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July 22, 2026
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 22, 2026
CLEVELAND—The Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque will host actor Will Poulter, winner of a prestigious EE Rising Star Award at the British Academy Film Awards (BAFTAs), as part of an advance screening of Union County.
Poulter and Noah Centineo deliver pitch-perfect performances in Union County as brothers Cody and Jack Parsons, each navigating a court-mandated drug rehabilitation program in a pocket of rural Ohio hit hard by the opioid epidemic. Provided with hope for the first time since their struggles began and with the support of a tireless counselor (Annette Deao), the brothers work toward a brighter, sober future.
Poulter and Centineo blend seamlessly with a supporting cast composed predominantly of non-professional actors—including Deao, a real-life therapist in Logan County, Ohio—as they share their actual experiences, pain and optimism as they, themselves, navigate the program. Ohio-born writer-director Adam Meeks creates a film imbued with realism for an honest, compassionate portrait of a battle being fought across America and the solidarity that flowers on its front lines.
The Cinematheque screening of Union County (97 minutes) will take place at 6:45pm Friday, August 7 in CIA's Peter B. Lewis Theater. An in-person Q&A with Poulter, Meeks and Deao will begin immediately following the film. Tickets are available here. The event is part of a special five-city Ohio tour to celebrate the release of the film, which debuted in January at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival.
"I love getting to hear directly from the artists behind the films we show at the Cinematheque at the Cleveland Institute of Art," says Cinematheque Director David Huffman. "I'm especially excited when it's a film that was shot in Ohio, and we have the director and the star of the film with us to share their experiences. This type of Q&A is just one of the things that sets the Cinematheque apart from other venues in Cleveland."
Hailed as "a captivating, compassionate cinematic portrait," Union County has earned widespread acclaim for Will Poulter's performance, with The Daily Beast declaring, "The breakthrough movie performance of the year has arrived."
Poulter is also known for his roles in director James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3; the Academy Award-winning The Revenant; Detroit, directed by Oscar winner Kathryn Bigelow; the Primetime Emmy Award-winning series The Bear; and We're the Millers, which is considered his breakthrough performance.
Contacts
Cleveland Institute of Art
Michael C. Butz, Director of College Communications + External Relations
mcbutz@cia.edu / 216.421.7404
Michael C. Butz, Director of College Communications + External Relations
mcbutz@cia.edu / 216.421.7404
Cleveland Institute of Art
The Cleveland Institute of Art is a private, nonprofit college of art and design that has been the training ground for countless students who have gone on to make important contributions to the fields of creativity and innovation since it opened in 1882 as the Western Reserve School of Design for Women. Its students have designed internationally recognized products, their artwork has been exhibited in major museums and private collections around the world, and their entertainment media has been enjoyed by audiences and game players for generations. It enrolls about 550 students nationally and internationally and has a faculty of about 100 full-time and adjunct members, all of whom are practicing artists, designers and scholars.
Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque
Founded in 1986, the Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque is one of the country’s best repertory movie theaters, according to The New York Times. The program shows classic, foreign and independent films 50 weekends of the year. Its state-of-the-art Peter B. Lewis Theater features a 36-foot-wide screen, 4k digital and dual 35mm film projection, and Dolby Digital 7.1 sound.
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