The Movies Miss You! The Broadway has Re-Opened
by MARCIE COLLETT
Five hundred and eighty-nine days after closing on March 13, 2020, Salt Lake Film Society (SLFS) finally began showing films again on Friday October 22, 2021, at Broadway Centre Cinemas 111 E 300 S SLC 84111. With vaccinations continuing to rise and people venturing out, SLFS is over-the-moon excited and a little nervous; it feels huge.
SLFS is Utah’s Capital City’s home for independent, communal, non-profit film exhibition, creation, and preservation. Grateful to patrons, donors, and supporters for all the love shown during the pandemic, and with support they have implemented additional safety upgrades and protocols which can be found here. Proof of vaccination (photo or digital forms accepted) and masks are required for all staff and patrons. It is truly emotional to finally be able to receive people SAFELY in their venues.
Through the unending hustle and fear, we’ve had 19 months to pine for our spaces and the joy they bring. For all the hurt the pandemic has caused, it has given us the gift of distance from our previous day-to-day and also given us new perspectives to celebrate our art form. SLFS has devised a way to show a full schedule of the newest independent films online to SLFS patrons each and every day on a new platform which also now hosts our new ticketing page.
In addition to showing the magnificent epic DUNE and the long-anticipated The French Dispatch, we are pleased to present lesser-known titles by women and people of color, as well as documentary and international films, which are not as well-marketed. A favorite film from Sundance 2021 is the beautiful and complex Passing, written and directed by Rebecca Hall and starring Tessa Thompson and Ruth Negga. Set during the gorgeous Harlem Renaissance and shot in rich black-and-white, Passing follows the unexpected reunion of two high school friends whose renewed acquaintance ignites a mutual obsession that threatens both of their carefully constructed realities.
SLFS sends its deepest gratitude to all who have wished and worried on their behalf. Your concern and your love have sustained so many businesses, non-profits, and organizations through some pretty tough times. SLFS felt such great love from you and in turn, a great responsibility to get this whole thing right and make their way back to its people as whole and as soon as possible.
SLFS made their technology available coast-to-coast to aid 34 peer nonprofit movie theaters and a few local arts presenters on @homeArts by SLFS, so sister organizations could earn COVID-closure revenue and survive. Assisting peers has been an unplanned venture during the pandemic; the ability to be a resource for so many and work on this robust project was needed desperately at home and around the country to ensure the health of arts organizations and independent cinemas. SLFS was able to provide just that.
We partnered with Redman Studios & Stories in the Fall of 2020 and also in 2021 to present Studio Backlot Motor Cinema on the westside so people could gather for the communal cinema experience safely from their cars. We also featured Filméxico, L’Chaim, Masīma, and Climate Change Cultural Tours virtually.
To accomplish all of this and to prepare for a new future, we pursued several grants and fundraising opportunities. With all this incredible support, we have been able to re-emerge stronger, better, and ideally transformed.
The SLFS team is forging the future of the organization and giving their hearts to the mission. They all have worked tirelessly through the pandemic to keep these programs moving into the digital space and toward this historic moment of re-opening our beloved Broadway. SLFS proudly brings its immense joy and with your strong confidence in SLFS, we can all finally, finally, walk back through our doors and begin in all the many ways, some old and some new, to Exhibit, Create, and Preserve the cinematic experience for all.
Additional information about SLFS and re-opening available here.