time I began writing for Cool Cleveland, Film Slate Magazine also took a chance, assigning me movie reviews and feature pieces. And when they assigned me to this year’s CIFF, my heart almost skipped a beat.  After fully absorbing this spectacular reality, I began looking through the impressive catalog, making decisions on which movies to see and when. With a yellow highlighter in hand and my iCal in front of me, some films began to grab my attention, for numerous reasons.

This year’s selections offered a significant menu of Eastern European titles and, being conversant in Russian and having been schooled by classics like the historical  “Battleship Potyomkin”(1925)  and the more current “Burnt by the Sun” (1994),  I knew that seeing several Former Soviet Block films would have to happen: “Hipsters”and“A Room and a Half,”or “A Sentimental Journey to the Homeland”(Russia), “Lost Times”(Hungary), “December Heat” (Estonia) and “The Desert of Forbidden Art” (Russia, USA, Uzbekistan). There’s also “The Girl on the Train,” which is based on true events and stars Catherine Denueve, the French leading lady who still looks amazing.

Only one Bollywood movie made it this year: “My Heart Goes Hadippa,” so it was definitely a must. And some movies just looked interesting, like “Paper Man,” with Jeff Daniels, and the Italian family drama “I Am Love and Eyes Wide Open” (Israel, Germany, France). While this short list only scratches the surface of what played this year, it does provide a diverse offering and an unprecedented opportunity to attend the festival seven consecutive days.

On my first day, I approached the information booth inside, but not before running into Dee Snyder, of Twisted Sister fame. (He was in the city of rock ‘n roll, after all.) Then, when the nice gentleman behind the booth gave me the envelope with my pass, I felt incredibly energized, grateful and happy.

I hung the pass around my neck and walked past the ticket usher and then past the crowds, into the theater, sitting down in one of the reserved seats. I was ready to embrace the gift of illusion, magic and travel, all without having to learn a new language or packing a suitcase. The best part? I got to do it again. And again.

For a list of this year’s winners, photos, and much more, visit www.clevelandfilm.org