Cleveland Magazine | Cleveland’s Short. Sweet. Film Fest. Features More Than 75 Local Filmmakers

Posted on February 28, 2023

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SOURCE: Cleveland Magazine | Kiara Rodriguez
February 28, 2023

The regional fest centers around, you guessed it, short films, from local, national and international directors.
Since 2012, up-and-coming filmmakers have gathered in Cleveland for a night of cinematic brevity.The Short. Sweet. Film Fest showcases “short films in a big way,” as the organization puts it. Hitting town March 1-5, the festival gives filmmakers at local, national and international levels an opportunity to showcase their work.

This year will be the first time the festival is held at the Atlas Theater in Shaker Heights, allowing for two showings at once and more submissions than ever before. More than 75 of the 200 films offered this year are from local filmmakers, including Star Player (made by local students), Secret Honor by Kevin James Hogan and Boss of the Toss by Chris Harboldt.

Suglio and his friend Alex Pavloff started the festival after they went to see a punk performance at Now That’s Class — noticing everyone in the audience was friends with the band.

“They all supported each other because they all were doing the same thing,” Executive Director Michael Suglio says. “That was kind of the inspiration of just like, ‘Well, okay, we’re all making local films. How can we also further support each other?’”

Ahead of the event, Suglio took a few moments to discuss the importance of the festival and local filmmaking.

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