John Ewing, Director of Cinemateque, spoke with WCLV's Jacqueline Gerber about their upcoming move to a brand-new theater.
The below article by Clint O'Connor originally appeared in The Cleveland Plain Dealer on June 11, 2015.
CLEVELAND, Ohio – How appropriate. "The Last Picture Show"will be the final film to screen when the Cinematheque says farewell to its home for the past 29 years.
Peter Bogdanovich's black and white classic from 1971 was chosen by a fan vote spanning several months. So many classic films have screened at the Cleveland Institute of Art's Aitken Auditorium on East Blvd., that it's an honor to be chosen.
Cinematheque director John Ewing said Bogdanovich's film was the audience's "overwhelming choice" in his announcement today.
You have time to plan. The film screens on Thursday, July 30. Two days later, the Cinematheque moves to its swanky new digs at 11610 Euclid Avenue. (I'll be covering all of that, so tune in later.) Tickets to the 7 p.m. screening will be $10. At 6:30 p.m., there will be a slide show looking at the Cinematheque's 29 years in the Aitken showing the best in foreign, classic, animated and weird films.
Based on the Larry McMurtry novel, "The Last Picture Show," about teen life in a bleak Texas town, featured a killer cast: Jeff Bridges, Timothy Bottoms, Cybill Shepherd (in her movie debut), Ben Johnson, Cloris Leachman and Ellen Burstyn, among others.
The below article by Clint O'Connor originally appeared in The Cleveland Plain Dealer on July 1, 2015.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque will open its glistening new theater in August with an assist from Marlon Brando.
The late cinema icon is the subject of the new documentary "Listen to me Marlon,"which will play as part of the opening night gala on Saturday, Aug. 1. The film, directed by Stevan Riley, draws on the actor's personal audio tapes for insights into the man who shined in "A Streetcar Named Desire," "On the Waterfront," "The Godfather," "Last Tango in Paris" and other gems.
The Cinematheque, which is leaving its old digs in University Circle, following a screening of "The Last Picture Show" in July, is moving to the CIA's new building at 11610 Euclid Avenue.
As part of its July farewell on East Blvd., the Cinematheque is also showing several beloved films, including "The Night of the Hunter," "Sullivan's Travels," "The Last Waltz," and the aforementioned "Last Tango in Paris." For show times and a complete schedule, click here.
Below is the release (with ticket information) from the Cinematheque about the opening night gala in August:
"LISTEN TO ME MARLON, an acclaimed new documentary about Marlon Brando derived from hours of private audio tapes recorded by the actor during his lifetime, will be the movie shown at the grand opening of the Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque's new auditorium, the Peter B. Lewis Theater, on Saturday, August 1, at 7:00 pm.
"The film will be the centerpiece of an opening night gala, entitled "Lumière," that also includes food, drink, and desserts, and will offer moviegoers their first look at the state-of-the-art, 300-seat auditorium boasting both digital and film projection and 7.1 digital sound. Tickets to the gala cost $100 ($500 at the patron level) and can be purchased at lumiere.bpt.me.
"The Peter B. Lewis Theater, named for the Cleveland philanthropist, is located inside the Cleveland Institute of Art's brand-new George Gund Building at 11610 Euclid Avenue in the growing Uptown district. This will be the movie's Midwest premiere.
"LISTEN TO ME MARLON, directed by Stevan Riley, premiered at this year's Sundance Film Festival, where it was hailed as a "masterpiece" by The Village Voice. Culled entirely from 200 hours of self-reflective private recordings that Brando made at home, in business meetings, under hypnosis, in therapy, and elsewhere, the film offers an unprecedented and intimate look at one of the screen's most talented and enigmatic actors.
"The filmmakers had the full cooperation of the Brando estate, so they augment the actor's voice with a wealth of film and TV clips, rare photos and home movies, and newsreel footage.
" 'This will be one of the most talked and written about movies of 2015,' said Cinematheque Director John Ewing, so I'm proud to be presenting it at our gala. That it pertains to the movies makes it an even more appropriate choice.'
" 'Lumière' — the French word for 'light' (the name also evokes the pioneering filmmaking brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière, who shot and publicly exhibited history's first motion picture in 1895) — is the first of four Spectrum CIA 2015 events to celebrate the transformation of CIA and its unified campus. All four celebrations are described at cia.edu/spectrum "