Experiences: The Cleveland International Film Festival 2023 – Days One and Two

March 26, 2023, the day after Keystone. I went to bed well after midnight, early this morning. I wanted to get up and going early, so I offered to take Cristy and Jeni to the airport, leaving at 4:30. So not much sleep, then I had to haul all my stuff to the car. We took off and I dropped them at the airport and off I went. I was in some form of hybrid mold, not caring a bit about my appearance. My five hour drive took about seven as I wisely stopped three times to nap. I knew I had to work CIFF, but thought I started at 4:00PM. I double checked and discovered I had to be there at 3:00. So I had about two hours to get the car empty, find the necessities and get dressed again.

It was a beautiful sunny day, so I grabbed a summer dress and got ready and headed to work. The day was fairly uneventful with the exception of one experience.

Playhouse Square hosted CIFF. I work for the Annual Campaign (fundraising), processing donations. I hadn’t eaten all day (remember, I am pretty tired, I won’t say hungover, but…). I took a break to get some food.

There are 11 theaters, we were using three of them. I walk out the front door of one, down the street and stopped for sushi. I ordered takeout, waiting maybe five minutes, then I go back to work. A few minutes after I returned, a young lady walks in and starts to ask a question of my associate, then she sees me.

She tells me she and a friend were in another restaurant and saw me walk past. She tracked me down and said she loves summer dresses and to tell me that I was beautiful (I do have a witness who said she would sign an affidavit)! I felt ten miles high! We chatted a bit and of course, I gave her a big hug. Wow….

Day Two, March 27, 2023, I had the opening shift.

Monday at the film festival is a bit slow, so I don’t have much of a story. I got a handful of compliments on my sweater and it allowed for some sweet conversations about my appearance. I told someone that I feel an obligation to present myself well because I may be the only trans person someone interacts with and I want that experience to be a good one. I loved this sweater and my whole look this day.

Since it was slow, I had the run of the theater, so I took advantage with the obligatory photo shoot.

I’m not going to lie, I enjoy both working as a woman and being around the creative people the festival attracts.