Buskirk-Chumley shows Ryder films

For those who've grown tired of the usual summer film fare of Hollywood blockbusters that often place special effects over a quality plot, the Buskirk-Chumley Theater is featuring a summer movie series that might be of interest.\nIn conjunction with the Ryder Films, the Buskirk-Chumley Theater is screening critically-acclaimed films that didn't make the standard run at Kerasotes-owned theaters. Buskirk-Chumley Director Danielle McClelland said she believes the series plays an important role in expanding the cinematic palate of Bloomington moviegoers. \n"We're trying to show more obscure art films and documentaries that aren't making the huge circuit of art house cinemas around the country," McClelland said. "We're trying to show something a little different from the Kerasotes theaters."\nCurrently playing at the Buskirk-Chumley is "Moolaadé," a Senegalese film, and the documentaries "The Flaming Lips: Fearless Freaks" and "The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill."\nAccording to Ryder Films' Web site, www.theryder.com, "Moolaadé" is "an enthralling, exhilarating portrayal" of the wife of a village tribesman offering protection to four young girls escaping the ancient African ceremony of female circumcision. \nRyder describes the film as "visually gorgeous" as well as "powerful, compassionate and often surprisingly humorous."\nThe critically-acclaimed film was directed by Ousmane Sembene, who is considered the father of modern African cinema, and won the 2005 National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Foreign Film.\n"The Flaming Lips: Fearless Freaks" -- directed by Bradley Beesley -- is, according to The Village Voice, "an all-access fan's valentine as artfully scrappy and likably wide-eyed as its subjects." The film follows the two-decade career evolution of the Grammy-award winning Oklahoma psych-rock band, who describe themselves as "a no-talent hillbilly-punk version of the Who" as they morph into "stereophonic mad scientists."\n"The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill," also a documentary, is "the true story of a Bohemian St. Francis and his remarkable relationship with a flock of wild green and red parrots," according to www.buskirkchumley.org. The Web site describes the film as the story of Mark Bittner, a homeless street musician in San Francisco, searching for the meaning of his life, oblivious to what the wild parrots are bringing him.\nThe partnership between Ryder Films and the Buskirk-Chumley was facilitated by what McClelland described as "a loosening of the restrictions" on their ability to show films at the theater. \n"Restrictions loosened up quite a bit, so we were able to work with Ryder this summer on submitting specific names of films to make sure there was no competition with Kerasotes films," McClelland said. "Everything worked out from there." \nAccording to McClelland, the films have been well received, and attendance for the showings have been solid. \n"In the first days of the series, there were over 100 people in attendance; the later showings were more modest with anywhere from 25 to 50 people at any given time," McClelland said. \nRecent IU alumna Jackie Scanlan was one of those in attendance at Saturday's showing of "The Flaming Lips: Fearless Freaks." \n"I think it's great that I can see a documentary about a band I like when I normally wouldn't be able to see it in Bloomington," she said. \nThe series continues Saturday at the Buskirk-Chumley with tickets priced at $5 per movie.