Comments from WhoWhatWhereWhyHow

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WhoWhatWhereWhyHow
WhoWhatWhereWhyHow commented about Manor Art Cinema on Oct 4, 2010 at 3:51 pm

The 80’s saw a very robust, competitive foreign film/art film market in the South Florida Tri-county area.

Distributors pitted exhibitors to bid for the opportunity to show these new releases first against different incentives, offerring for example exclusive screenings, test screenings, variable guarantees, advertising support, visiting artists, etc., for the different films.

The “Film Forum” created a promotional and educational venue via the Manor Art and Art Towne that exhibitors acknowledged attracted and fostered an important and valuable audience for these unique and sometimes difficult films, and for this reason, The Film Forum was often rewarded with many exclusive presentation opportunities.

WhoWhatWhereWhyHow
WhoWhatWhereWhyHow commented about Art Towne Twin on Sep 30, 2010 at 4:38 am

It is important to remember that the Thursday Night film discussion series held at the Manor Art Cinema and also at the Art Towne Cinema in Plantation, FL (also owned by the same owner, Carlos Cyrulnik) was presented in conjunction with the Art/Alternative/Foreign films and mini-film festivals offerings shown there circa 1982-1985 was called “The Film Forum: An Examination of the Film Experience.”

The “Film Forum” was the creation of host, director, scholar Arch Angelus Sturaitis, an artist/writer originally from Canada who moderated a weekly discussion with headliner directors, actors, producers, movie critics and a wide range of experts expounding on the featured films being screened at the theatres.

South Florida premieres of “Say Amen Somebody”, “Siberiade”, “Gabriela”, “Heart Like a Wheel”, “Land of Look Behind”, “Berlin Alexanerplatz”, “Gaijin” “Entre Nous” among many, many other memorable Foreign/International films attracted unprecedented full house audiences of more than 300 patrons.

The Film Forum explored cinematographic, social and aesthetic issues inspired by themes of “Women in Film”, “Gay/Lesbian Cinema”, “Movies as a Medium of Social Conformity or Societal Dissent”, “New Wave Cinema from Germany, Israel, Poland, Italy, France, Hungary, Brazil”, “Representations of Race and Ethnicity”, “Sex, Violence and Changing Social Mores”, “Idealized History: Period Piece Dramas and Epic Films”. Some of these themes became stand-alone enrichment Film/Communications courses taught by Arch Angelus Sturaitis at Broward Community College, Florida Atlantic University and by popular demand as special guest lectures at Nova Southeastern University and University of Miami.

The Film Forum with Arch Angelus Sturaitis was widely covered by the Press: Candice Russell of the Fort Lauderdale News and Sun Sentinel; Bill Cosford of the Miami Herald; Skip Sheffield of the Boca Raton News; Jack Sturdy of the TWN, among others. Many radio and TV personalities also joined with these critics in the annual Oscar Gala Discussion at the Manor, a very popular program for the film crowd.

The Art Towne, Manor Art featuring the Film Forum attracted a most interesting arts/culture intelligentsia of the time under one roof. Anybody who was anybody in the local South Florida arts scene could be found in the audience. In addition, many came from all walks of life to actively participate in the programs. Including a regular contingent that arrived from area retirement complexes chartering tour buses to come to the receptions as part of their regularly scheduled activity roster. They mingled and interacted with college kids who were there earning extra credit doing reports on the films they were instructed by their professors to view.

WhoWhatWhereWhyHow
WhoWhatWhereWhyHow commented about Manor Art Cinema on Sep 30, 2010 at 4:06 am

The Thursday Night film discussion series held at the Manor Art Cinema and also at the Art Towne Cinema in Plantation, FL (also owned by the same owner, Carlos Cyrulnik) circa 1982-1985 was called “The Film Forum: An Examination of the Film Experience.”

The “Film Forum” was the creation of host, director, scholar Arch Angelus Sturaitis, an artist/writer originally from Canada who moderated a weekly discussion with headliner directors, actors, producers, movie critics and a wide range of experts expounding on the featured films being screened at the theatres.

South Florida premieres of “Say Amen Somebody”, “Siberiade”, “Gabriela”, “Heart Like a Wheel”, “Land of Look Behind”, Berlin Alexanerplatz", “Gaijin” among many, many other memorable Foreign/International films attracted unprecedented full house audiences of more than 300 patrons.

The Film Forum explored cinematographic, social and aesthetic issues inspired by themes of “Women in Film”, “Gay/Lesbian Cinema”, “Movies as a Medium of Social Conformity or Societal Dissent”, “New Wave Cinema from Germany, Israel, Poland, Hungary, Brazil”, “Idealized History: Period Piece Dramas and Epic Films”. Some of these themes became stand-alone enrichment Film/Communications courses taught by Arch Angelus Sturaitis at Broward Community College, Florida Atlantic University and by popular demand as special guest lectures at Nova Southeastern University and University of Miami.

The Film Forum with Arch Angelus Sturaitis was widely covered by the Press: Candice Russell of the Fort Lauderdale News and Sun Sentinel; Bill Cosford of the Miami Herald; Skip Sheffield of the Boca Raton News; Jack Sturdy of the TWN, among others. Many radio and TV personalities also joined with these critics in the annual Oscar Gala Discussion at the Manor, a very popular program for the film crowd.