By Beth Stelle Jones
On Friday, March 14, 1980 over 300 people attended the grand-opening reception of F.A.N.S. at the newly acquired Glencoe Park-Recreation District's Community Center.
That night with the screening of Werner Herzog's "Aguirre, the Wrath of God" a new concept in recreation service was born on the North Shore. The Glencoe Park-Recreation District moved out the traditional programming area and into cultural films for children and adults. Now on Friday evenings, the extra noise and excitement of a softball game competes with the sound and music of films from Germany or Japan, and the voices of actors like Giancarlo Giannini or Hanna Schygulla.
SOMETHING NEW AND DIFFERENT
The film program is operated in association with Facets Multimedia, Inc., a not-for-profit, Chicago-based film and theatre organization. Each Friday evening, the FANS program (Facets Annex North Shore) brings to Glencoe, films from around the world, which would never receive exposure in commercial theatres. On Saturday afternoons, FANS presents the Children's Film Festival, an internationally acclaimed series of positive, humanistic films for children. The films provide an alternative to television and exploitation films often playing commercial theatres.
Beth Stelle Jones
Beth is currently the Superintendent of Recreation for the Glencoe Park-Recreation District. Prior to her employment in Glencoe, Beth was employed by the Buffalo Grove Park District and Lake-Cook YWCA. A University of Iowa Graduate, she is currently President of North Shore Round Table and serves on several IPRA committees. She is also a member of the editorial staff of IPR Magazine.
The films are screened in the one-time school library now a large carpeted room. A pull-down screen was installed in the front of the room and (50-75) folding chairs are set up weekly. The screening room is the old library office with 2 projectors on loan from Facets (valuing $3,500 each).
The program is a cooperative venture between the Glencoe Park District and Facets; Facets provides the projectors, screen, employees, scheduled films, prints monthly circulars and handles public relations. The Park District provides the location, collects the admission fees and sends a monthly check to Facets for 90% of the income. At the beginning, there was even popcorn, but the profits were more than eaten up by clean-up time. Vending machines fill the refreshment void nicely.
PLAYWRIGHTS, BIRTHDAY PARTIES INSURE SUCCESS
The FANS program has helped the Glencoe Park District provide a more diversified offering to community residents, establishing the Community Center as a full-recreation facility for every age. With time at a premium for adults, special events and one-time programs are supplementing the traditional 8-10 week structured classes. Considering the nature of presenting little-known, often sub-titled films to a residential community, the response has been tremendous.
A support group— Friends of Facets— was organized this past fall and meets in private homes to view documentary, classic or innovative films and discuss their content. The group promotes attendance and aids in fund-raising. At their first meeting in January, over 40 people gathered to see a film on Edith Piaf followed by a discussion led by Herbert Allen, a young Chicago playwright and Piaf admirer. A month later, the French cultural attache, Hugues de Kerret, spoke about French Cinema in the 1930's. To build the children's program, a birthday party package was offered and immediately brought great response. Mothers rent a room for the presents, cake, and ice cream and then the whole group troops into the movie room to their reserved seats. For $15 and $1 per child for the movie, it's an inexpensive and easy party! Rooms are booked as far as three months in advance!
People come not only from Glencoe, but from neighboring communities, and from as far away as Oak Park (40 miles), and some, using public transportation attend special films.
Illinois Parks and Recreation 28 July/August 1981
FROM A CHURCH BASEMENT TO A PARK DISTRICT
Milos Stehlik, Film Program Director of Facets Multimedia began looking for a North Shore location for a few months prior to discovering the Community Center. A Facets Board member, and also Park District Softball Coach, Robert Boone, suggested the location. Though there are occasional complaints about the hardness of the chairs or sound reproduction, the location has been generally accepted by movie goers.
Glencoe is a highly literate and cultured audience, according to Stehlik who began Facets in the basement of a church five years ago. Facets has since moved into their own building (1517 W. Fullerton in Chicago) and renovated it to include two theatres and a live theatre rehearsal stage.
Stehlik does the film selection for FANS in addition to scheduling special programs such as the lecture on French Cinema by French Film historian - critic - film director Armand Panigel held last Spring. A series of documentaries on modern French cinema followed the lecture throughout the month.
Other film series have included "Modern European Cinema", "Recent Italian Cinema" and "New Wave of German Cinema" to name a few. Films have ranged from the well known "King of Hearts" and "Peppermint Soda" to the lesser known Egyptian film "The Night of Counting the Years" or "The Harder They Come" from Jamaica.
Children's films are from around the world with an occasional classic such as "The Wizard of Oz" and "National Velvet" slipped in the line-up. The children's films run from September to May while adult films are year-long.
Prior to establishing the agreement with Facets, the Park District showed second-run feature films such as "Silver Streak", "The Producers" and "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory". The $100 - $200 rental fee was never met and attendance did not exceed 50 people. Facets, on the other hand, can negotiate with film distributors due to their long experience in booking specialty films, and their purchasing power as a substantial customer.
PUBLICITY, OPERATIONS -A CONSTANT CHALLENGE
Publicity has proven to be the greatest challenge. Advertising on the movie page is very expensive so listings under "revivals" and "weekend activities" are utilized. Facets places all news releases using their existing contacts on Chicago papers and along with their Chicago showings. But publicity has also come from the Chicago newspapers, with weekly listings in the calendar sections of the Chicago Sun-Times, Chicago Tribune, and Chicago Reader, and public service announcements on major radio stations and television stations. As well, the Chicago film critics, Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel and North Shore film critic Virginia Gerst of Pioneer Press, have consistently been supportive of the program.
For the opening of FANS, engraved invitations were sent to press and local dignitaries. Publicity included a city-wide mailing introducing the program which was sent last spring and again this winter, monthly circulars printed by FACETS and distributed in the community and at shows, posters in local business, and placement in the Park District brochure. Publicity is a cooperative effort with the coordination and costs covered primarily by FACETS.
A classic film and innovative programming.
There have, of course, been occasional problems such as no air conditioning, projector break-downs, finding a reliable person to work every Friday evening from 6-11:30, movies getting lost in the mail and the soft drink machine going haywire. Cooperation between Facets and the Park District has been paramount in the problem-solving process.
FUTURE IS BRIGHT
The Glencoe Park-Recreation District is excited about showing quality new and classic cinema for the North Shore. The innovative program may see expansion to Sundays in the future or even the acquisition of a new popcorn machine. Residents of Glencoe are now more aware of the fact that recreation and the Glencoe Park District are not synonomous with Boy's Spring Softball or Slimnastics, and FACETS has found a permanent and accessible outreach location. We're both happy.
Illinois Parks and Recreation 29 July/August 1981
