Thu 9/15-Fri 9/23
Clevelanders are apparently huge film lovers. Not only does the enormous Cleveland International Film Festival set new attendance records every year, but there are numerous specialty festivals cropping up, catering to particular interest (extreme sports, skiing), types of films (documentary, shorts) and ethnic communities (Italian, Jewish).
The Greater Cleveland Urban Film Festival is one of the latter, showing films of interest to the African-American community over a nine-day period at the Shaker Square Cinemas. Now in its 5th year, it includes features, documentaries and shorts by and about people of color.
Opening night will take place, unlike the rest of the festival, at the Cleveland Museum of Art’s Gartner Auditorium. It will feature the film 9 Rides, following an Uber driver working on New Year’s Eve, ferrying nine groups of passengers around the city while dealing with a life crisis of his own. It was directed by former football player Matthew Cherry, now a film and video producer, who created the entire film on an iPhone 6s. He’ll be at the screening for a Q&A following the film.
The festival also includes a monologue competition, community screenings and dialogues and panels on issues of importance to the urban community. Go here for a full schedule.
greaterclevelandurbanfilmfestival