By Stuart Adelberg
I write today with a sense of hope. After an interminable period of ups and downs, starts and stops, plans made and cancelled. . . it finally seems as if the Avon, and all that makes our historic, community-supported, independent cinema so special, is back!
This may be confusing, noting that the Avon had only a brief pandemic closure before reopening with strict safety protocols and an abbreviated schedule. We have, in fact, been fully operational for quite some time, but the number of new films available and the quantity of movie fans filling our seats has not come close to our pre-pandemic levels. The past two months, however, have finally given us reason to be optimistic!
We began to turn the corner with our Oscar Nominated Film Festival. Films like the Academy Award winning CODA, played to relatively small houses when first released, but attracted much bigger audiences once it was crowned, Best Picture. It was an excellent film, so it was reassuring to see it play to larger houses and it reminded us that Avon audiences really do favor films that present meaningful subjects and inspirational stories. CODA did not disappoint!
Our ascent toward normalcy continued a few weeks later with a screening of THE AUTOMAT, a wonderful documentary recounting the history and unique appeal of the iconic Horn and Hardart restaurants. This educational, entertaining, and nostalgic flick was greatly enhanced by the presence of the filmmaker who led an engaging talk back, in true Avon fashion, with the crowd in attendance that night.
Partnerships have always been a priority for the Avon, and these, too, have come back starting with our cherished collaborators from the Greenwich International Film Festival. The past months have brought two partnerships with GIFF – the first a heartwarming biographical film, TO OLIVIA, about Roald Dahl and Patricia Neal, and the second just two weeks ago – with the screening of HIVE, a true, uplifting story of the women left to fend for themselves and their families after their husbands went missing during the 1998/99 Kosovo war. HIVE was followed by an engaging Q and A with lead actress Yllka Gashi.
Avon partnerships continued last week with the Focus on French Cinema Film Festival. It was our pleasure to host the opening night reception and film presentation for an appreciative crowd of Francophiles after an absence of more than two years! Presenting quality foreign language films is a specialty of the Avon, and the screening of LES OISEAUX IVRES (Drunken Birds), followed by a discussion with FFC program director and film critic Joe Meyers was well received!
Though none of us is clairvoyant, and we have had more than our share of false starts, these few events and our increased regular screenings of new films have allowed us to look to the future with the hope that perhaps the effects of the pandemic truly are beginning to wane. Next week we launch our NATIONAL THEATRE LIVE ENCORE series – which will bring acclaimed stage productions to the Avon’s big screen. In the coming weeks we will present Avon scholarships to high school seniors who will compose essays on Why Film Matters, and we are all excited for June, when the Crawley family welcomes us back to DOWNTON ABBEY! On May 16 we stand with Ukraine, presenting the documentary, NATIONAL MUSEUM, with the filmmaker in attendance, and the proceeds benefitting Ukrainian charities.
There is much more going on and the Avon is eager to welcome you back! We hope you’re ready!
