Tag Archives: Film Festivals

Cleveland Speaks

Posted on April 22, 2020 by Ira
Among the festivals that my film, “Searching for Mr. Rugoff,” was supposed to play in before the coronavirus hit, was the Cleveland International Film Festival or CIFF as it is known. I was looking forward to attending, since I hadn’t been to the festival since I was there with “Cutter’s Way,” which was many moons ago. I also have good feelings about Cleveland in general, since I was there to witness the Cubs win the world series.
Alas, there was to be no festival in Cleveland this year. However, they are showing many of the films in a virtual festival available to ticket and passholders (Don’t get too excited, it is geo-locked to the Cleveland area.) They have just posted a podcast that is meant to be both an introduction to the film, and a Q&A for those who see it. Luckily, I can share it with you…

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Keynote at TIFF Filmmaker Bootcamp – 2013

Posted on August 25, 2013 by Ira

The folks at the Toronto Film Festival have just posted my keynote from their annual Filmmaker Boot Camp, a sort of retreat where they prepare filmmakers for their experience at TIFF. This is the second time they’ve asked me to do this, and given that Toronto is one of my favorite festivals, I’m glad to be of service.

The information I presented is a summary of some presentations I’ve made in my classes at Columbia, and at various other events. It’s a quick overview of the current marketplace, followed by some specific strategies one might use to navigate a festival like Toronto, and to make the best of the experience. I hope those of you who couldn’t be there will find something useful in it.

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