Cinephile Sundays

Launched in Spring 2012, Cinephile Sunday was a theme-based, curated series that was screened in Collins Cinema in 35mm celluloid prints. Each semester, about five films were shown under certain themes, developed by Professors Emeritus, Winifred Jane Wood, and Maurizio S. Viano. This series aimed to screen films that could draw different communities, spark discourse, and highlight the craft of visual storytelling in its highest form.

Before Cinephile Sunday, Maurizio and Wini first started by compiling a list of films by local filmmakers, contemporary (and mostly experimental) films to form a yearly-ran series, “New Makers of the Seventh Art.” This series laid the foundation for Cinephile Sunday, as Maurizio and Wini sought recommendations from their colleagues across departments.

Purpose

The purpose of Cinephile Sunday was to “share fine films on the big screen with a community of film lovers.”¹ The mission was to draw film lovers from different backgrounds, including people from the greater Boston area, Wellesley College faculty members, and Wellesley College students, and create a space for film lovers to informally discuss films after screenings. Cinephile Sundays provided a “pleasurable form of film education to all those who regret the loss of good repertory theaters.” ² It aimed to exhibit and treasure quality films, and facilitate a collective viewing experience in the darkness of a theater.

Each semester, Wini and Maurizio would work with each other to create a theme for that semester’s films. Each semester, five films that are connected by a specific theme would be screened every Sunday. These themes included:

• Spring 2012: Celluloid Cities
• Fall 2012: Slow is for the Soul
• Spring 2013: Wandering Lost Souls
• Fall 2013/Spring 2014: Memory Theatres/Teatrum Memoriae
• Fall 2014: 100 Years of Tramps
• Spring 2015: Filthy Lucre
• Fall 2015: Cuba Si
• Spring 2016: Exquisite Combinations
• Fall 2016: 1966
• Spring 2017: The First Woman…

Throughout the process of curating films, both Wini and Maurizio would also consult fellow Wellesley College faculty members for film recommendations. Some faculty members would introduce films as well, in addition to Maurizio and Wini. Introductions served as a way to help audience members understand the films they were watching, and were often brief but well-researched. To screen films, the Cinephile Sundays program had hired a projectionist and utilized the facilities in Collins Cinema to provide a similar experience of viewing these films as they were once initially released.

Funding

To acquire funding from CLCE, Cinephile Sundays would first be partially funded from the collaboration with other departments. Wini and Maurizio had to specify their budget, what they were doing with the funding, and audience size—which ranged from about 25 to 90 film lovers from all different backgrounds and from various communities in the Boston area. They stated the purpose of the series, and would include descriptions of the five films they were screening for that semester. Maurizio and Wini aimed to screen five films with at least three being from different continents, and one silent film. Before submitting a proposal for funding, Maurizio and Wini would have to ensure that the film could be screened.

The funding obtained from the CLCE was dedicated to rentals for the 35mm prints for each film, screening rights, and a projectionist. To acquire the 35mm prints, Maurizio and Wini had to contact either distributors or directors and negotiate with them to obtain a price. This presented itself as a challenge, as prints were not always available in the United States. Typically, Wini and Maurizio ordered prints from Universal or Warner Brothers, or other studios, and on rare occasions, they acquired films from archivists.

Ending

Cinephile Sundays eventually ended in 2017. Several factors contributed to this end. It became increasingly difficult to screen films on 35mm prints because some distributing studios, such as Warner Brothers, no longer shared films in 35mm. Moreover, it was difficult to handle 35mm prints, as these films on 35mm had to be screened in very specific conditions. Films were not screened continuously, as each film was screened reel to reel. Another challenge was sustaining a film culture at Wellesley. Although Cinephile Sundays were advertised publicly, Cinephile Sundays coincided with the rise of streaming services and increased television viewing.

Eventually, both Wini and Maurizio retired in 2017, therefore marking the end of Cinephile Sundays.

FILMS AND THEMES

Data

Count of Decade of Movie Release for the Cinephile Sundays Project:

Even though the idea was to not follow modern movies, almost one third of the are 21st century movies which is interesting. Besides that, it is also interesting to not that the three decades with the least movies are the WWII + Post WWII decades.

Color Grading of Countries of Origin of the Movies shown during the Cinephile Sundays Project

As you can see they tried to use movies from different continents during the project, but it mostly stayed within first world countries, specially within the United States, Europe, and Russia.

Count of Directors Shown during the Cinephile Sundays Project:

As you can see, the project tried to use as many different directors as possible, with the only notable repeat being Andrei Tarkovsky (thanks to the Slow if for the Soul) series.

A lot of the information was acquired from a document folder that Winnifred J Wood shared with us and an interview we conducted with her ³.