The Art of Business>At the Movies

Film Buff: Upstate Films Maintains its Edge
By Mala Hoffman . Photos by Roy Gumpel

These days, the state-of-the-art house cinema is getting mixed reviews. On the one hand, filmgoers have become more sophisticated and are demanding more avant-garde fare. On the other, because of that, more theaters are making more screens available for those films, leaving alternative theaters without their previous cachet. “Over the years, because of our interest, we’ve been ahead of the curve, but people have caught up with us,” notes Steve Lieber, who founded Rhinebeck’s Upstate Films in 1972 with his wife, Dede, and Susan Goldman.

Though he’s wary of the competition, Lieber also acknowledges that financial success wasn’t necessary the trio’s main goal. “We’re a place whose prominent role wasn’t to make money, but to bring the experience, through our own appreciation of international cinema, to others, by bringing in the people who make the films, who created those images and ideas, to come to the theater to talk to the people.”

And though the “whole culture of America is about ‘how do we get young males between 18 and 30 to buy our product,’” Lieber says that is irrelevant to the mission of Upstate. “Who cares, because what it’s more about is to have an audience for something we’re showing in the theater, to fill those seats, and we’re doing that.”

One way the theater manages to do that is through its membership, which according to its Web site hovers around 1,000. Billed as a “non-profit member-supported arts organization,” Upstate generates 85 percent of its budget through admissions, membership, concessions (which both Steve and Dede say are very inexpensive: “We’re not trying to nail people”), and advertising in the newsletter. The rest of the funding comes through a combination of grants and corporate support. “It would be great to have a cushion, but we’ve also tried to operate within our means,” Lieber points out. “We never spent money we didn’t have.”

Other alternative theaters in the area have come up with their own solutions. For the past several years, the Tinker Street Cinema in Woodstock has been a major player in the Woodstock Film Festival (which Upstate also participates in). Further south, the Rosendale Theatre maintains a bare-bones approach to movie viewing that enables it to support itself while filling the house.

But it isn’t easy. “A lot of people think it would be a cool thing to do, but except for six weeks out of the years when you get something like Lost in Translation, it’s weeks and weeks when it’s really a struggle,” Lieber says.

His wife, Dede, concurs: “Sometimes when I sort of get discouraged about the whole thing, I go to see most movies at the mall, and I remember why we do what we do.”

The main draw, of course, are the films themselves, most of which are pre-screened by the Liebers and Goldman. “We’ll go to something like the Toronto Film Festival, where there are 300 films showing, and we’ll split up and see almost all of them,” Lieber says. “There are also videos sent to us that distributors want us to watch. I have seven on my desk right now.” He cites In This World, a film by Michael Winterbottom (Wonderland, Welcome to Sarajevo) that he saw recently at Toronto, as one example of something he’s looking forward to showing. “It’s about what would it be like to be human contraband,” he explains. The film, which follows people being smuggled across borders, is shot in digital video and was shown at Upstate for one week in November.

Over the years, Upstate Films has evolved from a single-screen cinema showing films Thursdays through Sundays to a two-theater operation with a staff of seven and a seven-day-a-week rotation. The theaters average 700 shows a year, many of which are accompanied by workshops or discussions with the filmmakers involved. In fact, the Web site features a list of those who have appeared, in alphabetical order, and it goes on for several pages. “We’re pretty dedicated to it,” says Dede. “And it’s interesting to see how it’s changed over the years. We’ve gone from this secret cinema to this institution. It’s mind boggling.”

To reach Upstate Films, call (845) 876-2515 or go to the Web site at www.upstatefilms.org. To reach the Rosendale Theater, call (845) 658-8989. The Tinker Street Cinema in Woodstock can be reached by calling (845) 679-6608.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article was originally supposed to cover the business stories of three independent Mid-Hudson Valley movie theaters: Upstate Films, Tinker Street Cinema, and the Rosendale Theater. Due to forces beyond our control—a desire not to be profiled in the one, an inaccessible profilee in the other—we were unable to do so. We urge our readers to support all three local, independent theaters, which program high-quality cinema not available at the mall megaplexes. —BKM

Sidebar: The Viewing Public
According to both Steve and Dede Lieber, Upstate Films wouldn’t have become what it is today if it wasn’t for its home community. “What makes us prominent? It’s the films. It’s the location. Rhinebeck is an unusual village in today’s world. There aren’t too many villages at all, to start with. Of course, we didn’t know any of this when we started.”

“Without the town having 15 restaurants, who knows what would have happened?” Dede adds. “It’s mutual, because we bring in the people to those restaurants. It makes it a nice little town.”

In addition to the greater community, Dede notes that there have been several sub-sets as well. First, there are those who have worked at Upstate over the years, in jobs such as cleaners or interns. “It’s been interesting to see the effect on them,” she points out. “One of the first kids became a film editor for a number of years, before changing professions for health reasons. That kind of stuff I never expected in a million years.”

There is also the foreign language element inherent in the showing of art films. “We’d show a film in French or Icelandic, and those native language speakers would attend. It was a little community within the community,” Dede says. “Those are the things that keep me gratified and interested.” —mh