February 21, 2019

CIFF43 Announces Opening Night and Closing Night Films

The 43rd Cleveland International Film Festival (CIFF43) is kicking-off its 12-day run with a story of love and forgiveness, and closing with a look at the power of social justice. CIFF43 will be held March 27 – April 7, 2019 at Tower City Cinemas, as well as the Gordon Square Arts District and University Circle.

OPENING NIGHT AT PLAYHOUSE SQUARE
On Wednesday, March 27 at 7:00 PM, CIFF43 will open with THE ETRUSCAN SMILE. Produced by multiple Academy Award winner Arthur Cohn and co-directed by Mihal Brezis & Oded Binnun, the film follows the story of Rory MacNeil, an old-fashioned Scottish man who travels from his beloved and beautifully slow-paced home on Hebridean Island to seek medical treatment in fast-paced, high-tech San Francisco. Rory finds himself and his world transformed when he moves in with his estranged son and forms an unbreakable bond with his grandson. The film, based on the bestselling book, La Sonrisa Etrusca, by Jose Louis Sampedro, stars a bevy of acclaimed and talented actors including Brian Cox, Rosanna Arquette, Thora Birch, JJ Feild, Peter Coyote, and Treat Williams.

Tickets to Opening Night at Playhouse Square are $225 per person ($200 for CIFF members). The evening includes the 7:00 PM screening of the film in the Connor Palace, followed by a reception in the KeyBank State Theatre.

CLOSING NIGHT AT TOWER CITY CENTER
On Sunday, April 7 at 7:00 PM, the Festival will close with THE PUBLIC, directed and written by, as well as starring, Emilio Estevez. The film’s story unfolds when a record-setting cold spell hits Cincinnati, and the public library becomes an unlikely stage for a protest in which issues of homelessness and human rights take the spotlight. Estevez stars alongside an ensemble cast including Alec Baldwin, Jena Malone, Christian Slater, Gabrielle Union, Taylor Schilling, Jacob Vargas, Michael Kenneth Williams, and Jeffrey Wright.

Closing Night is sponsored by University Hospitals. All those in attendance at any of the films showing at Tower City Cinemas on Closing Night are invited to the Closing Night Ceremony (dessert reception and awards presentation) around the Tower City Center Grand Staircase after the screenings. Tickets to any Closing Night film are $14 for CIFF members and $16 for non-members.

CIFF43
For more information on the more than 500 screenings that will be shown between Opening Night and Closing Night, visit clevelandfilm.org beginning Friday, March 1 at 11:00 AM. Program Guides will be available at all Dollar Bank branches and throughout the area the week of March 4. Tickets go on sale to CIFF members on Friday, March 8 at 11:00 AM and to the public on Friday, March 15 at 11:00 AM. Tickets will be available online (clevelandfilm.org), by phone (1.877.304.FILM), or in-person at the Film Festival Box Office in the lobby of Tower City Cinemas.

The Cleveland International Film Festival is supported in part by the residents of Cuyahoga County through a public grant from Cuyahoga Arts & Culture.