OPEN CINEMA Season 13: the sabbatical year
This post published on September 29, 2015
The Number 13 Likes to be Different.
Wikipedia can’t decide if 13 is lucky or unlucky, but one thing’s for sure: people prefer to avoid it. In 1760 BC, a Babylonian legal code omitted law #13; New York City skyscrapers don’t tend to have a 13th floor and some airline seat numbers jump from 12 to 14. The fear of the number 13 even has a name: ‘triskaidekaphobia’. While we’re not specially superstitious here at OPEN CINEMA, season 13 is definitely shaping up to be different: in short, we’re taking a sabbatical year to review, regroup and refocus as we evolve with the digital times.
A Labour of Love
For the last dozen years, OPEN CINEMA has been dedicated to exploring the innovative use of documentary to build community here in Victoria and beyond. In 2011, Times Colonist entertainment Michael D. Reid referred to OPEN CINEMA as ‘one of Victoria’s most successful cultural enterprises.” While we’ve been generously supported by funders such as Vancity, the Capital Regional District Arts Development Program, the Canada Media Fund and Telefilm Canada (to name only a few), OPEN CINEMA has primarily been a labour of love: our fantastic team has done a lot with a little.
A Sabbatical Year: the Pause that Refreshes
Now it’s time to take a step back and review all that we’ve achieved over the last decade. How can we continue to best serve the local community? What value can we add to the rapidly changing documentary industry? Over the summer, we completed a comprehensive 45-page report on our innovative ‘hybrid cinema’ format Connect the Docs: this provided a great deal of food for thought: how can we apply the results of our successful experimentation to serve audiences, filmmakers, cinema hosts and impact partners? Stay tuned for more about this in the coming months — and please let us know if you have thoughts!
We Sponsor and Promote Documentary Screenings!
Meanwhile, we’ll continue to fulfill OPEN CINEMA’s mission by supporting and spreading the word about documentary screenings in the Victoria area.
October 8 – ELECTION DAY IN CANADA at The Vic Theatre
For example, on Thursday October 8th we’re sponsoring the timely upcoming screening of Peter Smoczynksi’s almost complete film ELECTION DAY IN CANADA at The Vic Theatre 7pm. This is a follow-up event to our January work-in-progress documentary screening: read all about it here. Watch the film’s new trailer and join the Facebook event page to find out more.
Doc Screenings on Southern Vancouver Island.
If you’re in Sooke, Jo Philips’s Awareness Film Night starts her 2015/16 season on Wednesday October 7th, with The Yes Men Are Revolting at the Edward Milne Community School. Find out more on the AFN website or Facebook page.
And of course, Cinecenta, Movie Monday and The Vic Theatre often screen docs as well as other great cinematic works, which we’ll continue to promote on our Facebook page and on Twitter.
Know of Other Doc Screenings?
Please let us know about other Vancouver Island films screening and we’ll help to spread the word!