Fairfield arts center debuts ‘Cinema Fairfield’

FAIRFIELD — The Fairfield Arts & Convention Center is embarking on a new venture this year, showing first-run films in the theater.

Assistant Director Solomon Davis was hired in May and was put in charge of this project, which began a few years ago. The arts center has been showing local and second-run films, and is now ready to show major blockbusters at the same time they are showing in bigger theaters around the country.

This new venture is known as “Cinema Fairfield.” The name is an homage to the 1988 classic Italian film “Cinema Paradiso,” which is credited for revitalizing Italy’s film industry.

The first installment in this series will be the film “The Woman King,” which will be screened at the arts center Nov. 7-10.

The installation of cinema-grade projection equipment was completed this fall, allowing the Sondheim Center to transform into a film-ready screening theater in between live arts performances, stated a news release from the arts center.

“While we’ll definitely keep our commitment to providing amazing live performing arts experiences year-round, adding film programming to what we can offer means there are more options for low cost entertainment here in Fairfield,” said Fairfield Arts & Convention Center Executive Director Lindsay Bauer.

Bauer said that the arts center had to clear some hurdles to show first-run films. She said the contracts with distributors are more extensive, since they demand reporting information about the theater’s projector, sound equipment, and even how tickets are sold.

“It’s been a neat experience, talking with professionals we’ve never interacted with before on an entirely different piece of the arts world,” Bauer said.

Bauer said the arts center doesn’t have a plan about how frequently to show first-run films. She said it will try to fit them into the schedule on dates where the arts center does not have live entertainment already booked.

Davis said one of the goals of Cinema Fairfield will be to attract more local filmmakers to show their films at the arts center. For instance, a 10-minute locally produced film called “Smiling Death” was screened on Oct. 22, just before the arts center screened the second-run film “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” Davis said he caught wind of the project through an actor in town, found out that the film had not premiered anywhere else, and offered to show it at the Sondheim.

“I thought it would fit the Halloween season, since it deals with death in a dark, comedic way,” Davis said. “We’re hoping to feature more films like this at the arts center.”

Davis said the arts center has agreements with certain film studios to show first-run movies. He said the arts center doesn’t have many movies to choose from now, but more will become available in December.

Davis said he plans to show films at the arts center when students are home from school.

“I’ve looked at the Fairfield school calendar to see when they have breaks, and we decided that for Thanksgiving weekend, we’ll show a matinee film on those days,” he said. “It will be a family-friendly movie.”

Apart from first-run films, the arts center will show live matches from the 2022 World Cup, which runs from Nov. 20 through Dec. 18. Davis said matches will be shown in the atrium, and he hopes to be able to put the final match on the big screen in the theater.

“We have a large international soccer fan base here,” he said. “I’m a soccer fan, too, and it’s hard to find a place to watch a match.”

For a full list of programming at the arts center, visit its website at fairfieldacc.com.

Call Andy Hallman at 641-575-0135 or email him at andy.hallman@southeastiowaunion.com