The Movie Nerd Report: 3 film festivals this week in Northeast Ohio

Three, yes, three film festivals happen this week in Northeast Ohio! Here is your #movienerdreport!

The Chagrin Documentary Film Festival kicks off its 17^th annual edition this Tuesday and will run through Sunday. This year brings 75 films from 31 different countries and several of them from Cleveland and Ohio filmmakers including “The Bulldogs,”  an intimate look at East Palestine, Ohio, following the 2023 train derailment; “Lagerland,” which looks at the history of beer brewing in Cleveland; “Micronations,” which explores the DIY subculture of self-declared monarchs, backyard kingdoms and diplomatic summits; and “Tina’s At The End Of The World,” which takes a look at the karaoke bar located in the Gordon Square neighborhood, ( your resident movie nerd was one of the producers for this film)! 

{Editor’s note: The Land is a media partner for the Chagrin Documentary Film Festival.)

Full schedule and ticket information is available at: https://www.chagrinfilmfest.org/

Celebrating their 20^th edition, the Cleveland Jewish Film Festival kicks off Thursday and runs through Oct. 18. The festival will show several features and two shorts programs at venues like the Cedar Lee Theatre, the Cleveland Cinematheque and the Mandel Jewish Community Center. 

Film information and tickets can be found here :https://mandeljcc.org/FilmFest

Saturday brings the 3^rd edition of the Akron Independent Horror Short Film Festival. Presented by Killer Video, this event will feature three hours of short films at the historic Akron Civic Theatre (182 S. Main Street, Akron 44308). 

More information and tickets are available at: https://www.thekvm.org/events

Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. also brings the latest film for the Ohio Goes To The Movies series, “Kill The Irishman.” The film tells the story of Cleveland mob-enforcer Danny Greene. The film stars Ray Stevenson, Vincent D’Onofrio and Christopher Walken. It will play at Atlas Cinemas Lakeshore 7 (22624 Lakeshore Blvd, Euclid 44123), and as with all Ohio Goes To The Movies events, it is free! 

Opening widely this week is a companion piece to one of the most acclaimed films of the last 25 years, “The Social Network,” in “The Social Reckoning.” This new film, like the first, was written by Aaron Sorkin but this one was also directed by Sorkin. (“The Social Network was directed by David Fincher, who opted to not return for this film.) “The Social Recoking” tells the story of Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen and Wall Street Journal reporter Jeff Horowitz as they expose the internal operations and hidden data collection of Facebook. Mikey Madison, Jeremy Allen White and Jeremy Strong star.  

Also opening is the horror film “Other Mommy,” which stars Jessica Chastain and Jay Duplass. The film tells the story of an 8-year-old girl and her family as they are terrorized by a shape-shifting, paranormal entity. When I’ve seen the trailer before other films, it has definitely gotten a lot of audible reactions. 

Another film with a similar title also opens called “Your Mother Your Mother Your Mother” starring Mahershala Ali, John Cho and Giancarlo Esposito. It follows a devout Muslim hitman in Houston who becomes a grieving single father after his wife dies suddenly. 

Over at The Cleveland Cinematheque (11610 Euclid Ave, Cleveland 44106):

Thursday at 6:50 p.m. and Saturday at 5 p.m. they will present the acclaimed film “Filipiñana.” It tells the story of a teen attracted to a doctor at her country club. The attraction turns dark when she discovers the violence beneath the club’s façade. 

Thursday at 8:50 p.m. their Speak of the Devil series continues with 1980’s “Satan’s Slave.” This horror film from Indonesia tells the story of a wealthy, non-religious family that is terrorized by ghosts, demons and the undead after the death of their mother. 

Friday at 6:45 p.m., by popular demand, they will be bring back  the French film “Colours of Time.” It follows the lives of the cousins who inherit an old house in rural Normandy and they retrace their steps of their ancestors in 19^th century Paris. 

Friday at 9:10 p.m. and Saturday at 9:15 p.m. another film in their Speak of the Devil series also will play in Alan Parker’s “Angel Heart.” It follows a private investigator who uncovers a dark occult conspiracy while searching for a missing singer. Mickey Rourke, Robert De Niro and Lisa Bonet star. 

Saturday at 7:10 p.m. will bring the documentary “Mineshaft: The Cruising Murders,” which is an exploration of the true crime story that inspired William Friedkin’s controversial 1980 film “Cruising.” Filmmaker Jeffery Schwarz will appear virtually for a post-film Q&A! 

Sunday at 3 p.m. their Sundays With Shearer series continues with her 1931 film “A Free Soul.” Shearer stars as a free-spirited woman caught between her refined fiancé, a dangerous gangster and her alcoholic defense-attorney father. Clark Gable and Lionel Barrymore round out the cast. 

Sunday at 5 p.m. they will show a 40^th anniversary screening of the documentary “Sherman’s March,” which shows filmmaker Ross McElwee documenting his progress of searching for romance after a breakup. 

Sunday at 8 p.m. they will show the documentary “Scream Of My Blood: A Gogol Bordello Story,” which chronicles Eugene Hutz, frontman of Gogol Bordello. 

More film information and tickets can be found at: https://cinematheque.cia.edu/

Over at The Nightlight Cinema (30 N High Street, Akron 44308):

They will be opening the documentary “You Had To Be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited The Comedy Revolution,” which features folks like Martin Short and Eugene Levy discussing how this production became the evolution of things like SCTV and SNL. 

They also will be opening the acclaimed new documentary “Naza,” which examines the Israel Defense Forces’s use of AI, surveillance and automatic targeting systems during military operations in Gaza. 

Dave Boyle is a filmmaker who has had several films play CIFF, and now he is back with a new Japanese language film “Never After Dark.” It tells the story of a traveling psychic medium who investigates a hostile spirit at an isolated forest mansion, only to uncover dark secrets and realize that the living pose a greater threat than the dead. 

Nightlight (and a few other places locally) will be showing Guillermo Del Toro’s “Pan’s Labyrinth,” which will be showing for its 20^th anniversary and boasts a new 4k restoration. It tells the story of an imaginative young girl who meets a faun who tells her she’s a princess and that she must prove her worthiness by completing three dangerous tasks .

More information about the films and tickets can be found at :  https://nightlightcinema.com/

At The Capitol Theatre (1390 W. 65^th Street, Cleveland 44102) on Saturday at 7 p.m. and The Nightlight on Sunday, Greg Sestero will be live and in person for screenings of Tommy Wiseau’s infamous “The Room!” Sestero will be on hand for Q&A’s, selling merch and will take pictures with guests! Remember as always to bring your spoons!

Tickets and info are available at: https://capitoltheatrecleveland.com/

Over at Case Western Film Society (Strosacker Auditorium on the Case Campus):

Friday at 7 p.m., 9:15 p.m., and 11:30 p.m. they will present “Cars 2” from a 35mm print, and on Saturday at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. they will show “Pitch Perfect 3.” 

More information is available here: https://films.cwru.edu/

At the Canton Palace Theatre (605 Market Ave N, Canton 44702):

Friday they will present a double feature of Stephen King adaptations in 1989’s “Pet Sematary” and Stanely Kubrick’s “The Shining.” 

Saturday evening they will present a Hitchcock double feature with “Rear Window” which will be followed by “Psycho.” 

More information and tickets are available here: https://cantonpalacetheatre.org/horror-on-the-big-screen-at-canton-palace-theatre/

So there you have it, another jam-packed week! Until next time, we’ll see you at the movies!