Connecticut”™s arts scene has seen a pandemic-induced shift away from in-person events at popular venues to virtual happenings that can be viewed from home. And while this may not be the ideal solution for many, the axiom of “the show must go on” remains strong even if the show looks a bit different now.
This new approach has been adapted by the combined forces of Bridgeport”™s Housatonic Museum of Art and the Connecticut Film Festival, which are running a weekly series of documentaries celebrating distinctive visual artists. The “Friday Night Flicks” presentation debuted on Sept. 2 with “The Cardboard Bernini,” a documentary on the Redding-based sculptor James Grashow, and has followed every Friday at 7 p.m. with special one-time online screenings followed by Q&A sessions with the filmmakers.
Thomas Carruthers, executive director of the Connecticut Film Festival, is curating the series, which has become an online extension of the weekly FilmFest52 cinema presentations that he”™s coordinated since May 2015.
“I”™m in several locations around the state of Connecticut,” Carruthers said, noting his screenings occurred at the now-defunct Bethel Cinema and at community colleges with theater-quality audio-video projection systems, including Bridgeport”™s Housatonic Community College and its on-campus Housatonic Art Museum.
When the pandemic hit, Carruthers found himself without big screens and in-person audiences, but he believed he could still cultivate a following by shifting to online screenings.
“I have a series of art films I wanted to screen and I approached Robin Zella,” he continued, referring to the director of the Housatonic Museum of Art. “I said, ”˜How would you like to put together a series of films virtually online?”™ and she loved the idea. She was trying to attract more people to the museum and gallery and here was an opportunity to reach out to the community and the world with films that people hadn”™t seen before.”
Zella acknowledged that Carruthers”™ proposal came at a serendipitous time, considering the campus and its museum were closed during the pandemic.
“The films are in lieu of exhibitions,” she said. “This is an opportunity for the students to see and hear about how an artist works, learn about their practice and, in this case, listen to film directors talk about their process. And some of the Q&As included the artists ”“ we had Jimmy Grashow ”“ and I think that”™s valuable for the students who are starting early in their own art-making careers.”
Connecticut-based filmmakers have seen their works presented in “Friday Night Flicks,” including Redding”™s Dan Makara and Bridgeport”™s Frank Borres with their “Irwin” (about cartoonist and comic book artist Irwin Hasen) and “Story in Stone” (about Bridgeport lithographer James Reed). The “Friday Night Flicks” selections are available for free viewing on the museum”™s website and several other platforms including Plymouth Rock TV and FestHome TV.
Trying to measure the audience has been tricky, with analytics data coming from different platforms at different times, but Carruthers detects a growing interest from both the museum”™s supporters and art lovers from across cyberspace who are discovering the series.
“It”™s building every week,” he said. “I know that there’s been some weeks where we’ve had 50 or 75 people, and I’m hoping that it builds to several hundred over the course of the next couple of weeks, because the words really just getting out.”
“Friday Night Flicks” is tentatively scheduled to conclude with the Nov. 6 presentation of two short films: “With Dad,” a work-in-progress by Soren Sorensen about director-photographer Stephen DiRado, and DiRado”™s 2012 documentary “The Summer Spent” about the evolution of the arts community on Martha”™s Vineyard. Carruthers is hopeful the series can be extended through the remainder of November, adding that many people are not eager to go back to the cinemas based on the continued uncertainty regarding the pandemic and the limits placed on venue seating capacity.
“I won’t be going into a theater anytime soon, that’s for sure,” he said. “I think this is a big paradigm shift ”“ you’re going to see much, much more going on online, and this is going to continue after everybody thinks it’s safe to go back in.”
For Zella, the current situation has encouraged the museum to pursue its own cinematic projects.
“The next thing we’re going to offer is the American Baroque Orchestra ”“ they were here filming a concert in the gallery and will be here on Oct. 25 to film another concert,” she said.
“They’ll be available on our website. I want to have one more project, which is with Jongil Ma, a wonderful installation sculptor. We’ll be filming his installation ”“ he’s creating a site-specific piece that goes over the gallery where the front doors are. That project is going to start Nov. 30 and will be completed Dec. 12, and we’ll be filming it as a documentary.”
