The Red Hook Cine Soiree held in the summer of 2010, featuring films and videos by Nathaniel Lambert Cummings, Bradley Eros & Tim Geraghty, Jim Jennings, Marie Losier, Jennifer Reeves, Jeremy D. Slater, and Sheri Wills. The filmmaker after-party included 16mm films projected in the backyard from the collections of Bradley Eros and Mike Olshan.
So what is a "cine soiree"? How is it different than a screening? It's not that different, but with wine and cheese it becomes more like a gallery opening, more overtly celebratory of the films. You couldn't have a cine soiree without wine, cheese, and a good baguette. Add pre- and after- music to the show played on the Victrola. Perhaps artistic "salon" could also apply in the sense of creating an atmosphere of sharing the work.
Finally, curate with a tinge of eclecticism; a nuance of film programming the Robert Beck Memorial Cinema did with great success. Punctuating the serious works with an oddball "soundie," as if insurgent saboteurs had suddenly taken over the projection booth. Curiously, this tactic of juxtaposing the sacred (avant-garde and experimental cinema) and the profane (cultural detritus produced by Castle Films) does not undermine the avant-garde selections. It serves to set at ease an audience who, although they might already appreciate works of avant-garde cinema, are now implicitly advised by this curatorial folly that it's okay to enjoy these films as well. Such is the cine soiree.
Cheers!
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