MMoCA keeping outdoor film alive, it is own way

Rooftop Cinema, a program of the Madison Museum of Contemporary Art, shows experimental film in an outdoor setting (Photo: Doug Fath).

Drive-in theaters may have bowed out of today’s markets and become an equivalent of nostalgia, however, the Rooftop Cinema of Madison Museum of Contemporary Art (MMoCA) is doing its best to keep outdoor cinema alive.

The cinema returned for its ninth season in MMoCA’s rooftop sculpture garden on the first Friday of June, kicking off the series with three short films by Jan Švankmajer, a Czech filmmaker known for his integration of stop-motion animation and live action in surreal tales, according to MMoCA’s website. 

As the sun went down around 9:30, the rooftop garden naturally transformed to a cinema surrounded by stars, breeze and distant blare coming from the street below. An audience of students, local residents and film professionals gathered under the sky, grabbing a cocktail, wrapped in blankets and curling up on the sofas aside. The night in June was still a bit chilly but it couldn’t dampen these film lovers’ enthusiasm.

“To me, the most impressive part was the technique,” said the UW-Madison student Shennie Sang after the screening of the Canadian filmmaker Caroline Leaf’s works in the second week. “It just seemed pretty amazing how she was able to put the animation, sound effects and background music together all and get the audience engaged in the story.”

Svankmajer and Leaf included, this year the series will showcase a compendium of animated films by four filmmakers on every Friday of June and conclude on Aug. 22 with an additional selection of works by each artist. From the hand drawing early on to the later 3D computer animation, the series tries to provide a fusion of animation films across a wide spectrum of genres, said the curator Tom Yoshikami, who has been involved in Rooftop Cinema from the very beginning.

Starting nine years ago, Rooftop Cinema has devoted itself to bringing in experimental films to the community. During the construction of the museum in the early 2000s, Yoshikami saw the potential of a great location in downtown Madison as a cinema to draw people in. Instead of Hollywood-like narratives, the mission is to expose audiences to alternatives that they might not be able to see elsewhere, said Yoshikami.

Time has proved its success since then. Seats are quickly filled up every year.

“It’s not just the movie; it’s the experience,” Yoshikami said.

He said the program brings back the spirit of outdoor cinemas in the days when film watching is more of a “solitary viewing experience,” as technologies allow people to watch films at home. But the rooftop cinema provides a space where people can gather around and share the experience afterwards.

Sang agreed that the atmosphere of getting people together is one of the biggest draws to her. Besides that, regardless of the avant-garde quality, she believes the movies can always resonate with personal experiences. “It’s suitable for all ages, not just for college students.” she said.

Next week the museum will screen puppet animation by Břetislav Pojar and 3D animation by Lilian Schwart in the last week.