Aiming for Accessibility: Cinema East

There is no doubt about it: film festivals are expensive. The badge, the travel, the time off work—it all works against the ability for workaday film lovers to experience new and interesting cinema, especially independent film. We are lucky that in Austin there are endless opportunities to have many different kinds of cinema experiences, but typically the price of admission is not insignificant to the casual cinephile. Well, there's a new kid in town that aims to change that and its name is Cinema East.

"I feel like Austin needs a film outlet that is free and accessible to the community. Austin has been this big music city, and it is becoming a film city, but so many people in the communities aren't as familiar with what is going on in the film scene," said Cinema East Producer Scott Jawson, "You can see a small, independent band before anyone else has seen them, which gives you an emotional link to that band, and we'd like for people to have that experience with film, too."

Jawson and programmer Maggie Lea have put together a four month series of films that will screen every other Sunday at Baby Blue Studios, which is located on the east side of 1-35. Starting this Sunday night with the film We Live in Public, which screened at SXSW in 2009, Cinema East will run through September, and focus on not only independent film, but also on features made in Austin and by Austinites.

"I went to Sundance and Marfa and Austin Film Fest and SXSW and watched a lot of films," Lea said, "A lot of the programming for Cinema East was based on the responsiveness of the filmmakers. I don't have any highbrow standard for the films that I like. There are a couple of films set in space and an entire short film program, and there wasn't a set standard for what we wanted. I wanted to include some films about music, just because the intersection of film and music is interesting in Austin, but mostly I was also going for, 'What do people want to watch in the summertime?'"

Cinema East Producer Scott Jawson & Programmer Maggie Lea

"It's like the independent version of the Rolling Roadshow," said Jawson, "It's a community oriented collaborative production."

Considering that Austin is already flooded with festivals, many of them film centric, it is certainly a risky proposition to throw another one into the mix, but by only showing one film a night, every other week, and making the series completely free to the public, Cinema East is bringing a different type of experience to the table.

"This is more of a relaxing summer activity," said Jawson, "I'm imagining waking up on a Sunday morning, maybe hung over, maybe not, going to brunch and then Barton Springs or the greenbelt. Then heading to Polvo's for some food, going home to take a shower and then remembering that there is a really chill, free screening going on and you're going to go do that that night. It just seems like the perfect end to a weekend in the summer."

It will also be a unique opportunity for the community to meet its filmmakers in an environment that is much more conducive to conversations that the hustle and bustle of a film festival.

"It is going to be surprisingly intimate, especially with the opportunity to talk to the directors," said Lea, "There is not going to be a stage and everyone is going to be on the same level. We have a number, as far as how many people we expect to fit in the space, but we're also not really sure what to expect."

"With it being four months long, there will definitely be a metamorphosis," added Jawson.

The program also includes the Flaming Lips rock doc The Fearless Freaks by Austin Filmmaker Bradley Beesley, Cummings Farm, written by the one and only Black Nasty, aka Ted Beck, also of Austin, and Lovers of Hate, written and directed by Bryan Poyser, who we love. In addition to the Austin-centric members of the program, we'll also get to enjoy Earthling, which screened at SXSW this year, Trinidad with cinematography by Austinite PJ Raval and a night of short films. For the line up and schedule, check out the Cinema East website, and keep checking back, as more films will be revealed throughout the summer.