LACMA getting an earful about axed film program

Who knows the wrath of a film community scorned? The Los Angeles County Museum of Art does.

In a little more than a week, the controversy over LACMA's decision to ax its 40-year-old film program has grown into a full-blown online debate, with the museum starting its own electronic forum Tuesday in response to an aggressive Facebook campaign and online petition seeking to restore the much-loved but debt-ridden program.

The museum's forum, moderated by members of its press department, is designed for staff members -- including museum director Michael Govan -- to respond to questions and concerns from the public. (The museum said it will shut down the film program after its Alain Resnais retrospective scheduled for Oct 2-17.)

So far, Govan has posted one comment on the forum. "We wouldn't be LACMA without film,"

he wrote. "In the last years, LACMA's attendance and contributions have risen steadily -- but not for the film program. It’s clear we need some extra thinking and action in the film area to give it more support and outreach."

Last week, he told The Times that "we are getting diminishing audiences. This is a good time since we are shrinking to spend time thinking and rethinking. We do have to stem our losses."

A LACMA spokeswoman said comments from the forum will be collected over the next several days to be presented to the museum's top leaders.

That has not satisfied the hundreds of movie lovers who have expressed their outrage on a Facebook page and online petition that are both run by a group of 10 or so film enthusiasts who call themselves Save Film at LACMA. The petition, which launched Sunday, has so far collected more than 700 signatures toward a goal of 1,000. The Facebook page currently has more than 1,000 fans.

"This is more than just canceling a film program. This is about a museum's obligation to a community and part of that obligation is protecting art, and film is art," said Kathleen Dunleavy, one of the group's members, in an interview today with Culture Monster. (Dunleavy describes herself as a film buff who works in the public relations field in L.A. She said she is not affiliated with any arts or motion picture organization.)

Save Film at LACMA first came together Saturday to organize the Internet campaign. In addition, they spent last weekend handing out leaflets at the museum's recent series on James Mason.

The other members of the group include academics, freelance critics and film programmers from L.A.  They say their goal is to sit down with Govan and hammer out a plan to reverse the museum's decision.

Chief among their concerns is the way the museum has marketed (or failed to market) the film program. "If the museum were to give it more money for publicity, more people would come. They used to put a calendar out and now they don't. A lot of people just don't know about it," said Ken Windrum, a member of Save Film at LACMA and an adjunct professor of cinema at Los Angeles Pierce College.

The group said Govan has responded to their concerns but only through barely personalized form e-mails.

Meanwhile, the petition and Facebook page continues to grow. The campaign has attracted some notable movie-world personalities who have signed their names and left comments. They include directors Errol Morris, Bertrand Tavernier and Michael Cuesta; editor Dody Dorn; and critics Ella Taylor and Jonathan Rosenbaum.

-- David Ng

Photo: A scene from Ernst Lubitsch's "Trouble in Paradise," one of the many classic filmsshowcased at LACMA's film program over the years. Credit: UCLA Film and Television Archive

Comments

[LAD]

I've been feeling guilt rather than outrage, since I love the LACMA film program but don't attend very often. So here's a thought: what about having a LACMA film subscription...a flat yearly rate for X number of films? I don't know what the financials are, but I'd gladly pay $60/yr to see 6 films (or some such). That way LACMA would be guaranteed a certain amount upfront for films...and those of us who've been lax in attending would be motivated to come.

[Bethanie Rayburn]

I remember going to a Garbo film festival with my mother at LACMA - the experience was sublime compared to watching on a television screen, home video/DVD be damned. No one wants to see the ugly installations of cheap plastic that are passing for "art" currently installed. Please - let the public know and we'll show up. A subscription for a film series is a great idea! Real cinema for grownups as compared to the garbage at the neighborhood multiplex.

[Toshi Tomori]

LAD's suggestion above is excellent. Take heed, Govan and LACMA! Would also suggest a print and/or e-mail newsletter coordinated by non-profit film venues in the city. It would be mutually beneficial between institutions and to all film audiences.

[Judy John]

Why is it that Randy Haberkamp, down the street at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, is able to fill a 900 seat auditorium every Monday night for years and give hours of pleasure to the general public ? It is because Randy shows The Best of the Best. His 75 Years of Best Picture Oscars, his Great to be Nominated series and his fabulous current series The Best Picture Nominees of 1939 have played to packed houses. My advice to LACMA - drop the Films of Bangladesh series and instead show Classic Movies of Hollywood, Directors of the Studio System, Golden Age Actresses, Golden Age Actors, Silent Sirens and The Mean Streets - Film Noir. You may be glad that you did.

[Doug Cummings]

Given that Bangladeshi cinema started in 1956 and is now producing about a hundred films a year and I haven't seen a one of them, I'd absolutely love for LACMA to screen them. And I'm sure that if he had a decent budget--say half of what AMPAS spends on publicity alone--Ian Birnie who probably be one of the few programmers in Los Angeles curious and resourceful enough to mount such a series. As it is, I guess we'll have to settle for his much broader programming, which spans everything from Hollywood classics to European art house to industry premieres (his preview screening of "Julie & Julia" a few weeks ago sold out), documentaries, and many other things.

Then again, Birnie takes seriously his job to expose Angelenos to art around the world and isn't interested in recycling the same few dozen Oscar Favorites year after year. I mean, AMPAS does that!

[Annie Carone]

Just to clarify, LACMA’s film program continues. Though the weekend film series will go on hiatus for reconsideration in November, the museum will continue holding art exhibition-oriented film festivals in the Bing Theater occasionally throughout the year. Tuesday Matinees will continue without interruption.

Annie Carone
Communications
LACMA

[Carlo Panno]

Thank you, Ms. Carone, for showing that the Museum has a sense of humor about this act of cultural vandalism against the film capital of the world.

I'm still laughing at that "art-exhibition-oriented film festivals" line.

And -- seriously -- thank you for not abandoning the senior citizens.

--c

[Matthew WIlder]

It is simply not acceptable for Mr. Govan to take a "We needed to destroy the village in order to save it" approach to film at LACMA.

To be coarse, the film program at LACMA is our equivalent of film at MOMA. And I don't need to rehash the stories of intern Luis Bunuel encountering guest artist D.W. Grifith in the lunch line.....We may not have that level of turbo-charged greatness, but we do have a place that maintains the canon of world cinema at a powerful level. For example, the programming that accompanied LACMA's recent show of German art from 1945 to the present was extraordinary. I am proud to say that I took several young people to see those pictures, and encountering the works of Fassbinder, Herzog and Straub-Huillet for the first time blew their minds.

It's presumptuous to say, but I imagine some powerful person on the board, looking at the scary numbers the museum is facing, said something on the order of, "Let them eat Netflix." This is not good enough. And the film community in town will not stand for press releases that suggest a "reboot," i.e., a quiet euthanasia. Take a page from our President: in tough times, press on with tough decisions harder. Make more of film at LACMA rather than less.

[Clay Crosby]

I loved going to the Bing when I was single and was getting excited that my kids are now almost old enough to attend LACMA screenings. Ian Birnie's programming is always intelligent and interesting. Local film institutions like LACMA, AMPAS and UCLA often work together to produce important series and retrospectives -- when we lose one program, it weakens the others. I hope that the public outcry is effective in inspiring Govan to rethink his position -- otherwise LACMA will have yet another continuing public relations disaster on its hands.

[Michiko Erwin]

Complementarily, I attend LACMA's film programming very often in spite of the fact that I do not love it. What I love is cinema and the big screen. I would go even more often if LACMA thought about its programming more. Many offerings are travelling series curated by others and available in other cities; LACMA shows little individual initiative. What strikes me as most noticeable about the audience is the advanced average age of the attendees. Given that demographic, it's not only unsurprising, it's INEVITABLE that the audience would "decline" in number. I cannot think of anything that LACMA film has done to reach out to younger viewers. This inertia contrasts with efforts the museum does make regarding its art programming and advertising. LACMA can learn from a startup like Cinefamily in this respect. I'd also like to add that I am a LACMA member whose main reason for being a member is film programming. Since I just renewed membership for a calendar year, to find out the next week that film programming is being cancelled, I am not very happy. An additional benefit should be added to membership; that would help out people caught in this situation.

[Katie]

LACMA programming shows a wide range of films. This diversity is reflective of the diverse cultures and interests in Los Angeles. While there are of course films I'm not that into at times, there are always films that engage, instruct and entertain. I have seen a wide range from premiers to classic film noir to foreign films at LACMA and have always been impressed with not only the venue but the effort and care the programming staff put into each and every film they show. (I mean where else can you get a handout with reviews and information about the film???)

A film program can never truly be everything to everyone but it shouldn't have to be. What a film program at one of the largest and most prestigious art museums in the country should be is a place to view films that can't be seen elsewhere that introduce the audience to new worlds and viewpoints in the same way the art collections do.

I shudder to think of what 'art-exhibition-oriented' films would be. Such screenings would truly see audience attendance dwindle!

[Doug Cummings]

Michiko, you make a good point about series that appear in other cities, but I think a lot of us like it when Birnie programs something curated by, say, James Quandt or the folks at the Film Forum in NYC, precisely because it connects Angelenos with what is currently being talked about and written about around the world. I visited NYC last year and was told by several indie distributors that "Los Angeles is a wasteland" for their films, and those of us who follow these things know that NYC shows a ton of movies that never play here. Now that a lot of really good conversation about movies happens online (which I think is a good thing although I don't believe we should ever jettison local film culture) it's pretty great to join conversations about Oshima or "Jeanne Dielman" or with friends and critics and movie sites based outside Los Angeles. I think it's part of a museum's job to keep us all connected to global trends in that way.

[okartist]

The film program lost audience when they stopped making a separate film program that we could read and post and highlight. They incorporated it into the general calendar. A mistake. Realize that none of these decisions are simple "mistakes". These people are too smart in the ways of manipulation and funding to simply end the printing and mailing of the calendar. They knew it would kill part of the audience and they did this with a purpose. President Melody Kanschat has been trying to end this program for years. Speak with people inside the museum to confirm this. It is well-known.