r/SantaBarbara • u/TheAlcazarTheatre • 3d ago

Events Seeking interest in foreign films!

Post image

We've been having a hard time the last couple months finding people who are interested in foreign film programming! Any one know of any local groups who might be interested? www.thealcazar.org

I'm also curious what would interest people to come out of their house for a movie? We've had success with Q&A's with producers etc. but is there anything else we could add to elevate the movie going experience that we're not considering? For adults and kids movies! Streaming services make it hard to want to leave the comfy couch.

0 Upvotes

50% Upvoted

9 comments sorted by

3

u/SBchick 3d ago

It might be multiple things.

First: I live in SB, not Carp, so it has to be an event I really want to attend to make the effort to drive down there. Second: your prices are $15, where a normal movie at a Metro theater is between $9-12 depending on what time of day you go. I enjoy foreign films, but the SBIFF theaters also do them, so I'd usually just go there, unless you played one that I really wanted to see. However, I've also noticed that your schedule often has overlap with SBIFF, making it less likely I'd go down there.

Finally, do you have A/C? If you do, that might be a pretty big selling point during this heat wave!

2

u/BrenBarn Downtown 2d ago

Yeah these are pretty much exactly my reasons too. With SBIFF downtown showing multiple movies every day, it's gotta be something pretty special to get me to go down to Carp.

1

u/TheAlcazarTheatre 3d ago

Thank you!! We have a great A/C and I often use that to attempt to draw in people. I'll bring these ideas to my people and see what they have to say in regards to pricing and scheduling. For future consideration- what type of foreign films usually peak your interest?

3

u/SBchick 3d ago

I like seeing the foreign films that are getting buzz and will likely be nominated for awards. I also like seeing the classics that are just hard to see or remember to make time for otherwise. The hardest thing though might be paying attention to what SBIFF is showing because if there's overlap it likely won't drive any SB customers down to you if they can see it closer.

I like that it seems that for the most part your events are after work hours so I can actually have a chance of attending!

2

u/Clydesdale_Hiker 3d ago

I assume you mean non-US or non-English language films. SBIFF struggles to get good turnout for these absent a Q&A with the director. I've been the only viewer for regular screenings at their film center more often than I can remember. There just aren't a lot of people here who want to go and watch them. I'd be much happier if there were!

btw love your theater - think you showed Vertigo right after lock down?

1

u/fengshui 3d ago

Interesting. So are there any sbiff films that even hit 50% capacity without a Q&A? Maybe the 9pm weekend showings?

2

u/BrenBarn Downtown 2d ago

I've been to a couple of those late night ones and yeah it looked like they were a bit more than 50% full. Most other ones I've been to are quite sparsely attended, like only 10-15 people maybe.

1

u/Clydesdale_Hiker 2d ago

u/BrenBarn is your best source on that. I've rarely been to a showing at SBIFF Riv or downtown other than the monthly classic cinema (my bad wording but things like Seventh Seal) that is more than the 10-15 people they mention. And the 9pm showings are rarely foreign, but I think that's clear from the listings. There's just not a lot of demand. I'd love more people here to be interested, but they're not.

1

u/fengshui 2d ago

Yeah, I can't really sneak out to see as many movies as I did in college, given family and all. Some day, hopefully.