8A | SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2019 | SIUSLAW NEWS
CINEMA from page 7A
The risk for City Lights is that
locals who can’t wait for a movie
such as “Green Book” to finally
make its way to Florence go to
Eugene to see the film.
And sometimes studios flat
out refuse to allow a movie to
play in Florence.
“That’s one of the more frus-
trating elements for this business
in Florence for us,” Falter said.
“We thought that we wouldn’t
have any competition, so we
would be able to show whatever
we want. But it’s really a matter
of proving to distributors that we
have an audience for that film.”
Falter brought up the genre of
faith-based films.
“For instance, ‘Run the Race’
was a faith-based film we showed
a few months ago,” he said. “We
had a total of 31 people come the
entire week. And that was three
or four showtimes a day. Those
are the type of comparables that
distributors look at and decide
whether or not to allow to show
the film. Typically distributors
look at grosses before they give a
film to a certain theater.”
If nobody comes to see one
faith-based film in Florence, dis-
tributors won’t bother to send fu-
ture ones here.
Earlier this month, City Lights
began receiving requests for the
faith-based film “Unplanned.”
“‘Unplanned’ had a larger than
expected opening, and nationally
there’s been a lot of interest in the
film,” Falter said.
Because of that, the distribu-
tor was willing to show the film
in Florence. While it initially did
well, with local church groups
purchasing tickets at a group
rate, the rest of theatrical run was
small.
“The other 21 screenings nev-
er had more than a handful, and
&
shoppe play
buy stay
often no patrons,” Falter said.
“Thus, there was no potential for
a second week of business.”
But “Unplanned” was an
R-rated faith-based film about
abortion, which may have turned
off many viewers.
“‘Breakthrough,’ which opens
in Florence on May 3, is a less
controversial film, but it appeals
to the faith-based audience,”
Falter said. “It’s based on a true
story of a mother’s prayers and
her son’s miraculous survival. It
will be intriguing to watch. Will
the fact that it has a more broad-
based appeal work more effec-
tively in Florence, even if nation-
ally ‘Unplanned’ did much more
business?”
The success of “Breakthrough”
could help determine the future
of faith-based films in Florence.
“We’re in a position right now
where the community can help
determine and tell us what niche
films they’re interested in seeing,”
Falter added.
Ultimately, that’s what will
help smaller theaters such as City
Lights survive — audiences say-
ing what they want to see, and
going to see them. And some-
times, seeing a movie that some-
one generally isn’t interested in
can actually help a community
come together.
“At the end of two hours, I’ll be
tear strewn and think how lucky I
am that I got to see that film, and
it shined a light on something I
didn’t know anything about,” he
said.
“People should try and see
different films,” Tive added.
“Just like trying different types
of food, or when you go to see
an art museum and you look at a
variety of things. You don’t know
what you’re going to like or don’t
like until you expose yourself to
it. It’s about people having access
and a feeling of safety. There’s a
place where you can try some-
thing new and different and it’s
not going to be frightening or
overwhelming.”
Falter brought the issue back
to “Unplanned,” which was con-
sidered controversial when it was
released nationally. People called
for it to be boycotted, and even
City Lights got a few complaints
for showing it.
“I think it’s important for us
to provoke ourselves,” he said.
“The same week we showed ‘Un-
planned,’ we also showed ‘Before
the Flood,’ which is about cli-
mate change. I think that climate
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AUTOMOTIVE
can learn through extended ex-
aminations that films produce.
Film is an empathy machine.”
Whether it’s talking about the
conclusion of a beloved superhe-
ro franchise, hot topic issues such
as abortion and climate change,
or the complexities of history
and race relations, seeing a mov-
ie and talking about it afterward
are a safe conduit to bring people
together, according to Tive.
“It seems to me more import-
ant that people watch films in a
theater in the physical presence
of other human beings, whether
they like it or not, or know them
or not,” she said. “How isolated
we are as a society. There’s so
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sense of how to talk to one an-
other. Film provides that safety
to bring people together and talk
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about that period of time.”
Falter pointed to the many ra-
dio and newspaper articles about
the controversy that came out
after the film was released. If the
film hadn’t been released, and
the controversy hadn’t occurred,
he most likely wouldn’t know
anything about the actual story
behind “Green Book.”
“For me, watching the film,
and then hearing about it on the
news, my takeaway is a much
richer one than if I had just
skipped the film. My wish is that
we can use our skills to think
critically about everything we
see. I don’t believe that not hav-
ing those conversations is the
answer. I think we plod along in
this human story, and we try to
make corrections when neces-
sary, and we try to talk to each
other. And I think films inspire
talking to each other more than
not. it’s amazing how much you
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‘Film is an empathy machine’
“I make a living out of watch-
ing documentaries for one of my
other jobs,” Falter said. He helps
choose movies for an annual
documentary festival in Belling-
ham, Washington. “There’s just
some films that I don’t think I’m
going to be interested in, and I
don’t really want to see that film.”
However, as the person in
charge of picking the festival’s
line up, Falter has to watch hun-
dreds of submitted films to see
which should be shown.
ART ALLIANCE
change is something that some
people feel is politically loaded,
but you can watch a film and not
be ideological, with you going
into your corner and me going in
my corner. It’s something we can
talk about. I think controversy, at
its best, can inspire discussion. It
can inspire examination. If peo-
ple are open and interested in
other points of view, then there
are ways that we can talk to each
other in this time of political and
ideological difference. I think the
natural human instinct is to talk
to each other and try to under-
stand each other.”
It’s the conversation after the
film that’s the most important
thing.
For example, Falter mentioned
“Green Book,” which was heavily
criticized upon release for not ac-
curately portraying the events the
film was based on. Many refused
to see it based on that alone.
“‘Based on true events’ is one
of the great lies of narrative film,
and ‘Green Book’ was a fasci-
nating example of that,” he said.
“That film, and the controversy
that it sparked, led to so much
more discussion about race and
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