CIFF is the largest film festival in Ohio and among the longest-running in the United States.

[1] The festival is held at Playhouse Square, the largest performing arts center in the United States outside of New York City.

[7][8] At points during its nearly five-decade run, the festival has also put on additional programming and events at other local venues, including the Akron Art Museum, the Akron-Summit County Public Library, the Apollo Theatre in Oberlin, the Capitol Theatre on Cleveland's west side, and Shaker Cinemas on Shaker Square.

[7][8] After 30 years at Tower City Cinemas, CIFF announced that it would move to Playhouse Square ahead of the 2021 festival.

The festival moved to a digital streaming platform for the first time in its history over two weeks at the end of April 2020.