SPONSORED BY DAY 8 WEDNESDAY APRIL 3, 2019 ‘Loopers:’ Not Just for Golf Fans caddying at Indian Hill Club in Winnetka, Ill. Renowned loopers, or golf caddies, like Steve Williams (Tiger Woods and Adam Scott) and Fanny Sunesson (Nick Faldo) naturally get their stories explored, but so do lesser- known characters, including Greg Puga, the Bel-Air Country Club caddie who qualified Photo: Lisa Evans ABOVE: Let your voice be heard! CIFF volunteers collect for the Masters tournament. and count every ballot that they receive. The ballot voting Renowned caddie master Mike Kiely of system is how the awards are given out on Closing Night. BELOW: “Trust Machine: The Story of Blockchain” Canterbury Golf Club in Beachwood, Ohio, FilmForum featuring Rick Jackson, Adam Gall, Pete Moore is also one of those loopers elevated to, as and Brian E Ray talking about bitcoin and other new Packer describes it, their “rightful place” in technical developments. sports lore. Over the last 50-plus years, Kiely has mentored and trained thousands in the art and science of caddying. Kiely was introduced Executive Producer Jim Packer loves the game of golf and to Packer by Michael Murphy, a native of knows that a caddie is much more than a silent sidekick to Cleveland and president of Gravitas Ventures, a a golfer. global entertainment distribution company. ehind every great golfer, there’s a The film, directed by Jason Baffa, traces the great caddie. roots of caddying—a story that starts more B The multi-dimensional relationship than a century back ago in Scotland and Photo: Kevin Inthavong that forms on the links is unique in the world Ireland before coming to the United States. of sports and finally earns the exploration it It explores how the job evolved from a task always deserved in “Loopers: The Caddie’s delegated to those who worked at the bar or Long Walk.” The film—narrated by comedy in the kitchen to the well-respected profession legend (and former caddie) Bill Murray— it is today. The narrative also weaves through shifts the spotlight from the characters who some of the most iconic locales in the golf dominate the fairways to their trusted advisers, world—Augusta National Golf Club, Pebble confidantes, and oftentimes, lifelong friends. Beach, and The Old Course at St. Andrews in “I always knew there was an employee- Scotland, among others. employer relationship, but many progress into And it’s not just a film for golf fans, but Photo: Nathan Migal more of a friendship,” says Jim Packer, the anyone interested in the testament of the The FilmSlam program has already welcomed more than 4,000 students and teachers—and there are still another film’s executive producer, who has been with human spirit and the relationships that form four days of films to go! his caddie for 25 years. “What I felt came among those with shared passions. through in the movie is the passion of these “The most misunderstood thing about caddies—it’s far more than just a job. Some caddies are that they just carry the bag,” Packer people have been caddying for 40 years or says. “What this movie does is show what OF THE more. It is their true passion in life.” really goes on between those two people.” DAY 8 Bill Murray, who along with his brother, —Timothy Magaw FILM FESTIVAL Brian Doyle-Murray, was responsible for IS SPONSORED BY perhaps the most iconic golf film ever made, SHOWING LOOPERS: THE TODAY CADDIE’S LONG WALK “Caddyshack,” was the preferred choice to is playing today at 7:00 p.m. narrate the film. The Murray brothers grew up at the Cedar Lee Theatre Festival Updates Her Big, Glam, Persian Wedding hen Sara Zandieh’s family and friends Added Screening: arrived at the L.A. Film Fest premiere Saturday April 6th Wof “Simple Wedding” at the Arclight, 100 Things 9:00 am it almost looked as if they were there for an Champions 9:05 am The City That Sold America 3:10 pm actual wedding. Princess of the Row 3:40 pm “The premiere was wild and there was a big Persian audience,” Zandieh recalled in an inter- Late Additions: view with The Movable Fest. “When they show Thursday April 4th up, they show up glam. They were dressed to the Mike Wallace Is Here 7:10 pm nines and it did feel like a wedding.” Good Girl Gone Bad 8:30 pm Or, maybe, a birth. “Simple Wedding” is Friday April 5th Zandieh’s first feature-length film, and it has Cut Off 3:30 pm Good Girl Gone Bad 5:30 pm swiftly become a darling of the Festivals, Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am 8:25 pm revealing a strong comic knack and a brilliantly Saturday April 6th relatable story. “I just wanted to do my take on “I think that everybody can find their own emotional associa- Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am 9:00 am a romcom,” Zandieh remembers. She began six tion with the film,” director Sara Zandieh says, “and I love that Good Girl Gone Bad 4:50 pm years ago, loosely basing the plot on elements of [it] can have such a multigenerational audience that appreci- Mike Wallace Is Here 5:10 pm her own romantic life at the time. “I’m Iranian, ates it in their own way.” Before You Know It 6:20 pm Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and he was a progressive white guy from sticking point is cohabitation before marriage. and Vile 9:25 pm Vancouver, and we wanted to represent Nousha and Alex find themselves under Cut Off 9:45 pm ourselves, because we felt it was fresh and new pressure from both of their families to marry, Sunday April 7th and something that we hadn’t seen before.” even though they have only been dating for a Cut Off 4:20 pm Although the story initially started out deeply few months. Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile 6:55 pm personal, she moved outward, incorporating the According to The Movable Fest, Nousha’s Before You Know It 7:00 pm stories of friends and relatives to heighten the character continued to evolve once Zandieh Check for the latest festival updates dramatic and comedic impact. “I started hearing found and cast Tara Grammy to play her. She on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ciff or stories of multicultural relationships,” she says, had gone to see Grammy perform onstage in her Facebook at www.facebook.com/ ClevelandInternationalFilmFestival. “and I talked to a lot of Persian cousins and one-woman show, “Mahmoud.” That perfor- Or visit www.clevelandfilm.org/festival/ friends who came from much more traditional mance locked her in. “She’s brave and funny, and updates. families where if you’re 30 and not married, it what I saw in that show is she cared about the was like the families are freaking out.” same things that I cared about and the message In the process, her heroine’s family became of the movie, which was that love is greater far more conservative than her own, and reflec- than all of us and it goes beyond any cultural, tive of the broader intercultural negotiations religious, socioeconomic difference.” Challenge Match that many Iranian-Americans negotiate. Many While Zandieh was tailoring the role, even The Challenge Match is the CIFF’s annual fundraising campaign, and the only time of of the families fled to the United States in the adding in Grammy’s brilliant Celine Dion im- the year that we ask for your support (we do wake of the Iranian Revolution, aware that they pression, Grammy was watching her closely and not send out solicitation letters at any time). were viewed as too western and secular by the taking on some of her mannerisms for Nousha. The challenge to you—our audience—is to raise $150,000, which will be matched by new regime but determined to hang onto their “She started playing me, essentially. [One day] Cuyahoga Arts & Culture. unique cultural identities. I told her, ‘I like your hair tie.’ And she’s like, ‘I We are $58,559 closer to “A lot of the Iranians,” she explains, “are really know. It’s what you wear.’” reaching our goal of $150,000! adaptable and just trying to hold on to some —Lara Klaber semblance of tradition.” A $10 DONATION QUALIFIES YOU FOR ONE OF THESE FABULOUS PRIZES!! In fact, she notes, in the film Nousha’s family SHOWING SIMPLE WEDDING doesn’t even bat an eye when her boyfriend THE HUNGER GAMES – (MOSTLY) EAST: TODAY is playing today at 6:50 p.m. Indulge in a meal out each month with Alex introduces his two fathers to them. Their lunch or dinner at 12 area restaurants (including fire food and drink, EDWINS, Tommy’s, and more). Stop by the Challenge Match table in the Tower City Cinemas lobby to donate. THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT! Official Airline of the 43rd CIFF Photo: Nathan Migal WELCOME Photo: Kevin Inthavong The Cleveland International Film Festival receives CIFF and Tower City welcome film fans, Indians baseball fans, From left, Jon Bauer, Lis Bartlett, and Shamey Cramer from public support with local tax dollars from Cuyahoga and downtown workers on a lunch break (wink, wink). Whether “Light in the Water,” a documentary focusing on a group of gay Arts & Culture, to preserve and enrich our region’s you are just passing by, or staying for a film or two, we thank men and women competitive swimmers who banded together to artistic and cultural heritage.