River City Cinema
PO Box 1004
Bangor, ME 04401

207.989.9494
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rivercitycinema.com

Nice Press!

Many thanks to George Bragdon for this article that appeared in the October 1st, 2004 issue of the BANGOR DAILY NEWS.

The Place to Be
River City Cinema Society's al fresco film series proves a hit, with more to come

Pickering Square isn’t the prettiest of downtown Bangor locales. The parking garage, KeyBank, and the backside of the Freese’s building form a barren backdrop for the fountain and smattering of park benches and shrubs. The great hole nearby where the Masonic Hall building once stood has only enhanced the ground-zero effect and underscored the failure of urban renewal to energize the area.

Over the years, Pickering Square has been as a hangout for the homeless and restless teens. Patrons of the Waverly bar and restaurant, who drift in and out and smoke outside, have given the area a little more character. But the square has been largely a departure point for people going somewhere else. Folks come and go from the parking garage and parking spaces while BAT passengers wait for the city buses.

But this past summer on Friday nights, Pickering was the place to pitch a lawn chair and plop down with a bag of popcorn to watch a movie outdoors. And not just any movie. The bricks-and-mortar setting seemed fitting for viewing noir thrillers such as the “The Third Man” or “The Asphalt Jungle.” The two classics of the genre were part of River City Cinema Society’s “Noir Beneath the Stars” film series.

Just before sundown, with the smell of popcorn and buzz of conversation in the air, the square filled with people of all ages. Most had collapsible canvas lawn chairs slung over their shoulders. At show time, all eyes were fixed on the giant screen that’s part of the society’s “Cinema to Go” system.

Beginning last year, the society has used a custom-built portable canvas screen, coupled with a DVD digital projector, to show selections of art-house, classic Hollywood and foreign films at different locations, such as the Union Street Brick Church and Brewer Middle School. “Noir Beneath the Stars” was the group’s first foray into showing movies al fresco. It proved a success.

“It went way beyond what we had thought as far as attendance,” Kathlyn Tenga-Gonzalez, River City Cinema founding member and artistic director, reports. She said more than 350 people turned out at each film, making it the best-attended function the society has staged so far.

Since its founding in 2002, River City Cinema Society has sought to bring critically acclaimed classic and contemporary films that don’t seem to make onto most mainstream moviehouse screens in Bangor. First through a partnership with Movie City 8 cinemas, and more recently with its own portable screen, the society has shown more than 60 films in the city, ranging from the Hollywood classics “Sunset Boulevard,” to French director Francois Truffaut’s landmark film “The 400 Blows,” to the documentary “Winged Migration.”

“I think people are really enjoying seeing older films on the big screen,” Tenga-Gonzalez explained. “They really get introduced to seeing movies that they’re so used to seeing either on cable or on television. To see them that big, I think it’s really opening a lot of people’s eyes that it’s the only way to see film.”

River City Cinema Society aspires to have a permanent space of its own one day, to show movies and stage exhibits celebrating film history and culture, but that goal is still a much farther off.

Meanwhile, the group kicked off another film series, “Greetings … From the World,” last Friday. The lineup includes six contemporary foreign films that, for one reason or another, didn’t play in Bangor-area cinemas. Being shown every other Friday through Dec. 10, all but one of the films are at the Brewer Middle School auditorium. On Oct. 22, “The Man Without a Past” will be shown at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Bangor at 120 Park St.
Tenga-Gonzalez said that the society hopes to return to Pickering Square again next year to stage another series.

“It really helped to show that it could be a community event, that people like to be with other people,” she reflected. “And the beauty of movies, or theater, or art in general, is that it does get people out of the house and out of being isolated. People would show up to ‘Noir’ and see old friends or make new ones.”

River City Cinema Society’s “Greetings From … The World” series continues every other Friday through Dec. 10. Featured films are “Elling,” Oct. 8; “The Man Without a Past,” Oct. 22; “Goodbye, Lenin!” Nov. 12; “The Story of the Weeping Camel,” Nov. 26; and “The Return,” Dec. 10. All screenings will be held at Brewer Middle School except for “The Man Without a Past,” which will be shown Oct. 22 at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Bangor at 120 Park St. For more about River City Cinema Society and its screenings, visit www.rivercitycinema.com.

George Bragdon can be reached at gbragdon@bangordailynews.net.

©2004 Bangor Daily News, used with permission.