5 independent films that didn't run in Des Moines with the Fleur and Varsity Cinema closed
Ever since spring of 2020, Des Moines has been hurting for an art-house theater.
With the Fleur Cafe & Cinema still figuring out a way forward and work on the Varsity Cinema underway until its reopening on Dec. 15, some smaller films of the last few years have been difficult for central Iowans to see on the big screen.
Though it's difficult to say for certain whether some of these films have never shown in local theaters over the past few years, they represent movies area theatergoers missed, in large part, for want of an operating theater like the Fleur or Varsity.
The Des Moines Register sat down with Ben Godar — the director of the Des Moines Film Society, the nonprofit behind the restoration of the Varsity — to talk about what films he's missed being able to see in Des Moines and some of the kinds of films that will be on the Varsity's radar going forward.
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'Storm Lake'
This documentary is unique in that, not only did it have one local, in-person screening that we know of during the period the Varsity was still undergoing renovations, but also because that screening came courtesy of the Varsity.
"Storm Lake" follows Art Cullen and the staff of Storm Lake Times, a Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaper located in northwest Iowa, during the course of the 2020 Iowa caucuses.
As Godar recalls, the distributor called him and was interested in having the Des Moines Film Society host the filmmakers behind "Storm Lake." The stars aligned and that event did ultimately happen via an outdoor cinema near the theater, but it was something that was more difficult to pull off before the completion of the Varsity.
"It's hard to say 'yes' (when you have to) go find a venue," Godar said. "Now we can certainly say 'yes' to a lot more of those kinds of things."
That in-person screening more than sold out. Once the dedicated seating area hit capacity, Godar recalls people giving him money to set up lawn chairs outside the fence to watch the film and subsequent Q&A. The documentary also did well for the virtual cinema the Varsity operated during the height of the pandemic.
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'Decision to Leave'
A 2022 South Korean film "Decision to Leave" is the latest from Park Chan-Wook ("Oldboy," "The Handmaiden") and mixes a murder mystery with romance and thrills. It's the only film on this list we can definitively say the Varsity would have hosted when no one else in the area did because that's exactly what's happening when the Varsity opens on Dec. 15.
"It's an auteur, international director, has won actually rave reviews and festival awards and just hasn't been booked in Des Moines," Godar said. "That played in early November at FilmScene (in Iowa City)... that played pretty much everywhere else in early November. Honestly, it's going to hit PVOD (premium video on demand) before it opens with us, but we're going to open with it anyway because you need to see it on the big screen."
Though the film began its theatrical run in the U.S. on Oct. 15, Godar told the Register that the movie is exclusive to the Varsity in the Des Moines metro.
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'Memoria'
Tilda Swinton starred in "Memoria," a drama directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul ("Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives") about a Scottish woman in Columbia sent on a journey of sound and history.
"'Memoria' was — and maybe still is — an only-in-theater's experience," Godar said. "It played in most cities that I think people in Des Moines would think of as our peer cities because they had an institution like (the Varsity) to bring it there."
Godar went on to explain that one of the selling points for seeing "Memoria" in theaters is the sound design, which tends to be more noticeable in a dedicated cinema than the typical home television set.
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'Another Round'
Mads Mikkelsen stars in this Academy Award-winning film from Denmark that took home the Oscar for best international feature film in 2021. It tells the comedic story of four high school teachers who decide to test whether maintaining a 0.05 blood alcohol content throughout the day will increase their quality of life personally and professionally.
The movie received a limited U.S. run in December of 2020, by which point the film was already on the radar of the Des Moines Film Society.
"We had shown that film months before (the Oscars) in our virtual cinema," Godar said. "I think once it was awards nominated, it may have played at some of the places in town... But even when we were virtual-only... we targeted that film and we were like, 'This is a good quality film. This is of interest.'"
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'Hive'
This 2021 Kosovo drama based on a true story follows Fahrije, a woman trying to keep her family afloat while coping with a missing husband, financial woes and community hostility.
The film was part of the Sundance Film Festival's virtual season in 2021, where it won multiple awards including the World Cinema Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award for dramas.
"We were able to get access to it as a virtual booking and did a co-presentation of it with (the Iowa Sister States organization and the Consulate of Kosovo in Iowa) and they promoted it to their communities as well," Godar said. "That's a good example of the kind of thing we hope to do a lot of in person."
Once the Varsity opens on Thursday, Iowans can find tickets and show times for films at varsitydesmoines.com.
Isaac Hamlet covers arts, entertainment and culture at the Des Moines Register. Reach him at ihamlet@gannett.com or 319-600-2124, follow him on Twitter @IsaacHamlet.
This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Here are five films Des Moines missed because the Varsity was closed
