Karen Ponzio Photo
The Neighborhood Watch Party Committtee: Travis Carbonella, Lizzy Donius, Noe Jimenez.
While the conversation about needing a new movie theater in New Haven continues ad infinitum, three Westville friends have been busy converting a beloved neighborhood space into a temporary theater to help bridge the gap left by the closing of the Criterion and to foster community by gathering and watching a film together on a big screen.
Their project, Pop-Up Cinema, presented by The Neighborhood Watch Party, screened its inaugural film in its newest series at Lotta Studios Wednesday night, the first of six different films that will be shown over the next seven days.
The Neighborhood Watch Party began fleshing out this current project back in February at Lotta Studios on Whalley Avenue. A committee consisting of Westville Village Renaissance Alliance Executive Director Lizzy Donius, filmmaker Travis Carbonella, and artist Noe Jimenez — who work in neighboring offices and see each other every day — decided to make their mutual dream of holding film screenings in Westville a reality, something they said Donius had been talking about for years. She was recently able to get grant funding that enabled them to get the equipment they needed to actually make it happen, such as an eight-foot by 14-foot screen and blackout curtains.
They also received more than a little help from their friends. Lotta Studios provided the space for the temporary theater, and A Broken Umbrella Theatre provided the risers for the chairs, the chairs themselves, and assistance in building it all out.
The initial series held in February had the group showing three movies, one each week on a Wednesday at 7 p.m., which according to Carbonella sold out on the first night and was very successful over the next two weeks as well. They then decided that they would begin a new series in March that would continue once monthly from there on out, showing seven movies over six days from Wednesday to Wednesday, taking Tuesdays off and on Sundays showing a family film at the matinee time of 2 p.m. instead of the regular nightly 7 p.m. showing.
The group — who called this project a “very organic collaboration among friends and creators” — is also excited to be a part of the growing trend of showing more movies in “interesting, community, and funky spaces,” including the Best Video/Lyric Hall screenings that have been happening monthly down the street.
The space they are using is typically a photography studio. When it is set up for this event, Donius said, “it feels like a movie theater.”
She was right. All four of us — the three committee members and this reporter — agreed that the space was reminiscent of that one small theater at the Criterion where they often showed the artsier/smaller films and special events like the Oscar-nominated animated shorts. If you were a regular at the Criterion, you most likely remember that theater. The last film I saw in the small theater, which was also the last film I ever saw at the Criterion, was the re-release of the 2003 South Korean classic OldBoy.
Wednesday night, the debut film of this series was also a South Korean film, 2008’s The Good, The Bad, The Weird, selected by Jimenez.
“I was very taken by the movie,” he said, though Donius and Carbonella had not seen it. He added that the committee had two “loose rules” about how to choose films: either two of them have not seen it or two of them have and are “enthusiastic” about it.
They do want everyone to know that they are also open to suggestions, and they have recently set up a website. They are hoping people will check in and see what films are showing and share their opinions as well, adding to the “communal vibe” Donius is hoping they have achieved.
Jimenez is hoping to offer lectures and talks relating to film. Donius is hoping to add a larger variety of genres — maybe even a “Totally Trash Tuesday” that Jimenez said would include films that might be considered less technically good but still highly enjoyable. Carbonella has a goal of offering a place for both making and screening documentaries.
“Young people learning how to create could create here and screen here,” he said. “It’s cool that this is an adaptive space.”
“It’s an opportunity to show stuff you couldn’t show anywhere else,” Jimenez added.
On Wednesday evening around half of the 30 or so seats were filled. Patrons held small bags of freshly made popcorn and drinks as Donius greeted them and thanked them for attending.
“We’re really excited about this new way of programming,” she said, explaining how the films would now be shown nightly at 7 p.m. over seven days (but not on Tuesday so as not to interfere with the Best Video screening of Possession at Lyric Hall on March 18) and reviewing what would be shown. Those films include the stunning and Oscar-winning Moonlight on Thursday, John Woo’s Hard Boiled on Friday, Wong Kar-wai’s gorgeous Chungking Express on Saturday, the John Waters classic Serial Mom on Monday, the animated Persepolis, based on the graphic novel of the same name, next Wednesday, and on Sunday the family-friendly Pixar film Ratatouille at the earlier time of 2 p.m.
The Good, the Bad, the Weird definitely offered the communal experience they were looking for. The studio rang with laughter and gasps throughout the Kim Jee-woon-directed film, which follows three men’s quest for one map that may or may not lead them to treasure beyond their wildest dreams. A riff on the classic 1966 Italian spaghetti Western The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, this film takes place in Manchuria in the 1930s, offering sweeping panoramic shots, breathtaking action sequences, and a heavy dose of humor. Its three stars complete the three distinct titular characters: Bounty hunter Park Do-won is the Good, played with steely charm by Jung Woo-sung; hitman Park Chang-yi is the Bad, played menacingly by Lee Byung-hun; and thief Yoon Tae-goo is the Weird, played with humor and hubris by the stellar Song Kang-ho who many moviegoers might know from the Oscar winning film Parasite.
Nonstop action and nearly nonstop laughs kept this two-plus-hour film feeling like it was flying by. And afterwards many stayed to talk about how much they liked it, another integral part of that communal experience moviegoers love so much, another way to heighten that vibe.
“This was so much fun to watch all together,” Donius said afterwards. She was correct. Now you have six more chances to experience that feeling yourself.
Pop-Up Cinema is happening again tonight at 7 p.m. at Lotta Studios 903 Whalley Ave. with a showing of the film Moonlight. The cost is $10; tickets can be purchased on the website or in person. More details about all of this week’s upcoming films can be found on their website or on the Neighborhood Watch Party’s Instagram page.