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CALL FOR HELP
Brattle in danger
BY MIKE MILIARD

In the age of Netflix, big screens everywhere are feeling the pinch. But for independent repertory theaters, the slowdown in ticket sales is especially acute. Harvard Square’s nonprofit Brattle Theatre, which has been showing dusty classics, off-kilter indies, and hard-to-find foreign fare for more than half a century, is a case in point.

Last week, the theater announced the Brattle Legacy Campaign, a two-year fundraising push that it hopes will net $400,000 by the end of this year and another $100,000 by the end of 2006. If the goal of the first phase isn’t met, the Brattle’s projectors will flicker and go dim for the last time.

The Brattle has struggled before. But this time it’s serious. "It seems like this cycle, every 10 or 15 years the Brattle goes through a period where something puts it into this tenuous situation," says Brattle director Ned Hinkle. "But we’ve never had to do a campaign of this magnitude before."

The reasons why the venerable film venue is in such dire straits aren’t too surprising. "I think we are seeing the end result of the video revolution," Hinkle says. "You’ve got DVDs with great quality and cheaper, and bigger TV sets. People are turning more toward home entertainment to see these classic films that the Brattle has always been known for presenting." It may also be that the Brattle has been adversely affected by the changes in the neighborhood. "There are so many empty storefronts in Harvard Square right now, with Wordsworth closing, and the HMV space being empty for years. Especially on our end of the square, a lot of businesses are closing earlier than they used to, and there aren’t as many people walking around."

Ticket sales at the Brattle have declined for the past several years, and Hinkle says this year has seen a precipitous 20-percent drop. So, hat in hand, the Brattle Film Foundation is looking for benefactors large and small. They’re also in the process of organizing benefit concerts, talks with well-known filmmakers, and a movie "watchathon" early next month when cinephiles can enlist pledges as they persevere through a weekend of nonstop screenings.

Hinkle envisions two responses from the community when it’s apparent how much trouble the Brattle may be in. The first: "Oh my God, film programming at the Brattle can’t stop. We have to do something." The second, and the one he’s afraid of, is a resigned shrug: "Oh, that’s too bad." If it’s the latter, he says there won’t be much choice but to shutter the theater that’s been the vital center of film culture in Cambridge since 1952. "We’re a nonprofit. We’re meant to be providing a service to the community. If the community doesn’t think that service is important, then we shouldn’t be offering it."

Hinkle says the theater still serves a purpose. "Many of the films we play aren’t available on DVD, and some of them are new films that haven’t been seen on screen in the states." Moreover, the Brattle offers something your living room just can’t. "We’re trying to preserve the mode of going to the movies, which we feel is an integral part of understanding film: seeing the film in a theater, on the big screen, with an audience of strangers, with your popcorn and your soda, in your cushy seats."

To make a donation to the Brattle Legacy Campaign, visit www.brattlefilm.org.


Issue Date: October 14 - 20, 2005
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