02/13/2020
To all those missing their independent film theater in CU, we bring glad tidings from our friends at the newly formed Community Supported Film:
URBANA – Pass the popcorn: A group of local film buffs who believe Champaign-Urbana needs an art-film house has formed a new group, Community Supported Film, to screen in C-U independent and hard-to-find films.
The monthly CSF screenings will be free of charge and will take place at the Independent Media Center in downtown Urbana and the Channing-Murray Foundation on the University of Illinois campus.
The non-profit CSF plans to open its monthly screenings on March 28 with “Be Kind Rewind,” a 2008 comedy/farce starring Jack Black and Mos Def, among others. Black’s character, who works at a video-rental store, becomes magnetized as the result of a storm and accidentally erases all of the video tapes in the shop, leading him and others to film their own versions of movies wanted by customers.
The CSF members are former patrons of the Art Theater, but the CSF is not related to the Art Theater, which closed just a few months ago.
“We’re a completely independent entity but we were all shocked and saddened by the closure of our beloved Art Theater,” said CSF member Ben Galewsky. CSF will raise money to pay the IMC and Channing-Murray rent for the use of their venues and DVD-projection equipment as well as to pay the licensing fees for the movies. That fee runs from $100 to $900 per film, according to Galewksy.
He acknowledges that many people are streaming movies on demand now in the comfort of their own homes.
But, he said, "We believe people yearn for the experience of watching a film with a community and recognizing that we can make our own community. We don’t have to wait for the multiplexes or corporations to supply it."
He said people are welcome to become involved in the CSF; one option would be to serve on its programming committee.
“We all have access to hundreds of titles but figuring out what to watch is hard,” he said. “Having trusted community members curate a film season is valuable. It’s like Ebertfest. What we love about Ebertfest is it’s curated. It’s community. It’s old friends.”
The CSF will focus on narrative films, as plenty of groups in town show documentaries, Galewsky said. He and others behind CSF will explain its operations at 7:00 p.m. on March 28 before the screening of “Be Kind Rewind” at the Independent Media Center.
For more information: Visit CommunitySupportedFilm.org or contact [email protected]
