These days, navigating through the commercial cinema scene can be exhausting. You have your action movies, your chick-flicks, your box-office comedies and your serious psychological dramas. For $10 (sometimes more) you have two options: You’re either going to be blown away by special effects or wowed by all the big names on the big screen.
This can all be well and good, but ever want something more ... organic? More real? More down to earth? Thankfully, University students don’t have to go far. A new season of OFFScreen, the University’s very own independent and foreign film exhibitor, is already underway, bringing students the most interesting films available.
Since 1998, OFFScreen has been both exhibiting independent local, domestic and international films and training students in behind-the-scenes operations of the small-time movie business. Students are trained in programming, projection, print traffic, publicity and office administration.
“We’re a pretty close-knit group here,” President and Co-Artistic Director Michelle Reaves said. “We all come from different departments and we all have different interests but we all love movies and we all love being involved.”
Reaves, a self-proclaimed “film-junkie,” came across OFFScreen after finding herself tired of commercial theaters. The organization makes a point to, as Reaves emphasizes, help students and community members discover a world beyond the commercial scene.
“We want Charlottesville to have the same independent opportunities that other cities [New York, Los Angeles] have,” Reaves said. “We want to play movies that would otherwise not be played in town.”
So how do independent films come to Charlottesville? We’re not, by the way, talking about Hollywood’s new obsession with “indie films.” You won’t find any Junos or Smart People or Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist here. OFFScreen looks through the cracks of the industry to bring Charlottesville films from all over the world, as well as from our own backyards. The process begins with the organization’s members getting together and starting the search for films. The organization typically approaches filmmakers after researching films through sites like Megacritic.com and flipping through movie magazines. OFFScreen then calls the distributors themselves and asks for films. The group is constantly researching even after the schedule for the semester is finalized.
“A lot of it is an aesthetic choice,” Reaves said of the process in making the schedule. “We look at it like a puzzle, and try to fit everything together to make a cohesive project.”
And it has worked: since its creation OFFScreen has showcased films that have gone on to become cult classics (the cult hit Donnie Darko came to OFFScreen before it went to the big screen) and award-winners at festivals (Jellyfish came to OFFScreen before it won awards at the Cannes festival and the Toronto festival).
“Most of the films we show don’t really have much a future beyond [independent theaters], but we want to see them succeed as much as possible,” Reaves said.
So what can the University expect from OFFScreen this year?
“We want to get more people involved,” Reaves said. Some of the upcoming possible additions include screening short University films before feature presentations.
So next time you’re sick of films like My Best Friend’s Girl and The Women, take a deep breath, and remember that (thank goodness), you have options. OFFScreen screens independent films every Sunday evening — keep an eye on tableau’s weekly calendar for specifics.
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