Short and sweet films return to Atlas Cinemas March 2-8. The Short. Sweet. Film Fest. started out as a small local film festival created by Executive Director Michael Suglio in 2011.
In the beginning, the festival was so small that it took place in the back room of Market Garden Brewery in Lakewood, Ohio. Now, 24 years later, the festival takes place at Atlas Cinemas and hosts 350 films from 26 different countries.
“At the time, there weren’t many opportunities for local filmmakers, including myself, to show off their work in front of a live audience,” said Suglio.
That is one of the biggest challenges in the film industry: bringing attention to small local films. Suglio expressed that for many filmmakers, they spend hundreds of hours and sometimes thousands of dollars creating a piece of art that sits on a hard drive with nowhere to be viewed. Short. Sweet. Film Fest. gives filmmakers a place and community to screen their passion projects in front of a live audience instead of a few strangers on the internet.
“It’s nice to see people getting together. It’s really rewarding for me to see the reactions to these films live in the audience, ” Suglio said. “To see people laugh at a comedy or jump at a horror movie.”
There are eighteen different film categories, from classic drama all the way to fan fiction. Each year, Suglio and his team work hard curating new categories and programs for the festival. This year, the team introduced Women in Focus, a program that highlights short films directed and produced by women.
“I learned a lot through watching them, so it’s definitely something that is enjoyable for everyone,” said Suglio.
The festival opens with the Local Student Filmmakers Program. While Short. Sweet. Film Fest. is a fun opportunity for filmmakers far and wide, it is also a tool for local students to get their short films on screen.
Cleveland State University student Eliot Lanzer’s short film “Lucas+Claire” is the opening film for the festival.
“Lucas+Claire” follows the story of a young couple. Claire is a musician who loses her passion for music, but her boyfriend is determined to reignite her love for the art. The only challenge is that Lucas is deaf.
“Lucas has this unconditional love for her even though he can’t relate to her love for music,” Lanzer said.
Lanzer was inspired by rom-coms but wanted to take a different approach to the genre. The intriguing combo of music-loving girlfriend and deaf boyfriend was born.
Many writers are taught to write what they know. Creating a film about a disability one does not have comes with a plethora of challenges.
“Especially with a story like this, I wanted to make sure these perspectives are represented in an appropriate way,” Lanzer said.
One way Lanzer made sure the story was accurate to the deaf experience was by bringing on an ASL coordinator. The coordinator added a deeper layer of representation to the film by providing insight into what it is like to live in a hearing society as a deaf person and aiding actors with lines in ASL.
“I’m so happy we got him because he enhanced the film in so many ways,” said Lanzer.
Another local filmmaker participating in the Short. Sweet. Film Fest. is senior CSU student Andrew Delly. Delly is returning to the Short. Sweet. Film Fest. for the fourth year in a row with his short film “Self Portrait”.
The film is about a young painter who has a hard time finding the beauty in her work, only for her pieces to be mysteriously slashed by an unknown person. As a returning filmmaker, Delly is looking forward to the community creatives Short. Sweet. Film Fest. brings together.
“Short. Sweet. is just a fun festival to go to,” said Delly. “It’s not a massive film festival like CIFF [Cleveland International Film Festival], so it feels really like a community.”
Lanzer and Delly have been students of Suglio in their time at CSU, and through the hard work of Suglio and the staff at Short. Sweet. Film Fest. many filmmakers have an outlet to show off their films.
Each year, the festival introduces a new category; next year, filmmakers can look forward to two new film categories to choose from. Latin American Cinema and Short Film Shot Vertically will be introduced into the festival’s rotation for the 2027 film competition. To support local filmmakers and enjoy the world of the arts, purchase your tickets at shortsweetfilmfest.com.
EveLynne Bruening