Criterion's Art-House America Series Will Feature the Belcourt Theatre

The culture surrounding movies is arguably just as important as the films themselves. There’s a sense of camaraderie that comes from sitting together in the dark with friends and strangers, and coming out of the theater afterward to criticize and praise the film you’ve just watched — or maybe just going across the street for some grub. The community that communal movie-watching fosters can get lost when you’re shelling out Jacksons — soon to be Tubmans, fingers crossed — for snacks at the megaplexes and prowling their garishly carpeted corridors. 

Luckily for Nashville, the Belcourt Theatre provides an intimate setting and world-class programming for film viewing and education — and the 2016 renovation of the theater cemented its presence as one of the city’s cultural jewels. Widely beloved distribution company The Criterion Collection will recognize the Belcourt’s impact by featuring the theater in its Art-House America series. The 10-minute documentary will go live on Criterion’s website May 6. 

The series highlights independent movie theaters across the country in an all-out celebration of film culture. The Belcourt will be the sixth theater featured in the series, following cinemas large and small. The first installment featured the 25-year-old Walter Reade Theater at the Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York City. Another spotlights the small-but-mighty Gold Town Nickelodeon in Juneau, Alaska, where programmer Collette Costa arranges throw pillows on the wooden seats, and patrons relax on couches in the last row. 

Tara Young shoots, produces and edits the documentaries, and she visited the Belcourt in May 2018. She came at a great time, catching Yasujirō Ozu’s Dragnet Girl with a live score performed by experimental outfit Coupler, and sitting in on education director Allison Inman’s Strong Leads Seminar for High School Girls. The film features lots of familiar faces, including programming director Toby Leonard, executive director Stephanie Silverman and benefactor and all-around great guy H.G. Webb. Inman also paints a loving portrait of late Scene editor and film critic Jim Ridley, for whom the theater’s lobby is named. 

Additionally, The Criterion Channel will feature a curated group of seven films selected by Leonard, including Akira Kurosawa’s Ikiru, Louis Malle’s Elevator to the Gallows, Robert Altman’s Secret Honor and Lucrecia Martel’s La Ciénaga. You can use a free trial to watch Leonard’s selections, and consider going in for the $10.99-per-month subscription. The Criterion Collection’s state-of-the-art film restorations are nothing to sneeze at, and it looks like the streaming service could be on track to replace the defunct and greatly missed Filmstruck.

The Art-House America series, however, is free for all.