Answer quickly: where were vast swaths of the soon-to-be-released film The Avengers shot? How ‘bout Cleveland.
“Lots of films are shot here,” says Grafton J. Nunes, president and CEO of the Cleveland Institute of Art (they call it the CIA). For the Avengers, “One section of town became German. Another section became 42nd Street in New York.”
Locals are in love with all things filmatic. More evidence: the 36th iteration of the acclaimed Cleveland International Film Festival kicks off the evening of March 22 with a screening of Nesting. Directed by Cleveland native John Chuldenko, the piece focuses on what happens when a thirty-something couple sets aside their home furnishings catalogue and decides to rekindle their relationship. Nesting is the first of some 300-plus films that will be screened between March 22 and closing night April 1.
Can’t make the fest? There’s year-round classic cinema in town – and it’s analog – shown right there on real, live film stock. Cinematheque is the venue, and you’ll find it in the Cleveland Institute of Art’s 616-seat Russell B. Aitken Auditorium. There are a full five films each weekend, and each of them is but $9.
Before or after an evening of classic cinema consider dinner at Sérgio’s in University Circle. The cuisine is Italian, seafood, and comfortable cross-cultural. If you’re brave, order up an appetizer of Shrimp Inferno, served with a trio of hot peppers. Stay with seafood and ask for Halibut Al Forno as the entrée. It’s served on a bed of braised greens in a ginger-scallion broth. This restaurant is a local favorite with Clevelanders, comfy and more than competent.
Story by Jerry Chandler
(Image: Iaszlo)
