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The Martha's Vineyard Times is a weekly publication.
January 20 - January 26, 2005 Edition
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FILM Richard Paradise: all for the love of film January 20, 2005 by Brooks Robards Richard Paradise. Photo by Ralph Stewart Silver Screen Society starts year with fresh batch of films, ideas by Brooks Robards The Silver Screen Society - the Vineyard's answer to Netflicks, HBO, and Pay-per-View rolled into one non-commercial, local organization - is beginning 2005 with a packed calendar. Last Sunday saw the screening of “Their Lives in Art,” a documentary about former Island artists Bob Henry and Selina Trieff by West Tisbury filmmakers Robert and Margery Potts. “Broadway: The Golden Age” will be shown this Sunday, Jan. 23, at 7:30 pm in the Katharine Cornell Theatre on Spring Street in Vineyard Haven. Winner of the New York Film Critics Award, this documentary interviews Broadway legends of the 1930s through the 1960s. On Saturday, Jan. 29, “Domesticas,” a Brazilian film by the acclaimed director of “City of God,” will be shown at 7:30 pm at the Tisbury School auditorium. Brazilian pastry will be available along with Brazilian music by the Tribalistas. February screenings include the documentary “Other People's Pictures,” as well as Golden Globe nominee “The Motorcycle Diaries” and a Palestinian film, “Divine Intervention.” The nonprofit film group enters the New Year with a solid record of successes and plenty of new plans on the burner. The society emphasizes films not shown by the Island's commercial theatres. The winter selections tend to be films that don't have commercial distribution or are regionally based. During 2004, the society presented 42 films to more than 3,000 Island filmgoers. “That's a proud accomplishment,” says Silver Screen Society founder and director Richard Paradise of Vineyard Haven. The group has cooperated in screenings with the Martha's Vineyard Hebrew Center, the Martha's Vineyard Peace Council, Camp Jabberwocky, Safe Haven Camp, and the Martha's Vineyard Historical Society. Last year the society also helped the town of Tisbury purchase a new, 9- by 12-foot matte screen that has been installed at the Katharine Cornell Theatre. The new screen is two feet wider than the old one. Mr. Paradise says the goal for 2005 is to make progress in the society's hunt for a permanent location. Currently it must share its primary screening locale, the Katharine Cornell Theatre, with many other organizations. That necessitates dismantling projection equipment and storing it between screenings, a time-consuming process that causes wear and tear. The society depends entirely on volunteers. It is now limited to single-night screenings and the society cannot sell popcorn or other food at the theatre. “Unless you have your own permanent space, you have no flexibility with programming,” Mr. Paradise says. Finding a permanent home is a daunting task, given the cost of real estate and construction on the Island. Some of the options under consideration include partnering with other arts organizations to share a new space or joining existing groups who already have space. “Maybe there's an owner out there willing to retrofit a building with a screen,” Mr. Paradise says. “You don't know until you ask.” The society has peaked at its present level of operation in terms of the number of films it brings to the Island. It has 100 members, who receive discounted ticket rates and information about upcoming events. The group doesn't fundraise aggressively, because the films usually pay for themselves. If it has maxed out in screening numbers, the society has hardly run out of ideas. A number of them are in the proposal stage, not ready yet for public announcement. As Mr. Paradise points out, 90 percent of the movies produced annually don't find commercial distributors and never get to a commercial theatre. That leaves a host of high-quality, noncommercial films out there for the Silver Screen Society to choose from. Lunchtime one rainy day last week found Richard Paradise out hanging posters for the latest round of movies offered by the Silver Screen Film Society. Mr. Paradise is surely the Island's number-one cineaste, probably responsible for bringing more non-commercial movie events to the Vineyard than any other individual. In 1999, he helped start the Movie Museum that brings Hollywood classics to the Grange Hall in West Tisbury every summer. In 2002 he founded the Silver Screen Film Society, the non-profit, all-volunteer organization that schedules documentaries, foreign films, and independent movies during the off-season. Mr. Paradise also made possible the summertime silent classics series outdoors in Vineyard Haven and the open-air science fiction film festival at Featherstone in Oak Bluffs. Most people don't know that Richard Paradise is also the driving force behind such charitable film events as an annual movie outing for Camp Jabberwocky and a screening for HIV youngsters attending Tony Lombardi's Safe Haven Camp held at the Manter Memorial Youth Hostel every spring. Because of him and the Silver Screen Film Society, Vineyarders got to see “Mary Poppins” during First Night celebrations. When he isn't hanging posters, Mr. Paradise is booking films, setting up screens, introducing films, promoting and marketing them, storing film equipment, maintaining the society's web site, and working out cooperative arrangements with other Island organizations. He is truly the Pied Piper of film. “Luckily, I work at home,” Mr. Paradise says. “It's the only way I can do this.” He has his own media publications business and communicates with clients around the world by phone and Internet. “Plus I have a very understanding family,” he adds. Mr. Paradise says that what he loves most is introducing the movies that he and the Silver Screen Film Society show and then watching them - not on a little TV box but up on a large screen with an audience whenever possible. He sees at least one movie a day. Why so much passion for bringing movies to the Vineyard? Because, he says, they provide different perspectives on other countries, on the world, and on the United States. “We have no specific philosophy,” Mr. Paradise says of the society. “We're not trying to be chic but diverse, eclectic.” Silver Screen Film Society events often include more than just the movie itself. Filmmakers or actors may show up for a screening, and one enthusiast wrote a song about a scheduled film and performed it for the audience. The schedule includes lots of award-winners, including four out the five 2004 Oscar-nominated documentaries last year. And the enthusiastic Island response - the people who say thank you, the audiences applauding at the end of a show - is what keeps Richard Paradise happy.
©The Martha's Vineyard Times 2004 - www.mvtimes.com