Youngblood on Film: Interview with Belcourt Programming Director Toby Leonard

posted by Tony Youngblood

Nashville’s Belcourt Theatre has lived a long and fruitful life, first opening in 1925 as the silent movie house The Hillsboro Theatre.  Since then, the Belcourt has housed the Grand Ole Opry, The Children’s Theatre of Nashville, the Nashville Community Playhouse, and the Belcourt Cinema.  In 1999, the theatre was forced to close, and a grassroots group of Belcourt lovers formed Belcourt YES! to save the historic venue.   You can read all about the fascinating history on the Belcourt website here.

In years since, the Belcourt has slowly evolved from a historic placard into one of the most vital and respected art house cinemas in the country.  I can count the theatres I truly love on one hand, including the not-unworthy New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles, The Tampa Theatre, The Paramount in Austin, and The Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres in Toronto.  But it is the Belcourt Theatre in Nashville that I love the most.

A big part of that is due to the staff’s gutsy, thoughtful, and original programming choices.  I chatted with Programming Directory Toby Leonard about the theatre’s summer schedule, its history, and its future.

TY: The Belcourt turned 85 this year, and it’s been 10 years since the formation of the non-profit organization which rescued it from bankruptcy.  How would you describe the last 10 years?  Do any particular memories stick out?

TL: The last 10 years? It’s been pretty wild.  I came in just after the theater opened, and those first few years could best be described as shaky.  It was certainly a learning process for everyone involved, from board to staff, and attendance wasn’t near what it is now.  We’ve had a lot of “angels” over the years, and most of them actually still are in a lot of ways.  We wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for the faith and pockets of a handful of key people and those folks know who they are.  Sometime around the middle of the decade, things started to really pull together.  Attendance was on the rise and the theater was being used by all sorts of people for all sorts of purposes.  It really went from something that the community wanted to stay intact to something that the community built, whatever that is…whatever it is now.  As for memories, the music theory major in me immediately recalls an afternoon and evening spent in the company of McCoy Tyner (the pianist from Coltrane’s most famous quartet), who played two sets that night.  Filmwise, Satantango was always thought I would have to travel to see, but a colleague and friend who programs the Cinema Arts Centre in Huntington, NY set up a tour of a print brought over from Hungary.  Also, I saw Ikiru for the first time here before I took over programming.  I came in early one morning before we had to ship it out and watched it alone, emerging 2.5 hours later tear-strewn and renewed.  I’m very much looking forward to seeing it again.  It’s one of my favorites.  The Anvil show comes to mind as well.  What a blast that was.

TY: One of my fondest film-going memories is seeing all 450 minutes of Satantango at the Belcourt.  My only screenings of Ikiru have been on 16mm and dvd, so I look forward to seeing it at the Belcourt during the Kurosawa Centennial going on right now.  The Belcourt is known for some pretty phenomenal retrospectives, and the Kurosawa Centennial is no exception.  You decided on some lesser known works over popular works like Rashomon and Throne of Blood.  How did you decide on what to screen and what to leave out?

TL: Why thank you!  With the Kurosawa, I was concerned as I always am of repeating things. We’ve run a bunch of his films over the last decade, a few numerous times and Rashomon is one of those. Films like Throne of Blood, High and Low, Yojimbo/Sanjuro, and Dersu Uzala had even played within 2-3 years of this summer, so that helped to thin the heard a bit. With Seven Samurai, you can’t really ignore that one. It’s probably the fourth time we’ve played it in 10 years, but it is absolutely essential on so many levels. Some of these like Ran, Dodes’ka-Den and Stray Dog are brand new prints. With these conditions, it allowed the opportunity to dig a little deeper. The one that we missed however was Scandal, which sadly had to go back to Japan before we could get at it. A surprising and rather timely film, actually.

TY: Are there any more retrospectives/collections in the works?

TL: Yes sir… There are three or four I’m bandying about at the moment and don’t want to give too much away, and there’s also a fairly large concept on the plate for next winter; but I will confirm a Tati Retrospective for mid-fall. The hardest part is carving out the right time and coordinating the prints. If a certain film is key but isn’t available when you need it, the whole thing has to move.

TY: Excellent news about the Jacques Tati series!  I’m keeping my fingers crossed for an Eric Rohmer or Frederick Wiseman retrospective.  What’s coming up for the summer that really excites you?

TL: Gotta be Winter’s Bone, my top pick from Sundance this year.  I’ve heard called ‘hixploitation’ by some in more northern regions, and I take exception. Everyone involved with the film was asked to read the book first.  Anyways…yeah, Winter’s Bone and I’m also looking forward this restoration of [Jean Luc Goddard's] Breathless that’s touring around.  We’ll play that in August.

TY: That makes me happy to hear.  You selected this year’s wildly-popular Second Saturday outdoor screenings differently than years past.  You sent a ballot to Belcourt members asking them to vote on their favorites.  I was quite hoping Ernest Goes to Camp made the cut.  I’m very happy that The Jerk was picked (screening July 10th on the Belcourt outside wall at sundown).  What were some of your favorites that lost the popular vote?

TL: Yeah, The Jerk, right?  I hope everyone leaves the kids home for that one.  The dog is cute, but it’s name is Shithead after all.  I’m actually pretty happy with the results.  The list itself was comprised of mostly well-known titles, but I wouldn’t have minded if The T.A.M.I. Show or The Blob had made the cut.  The films were culled from a rather spectacular 16mm collection that resides here in town, so there’s always next year.

TY: So many great films, too few opportunities to screen them all.  If print availability and marketability were no objects, what director would you most want to do a retrospective on?

TL: Oh man…Bela Tarr?  Ozu?  Antonioni?   All would be very expensive.  We at the Belcourt have to live in the real world.  One of our staff is going to New York to see the Anthony Mann retrospective at the Film Forum and I’m suitably jealous.  There’s just no end to what you can and can’t play.

TY: When I lived near Paducah, Kentucky, I helped a local art house theater program a few films.  I convinced the manager to screen Ousmane Sembene‘s Moolaadé just after its release; and I was so happy with myself.  I had this feeling that if we booked really great, engaging, meaningful films, people would come.  For the weekend run, we sold three tickets.  Later, we screened the Kirk Cameron fundamentalist vehicle Facing the Giants, and it sold out for weeks.  Are you ever disappointed in the turnout for a film that’s close to your heart?  How does it affect your future programming?

TL: Funny you should mention Sembene.  We ran Moolaade too.  It was at a time where we’d do a panel for anything.  If there was an angle, we’d have a panel.  Our marketing girl at the time put one together from a female empowerment point of view, jumping off of the theme of the film with regards to mutilation.  A lot of people showed up!  When Sembene died, I decided to give a month of our Weekend Classics program over to him and it was definitely a disappointment.  It was a lot to ask of an audience to take a chance on these quirky yet unheard-of films, but at the same time, seeing Black Girl and Borom Sarret on 35mm was just amazing.  I’m glad that I got to share that with ten or so people.  It might affect future programming in some way, but I try to think of it as a community service and just move on because there will always be something completely unexpected that balances it out…like the 200+ people who turned out for The Mother and the Whore a few weeks back. I didn’t see that coming.

TY: I was one of those ten people at Black Girl and Ceddo, and while the turnouts weren’t great, the impact the films had on us few WAS great.  That really reaps benefits in the long run for the Belcourt.  As a film programmer, you have some of the best instincts in the business.  I almost without exception find that if there’s a film making waves on the circuit that I want to see, the Belcourt will eventually screen it (or already has).  How do you find your films?

TL: I get a whole lot out of Sundance and the Toronto International Film Festival, each for different reasons. They are the two festivals I attend yearly and together they can cover much of what winds up being released theatrically in first-run art house world. I track a lot of other activity online as well or, as Bush the First would say, “on the Google”.

TY: The Belcourt midnight shows are quite popular.  The Rocky Horror Picture Show screenings always sell out, but that’s really a given.  But I never would have expected the little Japanese horror film Hausu to pack the house two weekends in a row.  You were quick to book the cult-classics-in-making The Room and Birdemic: Shock and Terror.  And now the Belcourt is screening what some consider to be the worst movie of all time — Troll 2 –  double-featured with the new documentary about it Best Worst Movie.  Are the midnight shows particularly fun to program?  More risky?

TL: Well…yes and no.  The most frustrating aspect of programming the midnights is the fact that I’m a single father and can rarely even make it down for them.  It’s like living vicariously through my own job!  Truthfully, I think I’ve been able to come to one in the last year and it was probably the one that I was least interested in seeing.  The fact is that we do get a lot of requests via e-mail and social networking for Midnight Movies, but I’ve also found that some of the more requested films don’t actually yield the highest turnout.  Jason Shawhan, who hosts the midnights, is always yielding requests as well and I also solicit input from my co-workers who can and do come out for them, whether working or not.  Things like Hausu? All of the stars aligned on that one.  Most of us (the staff) had seen it and were heavily evangelizing for it.  We had Sam Smith design a poster for it and next thing we knew, Janus Films adopted it for their national release.

TY: It’s a pretty kick ass poster.  Speaking of The Room, Birdemic, and Troll 2 . . . Entertaining “bad” films are very popular nowadays.  Plan 9 From Outer Space took a while for people to discover, but now it seems that these films are being churned out almost as a new genre.  There’s a real danger that directors will make intentional “bad” films in order to achieve cult status.  But do you think people would see through it?  Is the sincerity behind films like The Room and Birdemic what make them so appealing?

TL: There certainly is sincerity behind it; but there is a real difference between The Room, which is actually bad, and Birdemic, which is intentionally bad and really didn’t take off the same way.  At the same time, I think that the appeal of something like The Room is that it genuinely makes people happy.  It makes a lot of people happy all packed in a room at the same time.  It’s a genuine cinematic experience that transcends its own, um, qualities when viewed with a large group.  Therefore, it can’t really be bad.  You can think of it and laugh.  Maybe Tommy Wiseau doesn’t see it that way, or didn’t originally.  The documentary Winnebago Man perfectly illustrates this dilemma of laughing at other people’s expense.  When someone like that guy, or Tommy Wiseau, or George Hardy from Troll 2 has or will come to terms with their cinematic follies, they will share in that laughter and maybe even laugh the hardest, hopefully all the way to the bank.

TY: Winnebago Man is the new documentary about Jack Rebney — made famous by the Found Footage Festival (which screened for the last two years at the Belcourt).  Any chance you’ll book Winnebago Man?

TL: It will be part of our August lineup, but I haven’t set the date yet. Probably early-mid August.

TY: Good to hear.  I just noticed today that you’re screening the complete Metropolis in July, truly the crown jewel in any art house belt.  This is something that wasn’t even possible two years ago.  [Link about lost footage discovery.]  And now it will be screening in Nashville.  Do you think people will appreciate how big of a deal this is?

TL: I certainly hope so.  It’s a long time in the coming.

TY: The Belcourt is also home to plays, burlesque shows, and music events.  You’ve had artists as prestigious as King Crimson, Lucinda Williams, Leon Redbone, Loudon Wainwright, and Bill Frisell play there.  How do you secure these performers?

TL: We work with local promoters on those shows, who actually rent the facility.  We consider doing it directly from time to time but find that it’s enough just to concentrate on what we do full-time, which is film.  We’re happy to host the shows though.  There really have been some great ones to come through here.

TY: Along with Drag City, you are distributing Harmony Korine’s new film Trash Humpers.  At the sold out premiere, an old man with a cane stormed out of the theater within the first 15 minutes yelling, “Garbage! Pure garbage!”  I’m still unsure if it was real or staged.  What is it about the film that made you take it under your wing?  While it undoubtedly did well in the director’s home town of Nashville, is it a riskier bet in other cities?

TL: That was Dave Cloud’s dad!  [Dave is an actor in the film and local rock legend.]  Not sure what he might have been expecting. Maybe Dave told him it was about seniors.  Working on Trash Humpers is a lot of fun. The film, for what it is, is doing quite well. It’s appeal is pretty limited (of course), but then again so was its budget so it kinda works. We’re getting close to 40 cities booked, and Harmony’s been appearing at some and doing Q&As via Skype at some others when he can.  He told me recently that he thought that it’s the widest theatrical release that any of his films have received, even more so than Mister Lonely, a much glossier affair for certain.

TY: That was Dave Cloud’s dad?  Priceless.  Dave was on the episode of my WRVU radio show Theatre Intangible that got me banned from the station for life.  But it was totally worth it!  One of the dangers of Trash Humpers getting such a high-profile release is that it may alter people’s perception of what it is.  Korine has said that it’s not really a film; it’s something that should be found in a bin at Goodwill or unearthed in a trash dump.  I get the sense that it was sort of a fun side project that kept growing.  Will putting a red rope around it detract from its appeal?

TL: A theatrical release, if you can get it, is still the best way to launch anything in a viewable feature-length format, whether it fits the acceptable notion of a “film” or not.  Some might argue that traditional IMAX spectacles, etc. aren’t actually films either, but it sure beats the hell out of watching it on a computer.

TY: How do we keep from becoming the jaded cigar-chomping studio executive going for the least common denominator?

TL: We ignore them. Life’s too short for crappy films.

Toby Leonard currently serves as the Program Director of the Belcourt Theatre in Nashville. In 1999, he was part of a small group that saved the city’s last historic neighborhood theater from the wrecking ball. Since then, he has dedicated the past 10 years to making the Belcourt a nationally recognized venue for challenging cinema and a model of community pride and involvement. He serves on the leadership committee and as co-chair of the programming committee of the Sundance Institute’s Art House Project, a unit of 12 nationwide cinemas established to keep the arthouse vital to local and national film culture. He has also served as a consultant to other film-based organizations including The Documentary Channel, a growing cable channel as well as Chicago’s venerable indie music label Drag City via the theatrical release of Harmony Korine’s Trash Humpers.

Tony Youngblood is a pretentious film and music snob who produces the experimental improv music blog and podcast Theatre Intangible. His favorite films include Eric Rohmer’s The Green Ray, Abbass Kiarostami’s The Wind Will Carry Us, Ingmar Bergman’s The Magician, Lee Chang Dong’s Oasis, and Rob Reiner’s This Is Spinal Tap.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 29th, 2010 at 7:42 am. It is filed under Belcourt Theatre, Blog, Cinemas We Love, Interviews, Repertory Cinemas, Youngblood on Film and tagged with film review podcast, movie review podcast. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.