for Sudbury

Sudbury, Ont. is getting a repertory house thanks to a deal between Cinefest and Famous Players. The first season will run from April 14 through June 9, with one screening each night of the week.

The City-Centre repertory screen will feature international and Canadian films with an emphasis on art and culture. Cinefest director and programmer Cam Haynes wants to ‘dispel that myth that alternative cinema won’t work in smaller communities.’

Famous will be providing the space, at a rental fee, allowing Haynes to run a cinema with very little overhead and next to no risk. Famous will receive a percentage of the box office.

The Northern Film Circuit, an informal collective which shares film prints for monthly screenings in eight northern Ontario cities, has paved the way for Haynes with successful screenings in increasing numbers.

Haynes has a philosophy that ‘the only way we’re going to see some significant box office grosses for Canadian and independent films is to get them into smaller communities. Getting these films is a problem that just about any population base under 200,000 deals with, and that’s a substantial percentage of Canada. We’re trying to create a model so that every community can eventually get these films on their screens.’

Haynes is free to program any film fit for public screening, whether it’s exhibited by Famous or Cineplex Odeon. First-run prices will apply.

The rep is the smallest of three screens in a multiplex, seating 150, but Haynes says there is a chance they may move to one of the larger theaters if things go well.

In total, the cinema will run 30 to 40 weeks of the year, when the Cinefest staff isn’t occupied with its annual fall film festival of the same name.

Of the first month’s 11 films, three are Canadian (Paris, France, Thirty-two Short Films About Glenn Gould and Love and Human Remains). Other titles are American and European festival circuit favorites and beyond-first-run.