The 49th Cleveland International Film Festival kicked off Thursday night at Playhouse Square.
Executive Director Hermione Malone spoke to News 5 about what would happen throughout the event.
"We've got 300 films from 60 countries. Over 200, almost 300 filmmakers are going to be joining us over the next 10 days, and there's something from everyone," said Malone. "If you like adventure, animation, documentaries, narrative stories, horror, comedy— we've got something for you."
Malone said the festival is almost a year-long project, starting in July when they begin accepting submissions.
"This year, we got over 3500 submissions," Malone said.
Only 300 of those films make the festival.
"The filmmakers are so excited that people are interested in seeing their film. You've got some really good access to them to ask them questions. Most of them are doing talk-backs after their films," said Malone. "It's a pretty unique feature of film festivals that really makes it a lot different than just going to the movie theaters and seeing a show."
