Many of the people who flip through this issue of Weekend probably never sat through an entire independent, classic or foreign film. With the recent closing of the Von Lee Theater, a favorite venue for art film buffs, an extremely small percentage of people seem to want to explore what lies beyond the packaging of mainstream entertainment. Why is this the case in a college town, where creativity and enlightenment might expectedly be embraced?\nSurprisingly, most people on the Bloomington campus don't seem to know about the Ryder or City Lights film series, two of the most prominent non-mainstream movie distributors in the area. This may be seen as especially odd concerning the Ryder films because of the widespread distribution of The Ryder, the organization's monthly liberal arts magazine, which is free at newsstands around town. The City Lights films, shown every Friday, are free. Ryder films are $4. It can be argued that these are considerably low-cost entertainment opportunities and yet, for the most part, IU students and community members continue to stay away.\nThe Ryder presents screenings in convenient places around campus: the Fine Arts building, Bear's Place, Laughing Planet Café in the warmer months and more recently, at the Cinemat on Fourth Street and Walnut Avenue. Most of the screenings depict modern independent films and documentaries, but occasional showings of older cult classics such as This Is Spinal Tap and Waiting for Guffman get thrown in the mix. In coming weeks, audiences can view Whale Rider, 28 Days Later and House of Fools, along with documentaries (Winged Migration).\nRyder founder Peter Lopilato always includes his favorites among the films. This month he recommends audiences see Spellbound, a documentary about ambitious grade school kids who travel to Washington, D.C., to compete in the National Spelling Bee finals.\n"I can't see anyone not liking (Spellbound)," Lopilato says. "It's got an appeal for young and old alike."\nWhen Lopilato, a native of New York City, first came to Bloomington as an undergraduate in the '70s, he was shocked Bloomington had no major independent film venues, especially because of it's liberal arts environment. Lopilato was often visiting friends in NYC, attending the various independent movie houses found in that area. He decided a college town like Bloomington needed more of that creative and experimental cinematic flavor. \nHe decided to bring his vision into reality. The Ryder went into publication in the spring of 1979. The movie series followed, three months later, with older and foreign films. Lopilato chose the name, The Ryder, because he says he liked its rhythm.\n"It doesn't really mean anything," Lopilato says. "In the '80s, rock groups sometimes substituted the letter 'y' for the letter 'i', so that's where I got that. But I really liked the idea of someone riding forward, on the new wave of things."\nIn the beginning, the Ryder
rented out projectors for six months, showing one film a week. \nEventually, the organization bought a projector, showing as many films as possible on 16mm film for better clarity and audio. Things have changed quite a bit for the small screen visionaries, as 20 projectors have been added to satisfy the approximately 15 films shown each week at the four main venues.\n"My favorite (venue) is Bear's because you can sit and have a beer or smoke while you watch a movie," says graduate student Robert Kilpatrick.\n"This is much better than your average overpriced soda and popcorn in a mainstream cinema. In a way, it is similar to the difference between watching a play in a huge theater and seeing it in a small room with just a few other spectators," Kilpatrick adds. "The relationship with the art is somehow more intimate."\nHollywood films, like pop music, leave some pop culture consumers craving more substance. \n"I think the Ryder films are of higher caliber and quality than mainstream films," junior Jason Wallace says. "Too often, the big box office movies are preoccupied with huge budgets and overdone special effects, while allowing the quality of the writing and acting to suffer. A lot of times, mainstream films feel very empty to me. I think independent films still try to capture that element of art and soul which makes movies so powerful to begin with."\nGraduate student Francisco Andrade started seeing Ryder films when he arrived in Bloomington four months ago.\n"It's a shame that there is not as many spectators (for the Ryder) as it deserves," he says. "Sometimes I find that the number of movies is not enough but of course I understand that, having low attendance, it cannot be increased."\nApparently, not many people are aware of the independent film scene in Bloomington. But most of those who manage to break out of Hollywood's grasp tend to become hooked. \nAlthough the Ryder films run on a scarce budget and Lopilato admits his work for the Ryder is definitely "better as a hobby than a business," he says he's going to keep doing what he's doing because he believes in it. \n"Each issue represents a triumph of the human spirit," graced the cover of a recent issue of The Ryder ... that pretty much says it all. \nCity Lights\nEventually, The Ryder began to cater to contemporary independent films, giving less screen time to older classic genres and foreign flicks. This is where the City Lights film series came into play.\nIn 1998, then-film studies graduate student Drew Todd founded the City Lights series with fellow grad student Eric Beckstrom. \nTodd says he thought the Ryder films were great, but wanted to start a series that would incorporate more "international classic cinema" into the IU environment. Like Lopitlato, Todd says he was shocked IU didn't have any kind of departmental foreign film series. So many of the larger universities he had visited, he says, had at least something of that nature. \nThe project started slowly. Todd describes the early days of City Lights as a "two-man show." They chose the name, City Lights, at the last minute, after remembering the classic Charlie Chaplin film of the same name.\n"I love Chaplin and his films," Todd says. "The name also symbolized bringing urban city culture to a small town."\nCity Lights focuses on movies within the time-frame between the '20s and '60s, occasionally showing more obscure films, such as Japanese horror flicks or Orson Welles creations.\nIn coming weeks, City Lights will be featuring such classics as The Grapes of Wrath, Rashomon and Gremlins.\n"The goal is to show American and international films in equal numbers, maybe even with more of a focus on international. We try to maintain a mix of genres, themes, tone, comedy and drama. Balance is important," Todd says.\nBoard member Jim Kendrick feels strongly about students and community members embracing the experience of seeing these rare 16mm film screenings.\n"It allows people to see classic films in the format in which they were intended to be seen: celluloid," Kendrick emphasizes.\n"People get used to seeing films on video, but it is an entirely different experience to see a movie projected on film on a big screen in a dark theater with an audience," he says. "For many, there is no other opportunity to see classic films except for on TV."\nThe opportunities to see rare art in its purest cinematic form -- films made to teach and enrich, not to turn a pretty penny -- are inexpensively available to every member of this community. The people who have read this article now have no excuse to continue sustaining a diet of 100 percent mainstream. \n"With independent movies, a sense of surprise is somehow re-injected into the experience," Kirkpatrick says. "When I go to independent films, I am plugging into something that is somehow more alive, more powerful. I am reminded there is something living and breathing outside of the Hollywood juggernaut. After all, film can change the way we look at the world"
