The 12th annual Chagrin Documentary Film Festival is returning with 98 compelling documentaries sure to delight thousands of film fans.

CHAGRIN FALLS, OHIO, UNITED STATES, August 4, 2021 /EINPresswire.com/ -- The 2021 festival will run Oct. 5 - 10. This year’s fest will screen films at walkable venues around the charming Village of Chagrin Falls and “Films by the Falls” in Riverside Park -- as well as offering a nationwide streaming option on the Festival’s “CDFF on Demand” platform.

“We are honored to be celebrating talented documentary filmmakers and the remarkable stories they have created in person and online this year.”, said Festival Director Mary Ann Ponce, who founded the festival in honor of her late son, David, an aspiring filmmaker, who lost his battle with cancer in 2006 at the age of 20.

Now in its 12th year, the Festival has grown tremendously: in 2020, it is estimated the virtual fest reached an audience of more than 37,000 from 28 states. Previously, filmgoers have annually attended from an average of 140 Ohio zip codes each year, and historically, the festival has contributed more than $1 million to the local economy annually. CDFF has been a regular -- appearing eight consecutive years -- on MovieMaker Magazine’s “Top 50 Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee” list.

This year the festival opens, on Oct. 5, with a tribute to the 1920 Cleveland Indians baseball team with Andy Billman’s "War on the Diamond". Billman’s film -- based on the award-winning book by Mike Sowell, “The Pitch that Killed” -- chronicles the fateful pitch by Yankees’ pitcher Carl Mays, which hit, and killed, Indians shortstop Ray Chapman. Even though the team recovered to win the 1920 World Series, the incident sparked a rivalry that would fester for a century.

2021 Accepted Film Categories:
Emerging filmmakers: "The Best Show" in Town directed by Amity Hoffman; "Duty Free" directed by Sian-Pierre Regis; "The Edge of Purpose" directed by Winslow Perry; "Eternal Harvest" directed by Karen Coates, Jerry Redfern; "Fireboys" directed by Jakob Hochendoner, Drew Dickler; "How to Throw Your Own Goodbye Party" directed by Lauren Coleman; "The Irritable Heart" directed by Richard Poller; "Kili Big" directed by Ida Joglar; "The Last Out" directed by Sami Khan, Michael Gassert; "Leaving Tracks" directed by Nick Davis; "Medicine Man: The Stan Brock Story" directed by Paul Angell; "A Mirror for the Sun" directed by Neta Ariel; "The Neurosurgeon" directed by Magdalena Zagała; "Theirs is the Kingdom" directed by Christopher Zaluski.

Environmental Films: "In the Dark of the Valley" directed by Nicholas Mihm; "The Last Horns of Africa" directed by Garth de Bruno Austin.

The Human Spirit: "The Adventures of Saul Bellow" directed by Asaf Galay; "Anatomy of Wings" directed by Nikiea Redmond, Kirsten D'Andrea Hollander; Behind the Strings directed by Hal Rifken; "The Book Keepers" directed by Phil Wall; "Building A Bridge" directed by Evan Mascagni, Shannon Post; "Fireflies Patagonia - A Handful of Dust" directed by Jay Creagh; "Selfish" directed by Geraldine Andre, Stephane Santini, Laurence Hoenig, Pierre-Yves Bernard; "Sweet Home Monteverde" directed by Robin Truesdale.

International Documentaries: "Edward & Jo Hopper, the Violence of Silence" directed by Aventurier Catherine; "Indian Space Dreams" directed by Sue Sudbury; "Memory Project 1956:2021" directed by Réka Pigniczky; "Salaryman" directed by Allegra Pacheco; "The Price of Cheap" directed by Barry Stevens; "The Wikipedia Promise" directed by Lorenza Castella, Jascha Hannover; "Writing With Fire" directed by Rintu Thomas, Sushmit Ghosh.

U.S. Documentaries: "The Accidental President" directed by James Fletcher; "Franklin Manor" directed by Richard Sherman, John Beale; "Home From School: The Children of Carlisle" directed by Geoff O'Gara; "Missing in Brooks County" directed by Lisa Molomot, Jeff Bemiss; "Mixed" directed by Leena Jayaswa, Caty Borum Chattoo; "Raise Your Voice" directed by Maribeth Romslo; "Surviving Sex Trafficking" directed by Sadhvi Siddhali Shree; "The Long Journey" directed by Robert Herbolich; "The Real Right Stuff" directed by Tom Jennings; "War on the Diamond" directed by Andy Billman.

Local Connections: "Chagrin Falls - The Early Years" directed by John Bourisseau, Skip Church; "Full Out: Inside Ohio Show Choir" directed by Audrey Leach; "Open Hearts" directed by Travis Pollert, Jacob Kostelli; "Saving Grove Hill" directed by John Bourisseau, Skip Church, Cody Linck; "Training for Freedom" directed by Kathy Conkwright; We Still Make Things directed by Ian Cook; "Who Fights for You?" directed by Maddie Stambler.
Student Documentaries: "Growing Peace in the Middle East" directed by Steven Hoffen; "I Am" directed by Hana LeBrew; "Jude" directed by Amos Menin; "Life, Again" directed by Anna Maité Kaplan, Orion Huang; "Persian Blue" directed by Sam Mohseni; "Shoe Bob" directed by Angela Xayavong.

Short Documentaries: "Aguilucho: Dance of the Harpy Eagle" directed by Daniel Byers; "Apollo Road Presents: Maude Andrade" directed by Alex Velasquez; "Bryan Zanisnik's Big Pivot" directed by Nick Ravich; "Charlie Surfer" directed by Pia Strømme; "Fraser Syndrome & Me" directed by Kyle Anne Grendys; "Full Picture" directed by Jacob Reed; "Hello Sunshine" directed by Joe Quint; "It's Rocket Science" directed by Rachel Knoll; "Life on Air" directed by Louis Leblique; "The Linesman: Both Sides Matter" directed by Dominic Gill; "The Little Tea Shop" directed by Matteo Servente, Molly J. Wexler; "Lost in the Shuffle" directed by Sophia Nino; "Love Reaches Everywhere" directed by Sean Bloomfield (United States); "The Master Craftsman" directed by Philip Sieb; "MerBy's" directed by Jamie Miller; "Michael Murrell: Art, Nature and Catawampus" directed by Hal Jacobs; "Miss Alma Thomas: A Life in Color" directed by Cheri Gaulke; "Nanmin" directed by Adam Shaw; "Naya: David Kim" directed by AJ Valente, Janice Chung; "One All the Way" directed by David Baram; "Out of the Dark: Hannah" directed by Sarah Klein, Tom Mason; "Rabari: The People of the Leopard" directed by Ashwin Gokhale; "Renaissance Man" directed by Carson Hunt; "RIP Seni" directed by Daisy Ifama; "The Roads Most Traveled: Photojournalist Don Bartletti" directed by Bill Wisneski; "Saving Juliette" directed by Evey Wilson Wetherbee; "Slim Pickins" directed by Justin Jeffers; "Tanagokoro: A Culinary Portrait" directed by Victoria Fistes, Masashi Nozaki; "The Unisexuals" directed by Katie Garrett; "Understory: A Journey into the Tongass" directed by Colin Arisman; "We are Like Waves" directed by Jordyn Romero; "Wild Winds: Spirit of the Bison" directed by Sawyer Pasma.

Daniel Wingenfeld
Chagrin Documentary Film Festival
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