by Noah Armstrong
Daily Lobo
Southwest Film Center Director Justin Landis is tired of seeing only a few students at the movies.
"The theater sits almost 200 people, and when it's only drawing 10 to 15 people, we obviously have a problem," he said.
His staff is working to select films people want to see, and this year the theater is lowering ticket prices. Tickets are $2 for students, $3 for staff and faculty and $4 for general admission.
This is Landis' first year as SWFC director, and he said he is going to make a lot of changes.
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"The film center is traditionally independent - meaning they show newer independent and foreign films like "Lost in Translation" or "21 Grams," but we're putting in more variety to draw larger crowds," he said. "So we'll play what students want."
The center is installing a suggestion box to get feedback.
Several cult classics are scheduled for this semester as well as a Quentin Tarantino weekend.
The center will show "Dogma" and "The Passion of the Christ" together one weekend to provide different perspectives, Landis said.
"The Rocky Horror Picture Show" will show the weekend before Halloween. Landis said he wants the audience to participate by dressing up and singing along.
Close to the November elections, the center will have a political weekend. Although the films have not been selected yet, Landis said he hopes they will spark interesting conversation.
Landis said the center is trying to arrange dates for directors and actors to come to the theater and discuss their films. He said the staff is trying to get Kevin Smith to talk when they show movies such as "Clerks," "Mallrats," "Chasing Amy" and other Smith films.
Landis also wants to involve the University by letting campus departments and student organizations play films in the theater.
"One of last year's problems was marketing," he said. "They didn't get the word out to all different aspects of the student body."
Landis said he and the staff are trying to play diverse films and have weekends dedicated to showing gay and lesbian films, Spanish heritage films or other films that leave viewers feeling like UNM is interested in their culture.
"Our opinions can only go so far, so we're looking for what students want to see," he said.
