Photo provided by the Little Free Flower Stand.
Stuff Dreams Are Made Of
Twice a month, the Cinema Arts Centre holds the stuff dreams are made of: A guaranteed packed house. Around 150 Long Islanders pack their largest room, eagerly anticipating a mystery picture. Nobody there knows what will be shown. First you pay, then as you walk into the theater, they reveal.
Sure bets are arriving in droves this summer: Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day, Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, or any number of films destined to make noise at the festivals. Their ticket sales will be in the millions. The Cinema Arts Centre will surely partake in some of that, while also reveling in blockbusters past and offering the community a taste of the finer things in lights.
For those of us who want to dig even deeper, I highly recommend The Preview Club. A seeming risk, the proof is in the sales; these one-night shows are as likely to sell as any blockbuster, all while celebrating and offering an inside look at the high art of independent film making.
The Formula is Simple
Here’s how it goes:
The program begins with a review of the previous film. Audience comments are read. The host provides additional thoughts.
Then, a brief introduction of this week’s film, followed by the moment everyone has been waiting for… the lights dim and the feature begins. They show micro-budget dramas, documentaries, foreign cinema. Anything made by a real person without humongous financial backing. Usually good, occasionally great, always communicating an idea or perspective.
An interview with filmmakers follows. Directors, writers, actors. Whoever will show up and willingly submit themselves to the unique thoughts of a general audience.
For any Long Islander who truly values the power of film and film making, this is the place. All features are below the surface, and chosen by people who do this for a living. A place to watch films and learn how to watch films. Take in your neighbor’s thoughts and leave having learned or felt something new. From the Hudson River, to the Amazon, from to Montauk or Iraq, it’ll be new and individual.
Moving Portraits
My favorite showing of the previous season was Hasan Hadi’s The President’s Cake, a moving portrait of life in Saddam Hussein’s Iraq. Two children forced to risk their lives for ingredients to bake a mandated birthday cake in celebration of Saddam’s birthday in the marshlands Saddam himself later vindictively emptied. It’s an ode to life, and the experiences that can be had in stories that will inevitably end horribly. The miracle of the human experience. The beautiful human spirit within the children and the staggering human spirit of the unseen president; a miracle as large as the lands where the great Tigris and Euphrates meet, and human life was born.
Other showings included H Is For Hawk, a picture portraying a woman who adopts and trains a goshawk following her father’s death. Andre is an Idiot, a hilarious documentary about a man using laughter to better understand his cancer diagnosis. Charliebird, a drama investigating a music therapy specialist at a children’s hospital. And, Burt, a charming black and white comedy featuring a charming elderly musician who dreams he can still make it big.
Come Be A Part of It
In the end, this is what cinema is: A conversation between a film and its audience. A filmmaker goes through our world with an individual perspective. They create art with influence from the people he’s surrounded by. The film then travels to a theater and is then consumed, felt, and analyzed by all paying audience members. Whether it be the writer, director, actor, or audience member, every person involved in this process’s perspective comes as equal value. It crosses through hundreds of brains, each experiencing it differently, each leaving with a meaning as individual as their persons.
More Information Can Be Found Here: https://cinemaartscentre.org/preview/
A List of Previously Shown Preview Club Films Can Be Found Here: https://cinemaartscentre.org/previewpast/
They’ve got everything going on from Marlene Dietrich to The Devil Wears Prada II. We’ve seen amazing foreign films, like The Secret Agent and No Other Choice. My mom wants to go see Pump up the Volume. I hear their youth advisory board is screening Shrek. There’s even a Grease Sing-a-long! In addition to standard movie going fare, their Skye Cafe offers beer, wine, tea and WiFi. Their popcorn is AMAZING.
Go. Take your friends. Give people gift cards. Be part of why this place exists for generations to come. You can thanks me later.
