CLEVELAND, SEPT. 10, 2026 — Fresh. Strange. Provocative. Scary. Weird. Hilarious. Non-conformist. Politically incorrect.

Those are just some of the words which aptly describe the 9^th annual Kinodrome Film Festival, taking place Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 12-13, in Cleveland.

“Kinodrome exists to give a chance for less-established beginners to intermediate-level filmmakers and screen writers to demonstrate their motion media artwork,” says Bruno Tatalovic, founder of the Film Festival “Kinodrome affords them an opportunity for a first public show, something very important for film students and just-getting-going artists.”

Here’s a link to the video promoting this year’s Kinodrome Festival: 

https://vimeo.com/1222495012?fl=pl&fe=cm

More than a hundred wannbe filmmakers, and those afficionados with a favorite movie genre are expected to stream into the Best Western Plus Hotel in Strongsville – about 20 miles southwest of Cleveland — for the festival. Here’s the general website about the event, which includes ticket information: https://kinodromefestival.wixsite.com/

FESTIVAL FOUNDER WITH A PASSION

Tatalovic is a Serbian American motion picture artist and media educator. He moved to Cleveland in 1988 and worked as a steelworker and performed other odd jobs while pursuing his passion: making movies. He produced his first US film “The Bad Guy Speaks (2005)” while completing his visual communication degree work at Cleveland State University.

A year later, Tatalovic formed the Belgrade and Cleveland Media Group, a micro-studio for video/film production. His early productions employed small crews and used the “run and gun” cinéma vérité approach. Later he studied at Chapman University’s Dodge Conservatory of Film. He produced the short film “Fiasco” (2009) a multiple award-winning comedy to help fulfill his Master of Fine Arts requirements at Chapman.

After an internship with Sony Pictures Entertainment, Tatalovic returned to Cleveland, began teaching at Cuyahoga Community College, and continued both making movies and acting in some films. He continues doing both to this day, including live-action and documentary feature films, distributed via Prime and Tubi.

He also understands the movie industry first-hand.

“It is VERY difficult to get a public show of a short film, or to get anyone (of significance) to read your script,” Tatalovic says. “So, this festival is designed for helping newcomers have their first public showing, and maybe even getting a nomination for an award.”

FESTIVAL LINE-UP

“There’s some very unique experimental work from Spain and Canada in the festival, and, there’s a lot of narrative fiction from Ohio’s rich ‘indie’ pool as well,” says about 2026 Festival.

It kicks off on Saturday at 11 am with Program 1, consisting of ultra-short content, experimental films, music videos, and hybrid media. Each program session includes a brief Q and A session with the attending filmmakers.

Program 2, at 1:30 Saturday, consists of both live-action films and short documentaries. Program 3, beginning at 4 pm, features short live-action movies of various genres.

A highlight of the first day is a panel discussion and lecture “Micro-budget World: How to Transition from Short Film to Feature Film Production.” Tatalovic, will provide advice and help in this session. Everyone who attends will also receive a surprise Kino-gift.

Saturday’s schedule concludes with a 7 pm mixer and open discussion for all filmmakers and attendees. “Free food, drinks, and cinema chat” is the order for the session.

On Sunday, Program 4 begins at 11 a.m. with animated content, alternative motion media and live-action shorts.

Program 5 follows with narrative shorts of various genres, photography (finalists) and screenwriting (finalists) being presented. This begins at 2 pm.  The day concludes beginning at 4:30 p.m. with Kinodrome Festival Awards presented to artists in attendance, along with final comments.

There are 100 entries being shown in the festival, an increase of more than 60 percent over when it began back in 2018.

“This year we have some great short-form film artwork from Russia and Iran (despite sanctions),” Tatalovic says. “The artists are still expressing themselves despite hard conditions in their native countries.”

ACT NOW

Non-artists (those who haven’t made movie being shown) should reserve tickets in advance, via this Film Freeway link: https://filmfreeway.com/KinoDrome/tickets

No last-minute entries: Slots have been filled up months in advance for the 2026 Kinodrome Film Festival.

eyeoncleveland.com founder John Kerezy is the author of this story