On Stage with The Lincoln Theatre

Film Freaks: Exploring Cinema Beyond the Mainstream at The Lincoln Theatre

• Bob Watkins • Episode 12

Share episode

Meet Kate Aanerud, Film Curator With The Lincoln

Kate Annerud believes everyone deserves a film school education—even if they've never stepped foot on a college campus. At The Lincoln Theatre's increasingly popular Film Freaks series, she's making that happen one monthly screening at a time.

Drawing from her formal film studies background at Illinois State University, Kate has crafted something special in Marion, Virginia: a free interactive cinema experience that transforms casual moviegoers into thoughtful film enthusiasts. The program elegantly bridges education and entertainment through a three-part format. First comes the lecture, where Kate breaks down elements like shot composition, sound design, genre theory, or character archetypes—giving attendees the vocabulary and analytical tools to see movies differently. Then there's the screening itself—always a surprise film carefully selected to illuminate the night's theme while expanding horizons beyond mainstream fare. Finally, a guided discussion encourages everyone to share reactions and apply their new knowledge.

Ready to expand your cinematic horizons? Film Freaks meets on the first Friday of every month at 7:00 PM at The Lincoln Theatre. Come with an open mind, and leave with a deeper appreciation for the art form.

To learn more about The Lincoln Theatre visit:
https://www.TheLincoln.org/
The Lincoln Theatre
117 E. Main Street
Marion, Virginia 24354
276-783-6092

Speaker 1:

Welcome to On Stage with the Lincoln Theatre, where history and entertainment steal the show Dive into the rich legacy of this iconic Mayan revival theatre, from its 1929 debut to its starring role in Marion, Virginia's entertainment scene. Guiding us through this journey is the man in the spotlight, our executive director, Bob Watkins.

Speaker 2:

Love, cult classics, hidden gems and movies that make you think. The Lincoln Theater's Film Freaks series isn't your average night at the movies. It's an interactive film experience where the audience is part of the action. Curator Kate Enerud is here to spill the popcorn on what makes this series so unique. Welcome back everyone. Skip Monty, co-host slash producer, back in the studio with Kate Anirudh. Kate, how's it going?

Speaker 3:

Pretty good. How are you?

Speaker 2:

I'm doing just fine, doing just fine. I know Bob's out working hard getting the theater ready for a performance, so thank you for being with us. I know you're part of the team there, so, kate, you're the film curator at the Lincoln Theater. Tell us all about Film Freaks and the interactive film experience.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, so I love giving free education opportunities in the area. I'm originally from Chicago, so not native to Marion, but I studied film down at Illinois State and just all the experiences I had there from our basic film 101 stuff to film theory, all the film history stuff it was great and I wanted to bring it down here to give an opportunity to people who haven't been to film school to get that sort of education to enhance the way they see films. So Film Freak started back in 2023, in May, and we started off with talking about shot types and camera movement to sort of lay a foundation for all of the people coming through here so they understand how to see a movie, what they're seeing on the screen. We went through a lot of genres, a lot of countries. I love to show foreign film. That's really great because not any other theater around here shows foreign film. People might be a little bit scared of subtitles, silent stuff too. I love showing silent films, so stuff people in the area have never seen.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, this year we're sort of going back to the beginning because we have a lot of new people in our group that come in. So this year the first half is Film 101. So I give my lectures on some aspect of the behind the scenes stuff of films. Again, we started with shot types and camera movement. We just did one on sound design, so I talked about dialogue, music, difference between non-diegetic and diegetic sound and feel. So they got a lot of vocabulary words with that one, but everyone had a great time.

Speaker 3:

This coming next Friday I'll be talking about genres, character archetypes and screenwriting. So when they come to that, they get that lecture, they get that foundation of what we're going to talk about. We watch a top secret movie so they don't know what they're coming in to see. I like to keep that element of surprise, so people don't look up things about the movie beforehand. So they come in and they see something, hopefully, that they've never seen. I try to choose some out there stuff or maybe something they have and something that they're going to look at differently now. But we watch that and then we have a discussion afterwards. The discussion is usually geared around the lecture, but I also have general questions. We'll talk about if they like the movie or not, what their favorite parts were, but then we go into some more guided questions. Yeah, it's just a really great time. It's a free opportunity for the community. We don't charge anything to come do it. So it's definitely some film lovers that step into the theater, and the discussion is always great.

Speaker 2:

Can't beat the price free. Wow, you can't beat that. So how does this work, kate? Do you actually watch the film from beginning to end, or do you stop and discuss certain elements of the movie, like the camera angles? How does that work?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, so after the lecture I give a little preface on what the movie is, a little history on the director, maybe some actors in it, maybe how sound relates to a film, like we did last time. Specifically that film, all the sound was recorded away. It wasn't recorded on set, so it was a big difference from what people would normally see. And so then we went in and we watched the film. We watched the whole thing straight through, no breaks in it, but depending on the film, I might show a few more clips or like for shot types. I had some images, so we went through some specific aspects of the film again, but they watch it all the way through oh wow, do you provide popcorn?

Speaker 3:

not for this one, since there is the lecture, but all of our other film events and music events do have puff how does this experiencing the film this way enhance audience engagement compared to just a traditional screening?

Speaker 3:

Yeah. So with the lecture they're definitely given some specific things to look at. So with this coming one I'm going to be talking about genres and character archetypes. Once they learn about those, once they go into the film, they're sort of looking for those types of things and they know it's going to be in the questions after, it's going to be in the discussion. So it changes the way you view the movie and especially if you come to multiple film freaks, you had the first one being about shot type. So when you're looking at the movie you're looking how the camera moves. And then, if you were here for the sound design one, you're looking how music plays a part in the movie. So by the time this is your third one and you're learning about dialogue and you're learning about the different characters and screenwriting. You can sort of put all those pieces together and it really changes the way you view a movie.

Speaker 2:

Well, what kind of films do you look for when curating this type of experience?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I show a whole range of stuff. We did different genres. Last year it was your motion picture passport, so I did a different country and genre paired together. My favorite one was probably doing Mexican surrealism and we showed something called Santa Sangre. It's an Alejandro Jodorowsky film from the 80s. My main area of study was between 60s and 80s, so a lot of the films are around those decades, but I think the earliest one I've have to give warnings for, like, they're very adult films. It is an 18 and over program but, yeah, all the stuff in it. I love cult films too, so a lot of those make their way into there. I'm still deciding on some stuff for next year, but I love Walter Hills. I'm debating between one called the Warriors and one called Streets of Fire, so it's very exciting to be able to bring some of my favorite films into a new area where most people haven't seen them.

Speaker 2:

So, kate, what type of films do you look for when you're curating this experience?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I look for a whole variety of films. Last year was our.

Speaker 3:

I mean it's sort of a different topic every year was our motion picture passport, so it was a different country and a different genre every month, so you paired those together. One of my favorites was doing Mexican Surrealism. We showed Santa Sangre, which is an Alejandro Jodorowsky film from the 80s. We did Italian Westerns, so spaghetti Westerns. For one of them, we showed the Great Silence, which is a Sergio Corbucci movie from the 60s. So a lot of the films I show are definitely pre-90s. At least 90s is the latest I've shown, gone all the way back to the 30s and 40s for some of the movies, but definitely 60s to 80s underground, some independent, some cult classics. That's definitely an area that I specialize in, so I love to show a lot of those. We're showing the deeper cuts and hopefully exposing the community to things that they wouldn't see otherwise.

Speaker 2:

So I guess Blazing Saddles isn't on the list.

Speaker 3:

No, we do some older Western or some foreign Westerns. But I love cowboy movies and I grew up with those. We show everything pretty much.

Speaker 2:

Oh wow. What about? You mentioned cult films earlier. What about something like Rocky Horror? Would that be I?

Speaker 3:

love Rocky Horror. We did the Shadowcast one a few years ago. That was before I worked here. I think a lot of people have seen rocky horror, but we do some other cult classics. I'm looking at some balter hill movies for later this year. So if you've seen the warriors or streets of fire, I'm looking between a few of those to talk about directors and stuff like that. So, yeah, some more of those cult classics, but maybe a little deeper than something like Rocky Horror.

Speaker 2:

So, kate, you mentioned cult films earlier Is, I guess Rocky Horror Picture Show is not on the list. So, kate, you mentioned cult films. I guess Rocky Horror Picture Show is probably not on the list mainstream.

Speaker 3:

I remember my college town did it every year and stuff like that. Santa sangra that I mentioned would be considered a cult film definitely. We showed one called spirits of the dead which was a italian and french combo we've done well. I'm looking at some walter hill movies, so the warriors, the driver, streets of fire, something like that. I just love doing those films if it's had like a weird boutique release of it stuff by criterion, collection, arrow, vinegar syndrome. I'm definitely looking at those brands and what they're releasing recently and I watch a lot of their newest releases, new being like re-releases of stuff from the 60s and the 80s. But definitely in that area with those brands they're what I show pretty much awesome.

Speaker 2:

So those of us who aren't quite as cultured get to spread our wings a little bit yeah that's awesome. That's awesome, all right. Well, kate, what if any of our listeners were interested in becoming a film Freak? How does that work?

Speaker 3:

Yeah, so Film Freaks is always the first Friday of the month at seven o'clock. If you do stay the whole time, I do have a certified Film Freak certificate to give away at the end and some buttons if anybody wants some. But just prepared to watch something you've probably never seen and just prepared for a discussion afterwards. You can check the lincolnorg on what our little topics are going to be for the month. The first half of the year will be that film 101 stuff. So I'm still doing costume and set design and then we'll go into the second half of the year with film 101, so basically stuff I learned my sophomore year of college and talk about things like auteur theory and collaborative theory and stuff like that. So some words you probably don't know but that you're going to learn about if you stop by film freaks and you said it was the first Friday of each month.

Speaker 3:

At seven o'clock.

Speaker 2:

At seven o'clock, so just show up. Nope, very good. Well, I will make sure and try to hit the next session of that and I'll stock up on eat all the popcorn I can on the way there.

Speaker 3:

Sounds perfect.

Speaker 2:

All right, love it, kate. Thank you so much for what you do and hopefully we can have you back on the show with Bob in the future.

Speaker 3:

Yeah, I would love to.

Speaker 2:

Sounds great. Thanks so much.

Speaker 3:

No problem.

Speaker 1:

Thanks for tuning in to On Stage with the Lincoln Theater. Want more of Mary and Virginia's entertainment scene? Visit us online at thelincolnorg yes, that's thelincolnorg or drop by our theater at 117 East Main Street. Let's keep the arts alive and kicking together.