Beta Films

Video Mercury Films

Something electric is in the February air at the Amherst Cinema Arts Center, and it’s definitely not the heat. Film and art enthusiasts in the Amherst area have long awaited the cinema’s arrival in November because of its dedication to offering movies that matter. Over the next three months, the cinema will showcase what it calls “an extraordinary collection of undisputed masterpieces that have changed the way people make and watch movies.”

The collection in question is a new international art house series of classic films, entitled “Essential Art House: Fifty Years of Janus Films.” Amherst Cinema’s general manager, Beth Moore Roberts, considers the films to be close to the hearts of Cinephiles everywhere.

“This area is perfect for it,” said Moore Roberts about the series’ appeal in Amherst. “The films are indisputable classics.” Weekly until May 28, the cinema will show 16 of the 30 films in the Janus collection. Screenings will take place on Thursdays and the Sundays following. Every week a film scholar from one of the five colleges will introduce the Thursday screening and field questions afterward. The cinema began their international art house classics series last Thursday with a packed screening of Jean Renoir’s 1939 French film “Rules of the Game.” Tomorrow at 7 p.m. the series continues with “La Strada” (1954) an Italian film by Federico Fellini, with an additional screening to take place at 2 p.m. on Sunday.

Fellini’s filmic legacy places him as one of the top screenwriters and an influential director in Italian cinema. Fellini has described “La Strada” as “the complete catalogue of my entire mythological world.” Considered to be a film of Magic-realism, “La Strada” raised controversy at its premier in Venice, Italy more than 60 years ago; praised by Catholic critics and condemned by Leftists as a betrayal of Neo-realism.

Some of the cinema’s other upcoming films outside the classics series are “Letters from Iwo Jima,” which starts Friday, “The Lives of Others An Unreasonable Man,” “Into Great Silence,” “Days of Glory,” “Bamako,” and “Summer in Berlin” (this film starts April 27, director present).

The cinema, located at 28 Amity St. in downtown Amherst, is a nonprofit venue that offers three screens, each complete with 35 mm film and digital video projection, as well as stadium seating. Still up-and-coming, the cinema drew support from hundreds of contributors when it opened in November, and has a three-year goal of raising $3.25 million to go toward the building’s purchase, loan repayment and support for operations and programs. Tickets to all screenings are available for purchase at the box-office, or online at www.amherstcinema.org.