OFFscreen, a student-run club which screens independent films in Newcomb Hall Theater each Sunday, gives students the opportunity to see films for a reasonable price that they would not otherwise get to see in Charlottesville - or, for that matter, the rest of Virginia. Typically, the overall theme of an OFFscreen season generally centers around global cinema. This season, the offered films come from countries as far-flung as Denmark, the Philippines, Russia, France, Chile, Canada, the United Kingdom, Norway, Argentina and South Korea. Within this broad theme of global cinema, however, are usually a series of smaller themes - this season's being "Sex on Celluloid." Intrigued? Sex on Celluloid is a theme featuring films that focus on pornography and sex in the social space.
Instead of featuring more mainstream indie films, OFFscreen searches for films by looking at festival reviews, film articles, the Metacritic Web site, newspapers and the actual distributors who contact the group. A number of directors also e-mailed OFFscreen this summer with the hopes of showcasing their films to a young university audience. Joe Swanberg, a director who was brought to the University by OFFscreen in the past, recommended the club to his friends and fellow filmmakers - and so Alex Ross Perry's Impolex is being featured this semester for that very reason.
This Sunday's film, Serbis, tells the story of a Filipino family that runs an adult movie theater to sustain itself. Other than bringing attention to such a unique business, Serbis gives a graphic and troubling glimpse of the economic, relational and sexual struggles that the different family members must face. Directed by Brillante Mendoza of the Philippines, Serbis is a Cannes' favorite that is "superb, utterly compelling, gritty yet tender," according to Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times.
On the other end of the spectrum are Director Pablo Larrain's Tony Manero and Director Park Chan-Wook's Thirst. Tony Manero is the story of Raul Peralta, a man in his 50s, who is obsessed with John Travolta's character in Saturday Night Fever. Peralta will do absolutely anything, no matter how unethical, to fulfill his dream of winning a Chilean show's Tony Manero impersonating contest. But while Tony Manero is about life with a dictator and one man's relentless goal, Thirst is about a priest who accidentally becomes a vampire. So, from poverty to sex, disco dancing to politics, crime to religion, and even vampires, OFFscreen offers viewers more than enough options to choose from this semester.
OFFscreen introduces people to new films and provides them with the big-screen experience, as the films were initially intended to be seen. The club itself also affords interested students with an opportunity to learn about film and the film business as well. Entirely student-run, OFFscreen's members call distributors, ship reels, pay the bills, advertise and more. It is also a great way to meet other students who are equally interested in film. Meetings are every Sunday at 5:30 p.m. in the Newcomb Hall Theater Lobby, and the semester's film schedule can be found online at www.indie.student.virginia.edu. Tickets are available for just $3 at the door.
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