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Matt Schley, a sophomore in film studies, really wants you to come to Film Front.
The newly designated president of the campus organization known (or unknown, more likely) for its weekly screenings of very rare and very foreign films, Schley has plans that will hopefully fill the OSH auditorium with curious filmgoers week after week.
"Instead of choosing a random, eclectic selection of films from all over the world, we're going through Arab Film Distribution," Schley said.
So for the length of Fall Semester, the club will bypass the usual globetrotting survey of films from Europe, Asia and South America in favor of screening films that focus on Arab culture and are made predominantly by Arab filmmakers.
"I don't know what to expect from the films," Schley admits. "I'll be discovering them along with everyone else."
Low attendance has been a thorn in Film Front's side for years. Schley hopes to remedy that with a steady flow of culturally similar films that have the potential to build a fan base. Call it the McDonald's Effect: One can argue that people return to Mickey-Dee's again and again because they know exactly what they're going to get. Film Front's smorgasbord of dissimilar films may have intimidated past attendees.
Schley, surprisingly, is quick to distance Film Front from the world's most popular artery-choking fast-food chain. Just because the films don't span the globe doesn't mean the experience will be like eating the same Big Mac over and over again.
"The films will be comedies and dramas, recent and old. I want people to realize that foreign films aren't all pretentious and crusty-an idea that, I believe, has been propagated by Miramax," said Schley.
Schley also stresses that Film Front only shows original, 35 mm prints, selected by him and U film professor Chris Lippard, a connoisseur of world cinema.
"We pick films that are not available on DVD or even in the United States," Schley said. "I'm proud of that."
He's less proud of the projector that actually chewed up a film last year and spat it out in flames.
"That's another reason people probably avoided us. The saying went, 'It's not Film Front unless we have one problem a night,'" he said.
Fortunately, the old projector has been fixed, which should alleviate any fire hazards.
The Film Front screenings will begin in mid-September. The first few films will be selections from the Global Film Initiative, a traveling road show of foreign films passed on to the U from the Salt Lake Film Society (titles to be announced). The Arab films will begin their run two or three weeks later.
A screening schedule will be up on Film Front's new Web site (filmfront.utah.edu) at the beginning of Fall Semester. The site will be richer and updated more frequently, with links to reviews of upcoming films and the option to get on a mailing list.
A U film professor will be on hand at the start of every screening to put the night's film into context and to put the audience in a thoughtful frame of mind.
"The primary goal of Film Front," said Schley, "is not to project something and then go home. We want the audience to come at the film from a thoughtful standpoint. We want (people) to discuss it afterward and hopefully say, 'I didn't even know films that like existed.'"
Film Front meets every Sunday at 7 p.m. in the OSH auditorium beginning in the fall. Admission and parking is free.
Keep an eye on the Chronicle for more information and solid dates in the coming weeks.
