Cleveland Film Festival

If it's March, it must be time for March Madness, Shamrock Shakes, and the Cleveland International Film Festival. I am headed there today to see a film called Ingredients, a documentary about the food industry. But really, ironically, the film that one sees doesn't seem to be the main draw anymore at the festival--it's the film festival experience that I think keeps bringing me back (and about 60,000 others each year.) I first started going to the CIFF way back in the late 1980s when it was still held at the Cedar Lee Theatre. I can still remember some of the films I saw in those early days--some so obscure that I've never heard of them again (Lamb) and others that have gone on to be very well known (The Up series of documentaries that have followed the same protagonists since they were seven years old in 1964). Even while the films have always been great, I think what I've most remembered are the people who attend. Some of these people I have seen once a year for 20 years at this event. I always see the same people there. I have no idea what their names are, even though we chat about the movies we've seen and the increasing lines at the event. What we have in common is the love of film and this "social network" that brings us together after a long winter at this event every year. And, of course, the CIFF has gone way beyond just publishing the old newsprint festival booklet from the old days. Of course, now you can now follow CIFF on Facebook and Twitter. See you there or, better yet, at the movies!