We showed DIAL M FOR MURDER and THE 39 STEPS together, a double bill for a dollar. One week before Christmas, Magic Lantern suffered its first programming bomb, one which forced the theater to reevaluate its strategy. Although attendance was spotty, Magic Lantern organizers (all of whom worked, and continue to work, without pay) became sufficiently encouraged to continue programming, two months at a time.
#MAGIC LANTERN CINESCOPE RATIO SERIES#
The rest of the first series included free showings of TEN DAYS THAT SHOOK THE WORLD (our October Revolution celebration) and a series of experimental short films paid showings of several short women's films, the Washington Area Filmmakers' League film festival, and ANIMAL FARM. The mood was festive and alive - even though probably half the audience could not see the screen without somebody's head blocking their view. Over 100 people packed the hail for the Grand Opening showing of THE WIZARD OF OZ. We found cushions for people to sit on, some folding chairs for the back rows - and we were ready. An old speaker and amplifier made an adequate sound system.
The day care center's climbing structure became the first, temporary projection booth. A large 8' x 8' screen was purchased at a government surplus warehouse (for $10, I think). The Osh Gosh Choo Choo day care center, located in the basement of an experimental high school on the fringe of downtown Washington, let Magic Lantern pay minimal rent for the use of its space on weekend nights. We rented two projectors from the Catholic University audiovisual department. The particulars of setting up the first series fell quickly into place. In fact, we'd planned entertainment and education geared to a small circle of friends. We thought our audience would be members, workers and friends of DC's alternative businesses. Receipts, according to the plan, would generate enough surplus so that films of "a political, social or countercultural nature" could be shown free as a community service. Half the films were to be repertory "popular" films to be shown at a low admission price. Initially, our concept was two-fold, and a bit naive. Bread and Roses (bankrupted just twelve months ago by slumping sales and a whopping back tax bill) provided $100 as a loan for an experimental film series. At that time, two former film programmers at Catholic University who had become part of the network (one working at a food coop, Glut, and the other at the record shop, Bread and Roses) decided to set up an ongoing film series. We would also like to spur discussion of exhibition's role in that complex of functions which constitutes "alternative cinema."įive years ago, Washington DC's worker-run cooperative community was still strong - a network of food coops, "anti-profit" bookstores, record stores, print shops, plant stores, etc. We have written the following history of DC's Magic Lantern Cinema as an attempt to aid groups considering similar work. At the conference, we were happily surprised and a bit shocked to find over twenty other groups - in Vermont, East Lansing, Madison, Detroit, Long Island, and elsewhere - that were developing film series and programming along similar, politically aware and active lines.
#MAGIC LANTERN CINESCOPE RATIO MOVIE#
We seek to provide a showplace for independent and political films that do not receive theatrical distribution, and to do so in a setting that is "more than a movie house" and that supports and contributes to political education and activity in and around Washington, DC.īefore the Alternative Cinema Conference held at New York's Bard College in June 1979, Magic Lantern members were aware of ventures similar to our own in Philadelphia (Neighborhood Film Project) and Cambridge (Angry Arts) and perhaps one or two more. The general goals, however, have remained fairly constant. During its first five years, Magic Lantern has gone through a number of changes - in philosophy, politics, personnel and program. Lately, the catchword has become "DC's alternative film theater" - more vague but also more accurate. "An anti-profit worker-run community film co-op" was the first formulation that Magic Lantern organizers came up with for themselves back in the fall of 1975.
"Radio City Music Hall it ain't," is how the Washington Star described the Magic Lantern Cinema. Magic Lantern Cinema by Richard Kazis JUMP CUTĬopyright Jump Cut: A Review of Contemporary Media, 1981, 2005
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