Monday, September 01, 2008

provo's greatest secret

if there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.

-joseph smith 
the thirteenth article of faith

by beloved family and friends aside, the best part of living in provo is byu's international cinema.  in a town known for (insert adjective here) "mormon culture," happy valley is home to "the world's longest running international film program."  it is wonderful: during the fall and winter semesters, september through april, two to three foreign films are shown repeatedly throughout the week, free of charge.  i discovered it early in my first semester at college, when i innocently walked in to a movie called to live and was left emotionally drained and completely astonished.  it immediately became my dream job.  a year and a half later i was a projectionist there.  (and, five months later, i was fired, leaving me devastated until i talked my way back on and did a much better job).  at first, i would do my homework and occasionally watch a movie.  near the end of my time at school, i realized that this was a unique opportunity--to see such a wide variety of films projected in a theater--that homework became a secondary priority.  it was here that i first saw the rules of the game, fanny and alexander, not one less, stalker, and many more that have deepened my love for the cinema.
while the orem public library's near-complete dvd collection is another great perk of living in the valley, the opportunity to see a bergman or renoir movie projected from a film print is becoming rarer, making byu's i.c. such a treasure.

be excited.

3 comments:

Em said...

Sent a link to this post to yourheartout.com
Hope you don't mind.

Lots of reasons keep popping up for me to miss living in UT

--jeff * said...

don't mind at all.
though i'm not sure what that means.

Jack said...

Thanks for introducing me to the i.c. many years ago. Even Cablanca on Valentine's Day when we had no dates was a treat. Man, i can't even remember all the awesome movies i saw there. it's high time i return.