Best Arts Institution

Webster Film Series

Comments (0) Wednesday, Sep 26 2001

The Webster Film Series may not sate the hunger of local cinephiles, but it goes a long way toward providing them a more complete meal. Under the direction of Vickie Woods and Catherine Cathers, the Webster series makes evident with each season -- chronicled on a splashy flier that gets marked with highlighter and then magneted to the refrigerator door immediately -- that there is more to world cinema than what shows up at Plaza Frontenac or the Tivoli or the Hi-Pointe. Humanité, George Washington, Yi-Yi, an Eric Rohmer minifest, The Gleaners: These are just a few of the delights that made it onto the screen of the chapel/auditorium, where the Webster series is screened, that never would have found their way to town through the major distributors. Woods and Cathers do the real work, taking chances, educating the public, selecting art rather than "product." They offer the true alternative -- film in a contemplative space, without the popcorn (which can be hard to get used to) and with an attentive audience that knows to shut up when the lights go down.