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SLFS Board: Sarah E. S. Sinwell and the Pursuit of Art House Cinema

In any non-profit organization, the Board of Directors plays a vital role in planning for funding, growth, and subsequently helping achieve their mission. At Salt Lake Film Society, our Board embodies the organization’s passion for film and art house cinema, and they are deeply committed to our mission of educating, advocating, and informing about –and through– cinema.

For local cinephile and vice-chair of the SLFS Board, Sarah E. S. Sinwell, this commitment to film and independent cinema started long before she ever heard of Salt Lake Film Society. “My family were always big film lovers growing up; I’ve been watching movies with them and going to art houses my whole life.” However, it wasn’t until college when she truly discovered her passion, not just for film, but for analyzing the art and the industry of independent cinema.

“I was studying to be a diplomat, taking political science classes and the like. In my sophomore year, I missed out on my first choice for a seminar, and the seminar I ended up taking was my first film class. When I graduated, I tried being a production assistant, made a few short films, but I soon realized that I would much rather analyze film than make it.”

Educating Through Art House Cinema Analysis

an image of Sarah Sinwell, local art house cinema expert and vice chair of SLFS board
Sinwell became a member of the SLFS Board of Directors in 2015

When she moved to Utah in 2015, Sinwell continued her cinema journey by joining the Department of Film and Media Arts at the University of Utah as an assistant professor. Now an associate professor, she has applied her devotion to art houses and film analysis through teaching, and writing books and scholarly articles. 

It didn’t take long for her art house cinema expertise and the mission of Salt Lake Film Society to align. “When I moved here, Kevin Hanson (SLFS board member and colleague at the U) immediately told me, ‘You need to meet Tori [Baker], and you need to be a part of the Film Society’, and I was invited to join [the Board] just a few months after that.”

Unsurprisingly, Sinwell’s initial interactions with Salt Lake Film Society were as a patron. “I’m a huge cinephile, I write about art houses, I write about independent films, I write about feminist and queer filmmaking, and the Broadway and the Tower are the places to go to see the best independent films in town, and the best independent films internationally, so I was pretty excited about even attending a film at the Tower/Broadway.”

For Sinwell, being a member of the SLFS Board was also an important part of her personal introduction to Utah, and the Salt Lake City film scene. “It was my first time living/moving here, so [joining the SLFS Board] was a big part of my learning about Utah, and about film culture in Utah.”

“People are seeking out the theater experience, because they’ve missed it. I was at the reopening of the Broadway in 2021, and my friends and I kept saying ‘This is the experience we have been missing’”

She was able to further supplement her studies, writings, and analysis of art houses and independent cinemas, because what better way to learn how an art house works than by being a part of one? “Being a part of the board has really taught me all about the in’s and outs of how non-profits and art houses work. I had no idea, for instance, how much a popcorn popper actually costs.” Sinwell said.

“I’ve really been involved, not just in the Film Society, but in thinking about the state of the art house at the moment when streaming is becoming more popular, and knowing this [type of] institution from the inside is invaluable to understanding the challenges that many art houses face” Sinwell continued.

Enjoying Independent Film At SLFS

The reciprocal relationship between Sinwell’s educational pursuits and her experience on the SLFS Board is an important part of her impact on the Salt Lake City film scene. But like any fan of independent film, nothing really compares to the personal enjoyment of watching an engaging and thought-provoking visual story on the big screen. For Sinwell, watching Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady On Fire at Broadway Centre Cinemas offered this type of unforgettable viewing experience.

“I saw Portrait of a Lady On Fire (2019) for the first time at the Broadway. Sciamma is one of my favorite directors, and I wanted to show it to everyone. I liked it so much, I saw it again, and the second viewing was the last film I saw in a theater for two years after COVID shutdown the Broadway” Sinwell remembered.

For those who have seen it, the lasting impression of Sciamma’s critically acclaimed film would be memorable even without the subsequent lockdown that occurred due to COVID-19. But it was the theater experience, and the insights and discussions with her friends afterwards that truly cemented Sinwell’s experience as noteworthy.

“One of these [POLOF] viewings was a sneak preview I went to with some friends and colleagues, and it was so inspiring. My colleague who studies music talked to me about some really interesting things the film does with music and sound, and I used aspects of femininity and ‘gaze’ from the film in my Queer Media class that I teach.” 

Supporting the Community Role of Art House Cinema

As someone who has experienced the profound nature of the independent theater viewing experience first-hand, Sinwell is well aware of how important art houses are to their local communities, especially as COVID restrictions are lifted. “For many people, watching movies was their pandemic lockdown activity. Now, people are seeking out the theater experience, because they’ve missed it. I was at the reopening of the Broadway in 2021 when we screened Dune (2021), and my friends and I kept saying ‘This is the experience we have been missing’ you know, watching a film with others in a theater, and talking about it after.”

As an SLFS board member, Sinwell has both supported, and helped realize the larger aim of using film as a learning tool for social good. “SLFS shows unique films. We are purposefully putting these films on our screens, films that other people might not find otherwise. People are being introduced to other stories and cultures through these films.”

the cover of the book Indie cinema online, a book about art house cinema written by Sarah Sinwell
Indie Cinema Online is Sinwell’s newest book, and explores the challenges and growth of art house cinema

“Our films and cultural tours [like Czech Film Tour or FilmMéxico] let you imagine what it’s like to live in the Czech Republic, or Mexico, or live the female experience [in films like POLOF]. It’s an opportunity to explore what the future and history both hold” Sinwell added.

After stories of her introduction to loving film, writing and teaching film analysis, and how she became a vital member of the SLFS Board, there was one final piece of insight Sinwell had to offer on the age-old question: butter or no butter on your theater popcorn? “Definitely butter. But if it’s a matinee at the Broadway, I always get a slice of Pie Hole pizza and a Coke.”

Given our mission to educate, advocate, and inform about and through cinema , there are few people more suited to the task of vice-chair of the SLFS Board of Directors than Sarah E. S. Sinwell, and we are lucky to have her. 

You can read some of her scholarly articles analyzing art house cinemas and how they have handled the COVID-19 pandemic here, and here. For information about her new book Indie Cinema Online, and other published work. click here.

To see a list of our upcoming films and events, click here.
To join our Red Carpet Club, or to learn more about RCC levels, discounts, and benefits, click here.


Why SLFS Believes in the Independent Theater Experience

For some of us, film can provide a form of escape. When we sit down to watch a movie (for instance, at an independent theater) we enter another world. It could be a fantasy world, or a world from the past, or a world that strikingly resembles our own. Like a dream, film gives us a place where our minds can seize the opportunity to get away from the thoughts and troubles of our reality, and imagine the undertaking of new experiences and perspectives. All films, and especially good ones, captivate their audience by nurturing this escape, feeding a string of environments, characters, and stories into these worlds that help us relate, and engage with their premise. 

But as personally enchanting as the visual stories of film can be, sometimes we don’t quite notice that this activity can be supported, and even enhanced when we share it with others on the big screen in a movie theater. The maximized visuals and audio of the theater can reinforce the power of any film, and when we partake in this experience with others, looking at the same screen in the same room, with friends, family, or strangers, we come closer together. In the moment, we experience both physically and mentally that dreaming, imagining and exploring with others is a deeply human need, and one that we all share.

Film is a powerful vehicle for creating this intimate connection between total strangers, and it’s at the heart of what we offer the Salt Lake City community at Salt Lake Film Society. We show diverse and engaging independent films that help open minds and hearts, and provide experiences outside of ourselves that bring us closer to others. And through our independent theaters, we are committed to creating and nurturing community spaces where everyone can have shared experiences with one another. 

Why The Big Screen Matters

SLFS believes in the big screen independent theater experience and the power of communal cinema, and we want to tell you why. Movie theaters have always been a pillar of the art of film, and the entertainment industry since the first ones started popping up in the late 19th century. But lately, with the modern era of streaming and nearly unlimited digital access to films becoming the norm, movie theaters have taken a bit of a hit over the years. For some, the convenience of at-home viewing has seemingly started to outweigh the big-screen movie theater experience.

But for many others, there is no substitute for the big screen independent cinema experience and the value it adds to their viewing experience. When you buy a ticket and you take your seat at a theater, you are making a purposeful commitment of attention to both the film and the story. It’s much harder to not engage when the screen nearly takes up your entire field of vision and the sound has the ability to shake your bones.

a photo of an empty auditorium at the Tower Theater, an independent theater in SLC
An empty audience at Tower Theatre, the oldest movie theater in the Salt Lake Valley still in operation. Photo Credit: Purple Moss Photography.

Car engines rumble loudly, wide vistas appear truly expansive, and the quiet tension of a killer stalking their victim is heard and felt throughout the theater. When you watch a film in a theater, the specificity of what you see, hear, and feel is amplified, and consequently amplifies the experience of the story too. You become immersed in it mind, body, and emotions.

But don’t just take our word for it. According to Jeffery Zacks, a professor of psychology at Washington University, the real-life stimuli and the empathetic reasoning that often produces emotion in our lives is not only replicated, but it’s intensified when we watch a movie. “In real life, we see people who cry and we watch bad things happen — all these things make us feel sad. But in a movie, you crank those things up to 11… [a filmmaker] can control exactly what’s shown, and what else is present.” 

Zacks says this effect is even stronger when it comes to watching a film in a theater. “Bigger screens also produce more robust responses… you’re sitting in a dark room where everything else is cut off, the viewer has much less opportunity to walk away or focus on other things… it’s just taking the mechanisms that we encounter in real life and just really pushing all the buttons at once.”

The Independent Theater Experience

The sensory amplification of watching a movie on the big screen is a critical part of why the theater experience makes for a significantly superior experience, but it’s not the only reason. While distractions from not-so-respectful movie-goers can leave a bad taste in one’s mouth, we can’t forget the many positive ways in which communal cinema is powerful and an incredibly humanizing experience.

a photo of the audience sitting down for a movie at an independent theater
Moviegoers sitting down for a film at Broadway

Watching a film with others in a movie theater heightens the empathy, sympathy and connectedness of communal engagement through visual storytelling. Sharing laughs, gasps, and quietly sad moments with friends and strangers is how people become more present with each other. These shared experiences of emotion and physical responses reaffirm the themes, messages, and emotions that a film is trying to convey. The immersive physical space, along with the shared emotional responses is why films seen in a real independent cinema foster more empathy and compassion for people you don’t even know.

For independent theaters like Broadway Centre Cinemas and Tower Theatre that focus on showing independent films, this effect is even more powerful. We make it our mission to not only show thought-provoking films, but to also create a safe and accepting place where people can comfortably experience these stories, thoughts, and feelings with each other. It is our hope that  the empathetic and social bonding that begins on the screen, will continue outside of the theater and into the conversations, ruminations, and lives of our moviegoers long after the credits roll.

Independent Cinema in Salt Lake City – SLFS

At Salt Lake Film Society, we believe deeply in the positive power of communal cinema to improve society, especially when it takes place through the big-screen independent theater experience. SLFS is proud to provide consistent, affordable access to inspiring stories that the  community can share with each other. Through the films we show and the atmosphere we cultivate, we believe communal cinema can foster passionate conscientiousness in our community. So come join us (and your fellow community members) for a film! It just might change your life.

To see a list of our upcoming films and events, click here.
To join our Red Carpet Club, or to learn more about RCC levels, discounts, and benefits, click here.