Movies on a big screen: Festivals show classic films in Chatham, new international films on the Vineyard
If September feels like the time to settle back and watch a movie on a big screen in a theater, two local film festivals offer some very different ideas.
On Friday, Sept. 2, Chatham Orpheum Theater will kick off its first-ever Cinemagic, a month of showing classic films considered some of the best movies ever made. On Tuesday, Sept. 6, the annual Martha’s Vineyard International Film Festival is back for the 17th year, returning to all in-person screenings for six days to show some new top feature and short films from around the world.
What's 'Cinemagic'?
“Cinemagic” is billed as “the most audacious film festival ever attempted” and includes 50 movies shown at various times, with four screenings a day on most days Sept. 2-29. The festival is the brainchild of Paul Schuyler, a Chatham filmmaker (“Red River Road”) who recently took on the job of manager of the Orpheum.
He proposed the idea when it turned out that major studios weren't releasing many movies in September that would be a good fit for the Orpheum, he said. A monthlong calendar of classic films became Cinemagic, four weeks of what he dubbed “a retrospective of 50 of the greatest films ever made.”
Part of the impetus, he said, was the Labor Day weekend release of a 3D remastered version of the 1975 favorite "Jaws," about a great white shark stalking the seaside town of Amity that was filmed on Martha's Vineyard. "We already had that booked, so it made sense to surround it with other greats from that era," Schuyler said.
“Jaws” figures prominently in early screenings, with the first weekend particularly celebrating the work of director Steven Spielberg, with “Jaws” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark” playing several times. Through Thursday, Sept. 8, a few other films are also offered: “Casablanca” on Sept. 4 and 8; “On the Waterfront” on Monday, Sept. 5; “Some Like It Hot” on Tuesday, Sept. 6; the 1978 “Superman” with Christopher Reeve on Sept. 6-7; and “The Music Man” on Sept. 7-8.
Streaming now: 'Shoot for the stars': Regina Hall's new movie, bestselling Straub headlines book fest and more arts news
Other films showing later in the month include “Lawrence of Arabia,” “Chinatown,” “Caddyshack,” “The Deep,” “The Maltese Falcon,” “Cool Hand Luke,” “Brigadoon,” “Double Indemnity,” "The Bad News Bears," “To Catch a Thief” and dozens more.
A self-described "film nerd," Schuyler acknowledged that his first choices were "way over the top," but his ideas were sifted through and focused by Orpheum executive director Kevin McLain and film booker Jeffrey Jacobs, whom Schuyler says have been programming the Orpheum with community tastes in mind since it opened in 2013.
"In the end, it was a great collaborative effort and I think we've put together something really special," Schuyler says. " It covers a lot of ground, and we have so many incredible movies that are just completely different experiences on the big screen. If you've only ever seen '2001: A Space Odyssey' or 'Close Encounters (of the Third Kind)' on a home theater, you have no idea what you're in for."
As a filmmaker, he said, "it's important to me that the theatrical experience for these films is something that can still happen and still be appreciated. ... Nothing beats sitting in the dark with a bucket of popcorn and a bunch of strangers and sharing a journey together. Cinemagic is an opportunity to go back in time and experience that all over again."
For a full roster: https://www.mycinemagic.com/the-calendar. More information on the Orpheum: https://chathamorpheum.org/.
Features and short films from around the world
In Vineyard Haven, the international film festival will take place in person at the Martha’s Vineyard Film Center, with the first opening and closing parties in three years.
From Sept. 6-11, the festival will feature 12 full-length feature films, several animated shorts, and 10 short films from multiple countries. After hosting a virtual and a hybrid festival for the past two years, there will be gatherings to celebrate the festival, starting with an opening party at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 8 on the Tisbury Marketplace lawn. That will precede the 7:30 p.m. screening of opening film “Broker,” a Korean film by Japanese director Kore-Eda Hirokazu about two people who run into complications trying to arrange an adoptive home for an unwanted infant. The film won the best actor prize at the Cannes Film Festival for “Parasite” star Song Kang-ho.
A closing party will then be held Sept. 11 on the porch at Fish MV (80 Main St., Vineyard Haven) after the 4:30 p.m. Sept. 11 screening of a comedy from Spain, “Official Competition,” starring Penelope Cruz and Antonio Banderas.
At another Vineyard film fest: 'We are the cavalry': Former AG Holder pushes for importance of voting in midterm elections
“The focus of this year’s festival is quality, entertaining and enlightening films from around the world that showcase other cultures,” says Richard Paradise, founder and executive director of the Martha’s Vineyard Film Society. “And I expect to celebrate and come together as a film community again after two years of the hybrid festival.” He says the films chosen offer “a little bit of everything for everyone.”
“Even though the films this year focus more on drama and comedy, there is always a message the director wants to get across and I think that is what makes world cinema so valuable and satisfying,” he says.
This will be the first time most of the films are being shown in Massachusetts, while the Netherlands film “Pink Moon,” the 7:30 p.m. Sept. 7 screening about a woman whose father tells her he wants to die, is making its national premiere at the festival. In addition, Paradise has been working to arrange virtual sessions with filmmakers that will be packaged with most of the films.
The first “spotlight” screening, at 4 p.m. Sept. 6, is from the Dominican Republic, “A Film About Couples.” It's made by a filmmaking couple about a couple making a movie, and offers what Paradise describes as a humorous look at “a slice of life behind the camera and what it takes to make a film.” At 7:30 p.m. Sept. 6 will be “Salvatore: Shoemaker of Dreams,” from Italy, about Salvatore Ferragamo; and at 4 p.m. Sept. 7 will be Iran’s “Hit The Road,” about a family on a road trip with furtive purpose.
Filmmakers in attendance
Signe Baumane’s “My Love Affair with Marriage,” described as a “story of inner-female rebellion” showing at 4 p.m. Sept. 9 with Baumane in attendance, took seven years to make, Paradise says. The 80-minute production features thousands of drawings in a film that fuses animation with music, theater, science, photography, three-dimensional sets, and traditional hand-drawn animation.
“It is amazing to see the world that Baumane created. Starting from the sets to the outdoors, all of it is handcrafted,” Paradise says.
The other films screening from Sept. 9 through Sept. 11 include “Waiting for Bojangles,” from France; “My Love Affair with Marriage,” a co-production between Latvia, the United States and Luxembourg; “Utama” from Bolivia; “The Good Boss,” featuring Javier Bardem, from Spain; “Dos Estaciones” from Mexico; and “Karaoke” from Israel.
Music on the Vineyard: 30 bands, Vineyard sun: Here's what 10,000+ are experiencing at the Beach Road music fest
The International Juried Shorts Competition on Friday, Sept. 9 will feature 10 short films from across the globe, chosen from 250 initial entries. Several directors and actors from those films will be at the festival, and the “best overall” short film chosen by a jury will win a $1,000 prize and be screened again before the closing-night feature.
Another highlight will be a program of some of the world’s best new short animated films as curated by Bill Plympton, who will be on hand for the screening at 4 p.m. Sept. 10. Paradise describes Plympton as “the grandfather of independent animated films,” noting he’s been nominated twice for Academy Awards.
To see Cinemagic
When: daily Sept. 2-29
Where: Chatham Orpheum Theater, 637 Main St.
Admission: $120 for an all-access pass; $40 for a one-week pass; individual tickets $12, $9 for under age 12 and age 62+; $15 and $12 for "Jaws 3D"; $17 and $14 for an evening double feature ($20 and $17 for ones that include "Jaws 3D"
Information and reservations: https://www.mycinemagic.com/
To see the Martha's Vineyard International Film Festival
When: Tuesday, Sept. 6 through Sunday, Sept. 11.
Where: Martha’s Vineyard Film Center, Tisbury Marketplace, 79 Beach Road, Vineyard Haven
Admission: $115 for festival pass; $15 general admission; $12 for members; $10 for children age 14 or younger
Information: https://mvfilmsociety.com/festivals/marthas-vineyard-international-film-festival/
Contact Kathi Scrizzi Driscoll at kdriscoll@capecodonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @KathiSDCCT.
This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Film festivals: classic movies on Cape Cod, international on Vineyard
