Not so deep in the bowels of Cambridge lies the hidden cinematictreasure of the Harvard Film Archive (HFA), atheater/museum/library devoted to the preservation and exhibitionof cinematic history.
Located just off Mass. Ave, the HFA screens independent,artistic, historic, and foreign films from its vast collectionnearly every day. Although the archive is part of HarvardUniversity, screenings are open to the public and often featureintellectual "extras," such as lecturers and musical guests. Thescreening rooms, located in the basement of the Carpenter Center,allow film students and cinema buffs to see contemporary andhistoric movies as they were meant to be seen: on the bigscreen.
Tufts senior Jenn Jarecki, who first visited the HFA at therecommendation of a professor during her sophomore year,appreciates the unique movie-going experience that the HFA createswith the bonus lecturers.
"For silent films sometimes they have a piano player there, andsometimes they have speakers, so it becomes more than just sittingin the theater and watching the film," Jarecki said.
HFA bridges the gap between cinematic intellectualism andpedestrian escapism, between high culture and low. Moviegoers canmunch on Jujubes while viewing some of the greatest, or mostobscure, movies ever made. And no matter how pretentious the movie,the screening rooms are usually comfortably full.
Films are screened in thematic series, focusing on particulardirectors, time periods, or other themes. Jarecki said that thisacademic focus further enhances the quality of the HFA movie-goingexperience.
This spring's offerings included a series of films by Danishdirector Lars von Trier, including his newest, "Dogville," starringNicole Kidman. Another on-going series features a retrospective offilms by Yasujiro Ozu, a 20th century Japanese filmmaker.
The HFA is not only exhibiting these historic films but alsofeatured a lecture by cultural critic Susan Sontag, a live benshiperformance (to replicate the experience of a 1930's Japanesecinema-goer) accompanying one of Ozu's silent films, and a lectureby director Masahiro Shinoda.
In the HFA's "Global Visions" series, films dealing with similarthemes are brought together from all around the world. "RecentActivist Cinema," featuring films from the USA, Haiti, and beyondthat deal with contentious political issues. "New Italian Cinema"featured new Italian movies.
In addition to diverse screenings, the HFA occasionally bringsfilmmakers to Cambridge to interact with film students and thecommunity at large. Past guests include director Atom Egoyan ("TheSweet Hereafter") and actor-director John Malkovich ("DangerousLiasons"). These lectures along with question and answer sessionsoffer filmmakers and audience members to give each other valuablefeedback.
The HFA, as a division of Harvard, also preserves Harvardstudent and faculty work, and presents occasional screenings of newfilms. Harvard students can volunteer or intern at the archivethroughout the school year.
Although Harvard is not a member of the Boston LibraryConsortium, resourceful Tufts students can take advantage of theHFA's extensive collections and Film Study Library. It's anopportunity no serious film student should miss.
For everyone else, next time you're in the mood to see a movie,skip "Hellboy" and check out the HFA's screening calendar, locatedon the web at http://www.harvardfilmarchive.org. It's cheaper thanLoews, and good for your brain. Like spinach.
