The Cleveland International Film Festival is returning to Cedar Lee Theatre in Cleveland Heights for CIFF50, April 9-18.Joey Morona

CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio -- The Cleveland International Film Festival is returning to where it all began for its 50th anniversary.

CIFF50 will present 326 films from 57 countries from April 9-18. Screenings will be split between the historic theaters of Playhouse Square, the nearby CSU School of Film & Media Arts, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and Cedar Lee Theatre, the festival’s original home in Cleveland Heights.

“The scale and diversity of this program reflects both the strength of global filmmaking and the strength of our festival,” CIFF Executive Director Hermione Malone said at a news conference.

The lineup boasts 90 feature-length films, including 56 narratives and 34 documentaries, along with 236 short films. The total is up from last year and includes 53 world premieres. It’s the first slate curated under Paul Sloop, CIFF’s new director of programming.

“The main focus for this year’s selection process was to deliver an entire program curated for Clevelanders by Clevelanders,” he said. “What we believe will emerge this year is the same globally focused program of diverse films from around the world, but curated with a nod to Cleveland independent film fans’ sensibilities.”

Notable selections include “A Man with Sole: The Impact of Kenneth Cole,” a documentary about the fashion designer and social activist that will launch CIFF50 on April 9 and be followed by an opening-night reception.

“If I Go, Will They Miss Me?”, a Sundance standout about a young artist struggling to reconnect with his father, will serve as the Centerpiece screening April 16.

Speaking of Sundance, the festival will host two of the three Ohio-made films that debuted there in January. “Buddy,” a subversive horror film starring Cristin Milioti and shot at TRG Multimedia Studios in Brooklyn, Ohio, will have its Midwest premiere April 10 at Playhouse Square. “Union County,” starring Will Poulter as a recovering opioid addict in central Ohio, will screen April 18.

“Carousel,” the romantic drama starring Chris Pine and Jenny Slate that filmed in Medina last summer, is still up in the air.

“Filmmakers are often hesitant to commit to festival screenings because they don’t want to step ahead of what a distributor’s plan might be for the actual release,” Sloop said.

The festival’s Flashback Presentation on April 13 will bring back ESPN’s “Believeland,” the Cleveland-centric sports documentary that broke attendance records when it premiered at CIFF40. The anniversary screening will feature an updated ending that includes the Cavaliers’ 2016 NBA championship.

Two music-related documentaries, one about Eddie Cochran on April 11 and the other about Peter Asher on April 15, will screen at the Rock Hall as part of the festival’s expanded footprint.

Indeed, music is a recurring theme in this year’s program. CIFF50 will close April 18 with “Power Ballad,” a musical comedy from Ireland starring Paul Rudd and Nick Jonas as two fading musicians who form an unlikely friendship.

While Spotlight films will generally be shown only once, the addition of Cedar Lee has allowed the festival to restore second showings for nearly every other film, giving audiences more flexibility. The added capacity also has allowed the festival to grow its Oscar-qualifying short film program, increasing the number of shorts from 198 to 236.

“For the most part, you could pick a venue and decide, ‘This is where I’m going to experience the festival this year,’” Sloop said.

Nearly 170 screenings will take place at Cedar Lee, including four Members Only screenings, with films starring Ian McKellen and Samara Weaving. That total is one festival founder and Cedar Lee Theatre owner Jon Forman could hardly have imagined when he launched CIFF there at age 22 in 1977.

“My vision for the festival has no resemblance to what exists today,” he said. “Since I stepped down, the growth and changes over the past 30-plus years can be credited to the talents of (former Executive Directors) David Wittkowsky and Marcie Goodman. Now, under Hermione’s leadership, the film festival enters its next exciting episode.”

Malone said the return just made sense.

“When you have milestone anniversaries, it seems like a logical time to look back at the beginning, the evolution, the key players in the story of the organization,” she said.

Malone added there have been no discussions about whether the theater will remain part of the mix beyond this year. CIFF’s contract with Playhouse Square runs through 2032.

As always, the festival will offer opportunities to meet filmmakers, with at least 108 expected to attend. A streaming version of the festival, dubbed CIFF50 Streams, also returns April 19-26.

One interesting change: Organizers have tweaked the awards schedule. Eight of the 10 feature awards will now be selected by juries and announced April 12, so audiences can see the winning films during the festival. The two audience awards for best narrative and best documentary will still be announced closing night.