Because of the bureaucracy involved in acquiring a movie, "you have to wait a little bit to see the film that you want to see at the State Theatre," Mike Negra, executive director of the State Theatre, said.
"It's a pretty complicated process. It's an awful lot of research," Negra said. "It comes down to availability and when the State Theatre can get a print."
He said he receives requests for more mainstream films like Milk and Frost/Nixon, but they are difficult to get because the theater will only show them for a week and "studios have to weigh where they're going to put their limited amount of prints," Negra said.
He added he was pleased to announce Milk will be playing Feb. 20, as just one of a diverse collection of movies that will be playing at the State Theatre this semester.
Negra said he and a committee of about 15 members meet once a month to discuss what films should be shown. They take many factors into account, including variety, when choosing movies the State Theatre will show.
"We don't want to have three documentaries or three French films in a row," Negra said.
Choke will be shown at the theater for the last time today. Tuesday, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, which Negra said shows the Holocaust from a different angle, begins its weeklong run.
On Saturday, Orgasmic Birth, a film that explores the benefits of home birth, will be shown as part of a benefit for the Midwives Alliance of Pennsylvania.
Assistant professor of education Dana Stuchul, who is sponsoring the event, is a proponent of home birth, and has had one herself, but said she doesn't want the screening to be seen as only an endorsement of home birth.
"In my dream world the screening would catalyze the discussion about birthing options," she said.
The film begins at noon Saturday and costs $10 for adults and $7 for students and seniors. A panel discussion consisting of midwives, Penn State professor Jill Wood (who has experienced home birth), and others will take place at 1:45 p.m. The point of the discussion is to talk about society's prevailing views of birth, different birthing options and the "diminishing array of possibilities for women," Stuchul said.
Stuchul has been working with other faculty members to promote the event to students, whom she hopes will be in attendance.
"I sure have my fingers crossed," she said.
Groups or individuals renting out the theater for a charity screening is a common occurrence, Negra said. Similar events later this semester will include a screening of Akeelah and the Bee, which will benefit Bridge of Hope Centre County, and Persepolis, sponsored by Centre County Reads. Both events will take place in February. January's film lineup will finish with Synecdoche, New York.
"Any time I can get a Philip Seymour Hoffman film, I'll get it," Negra said. "I've been trying for two months to get that film."
Negra pays close attention to what students want to see, and said apart from sending suggestions to the theater through its Web site statetickets.org or its Facebook group, a few students are also members of the committee that chooses the films.
"More students are welcome. I'd love their feedback. I'd like to hear why they'd like to do it, what films they've seen," he said. "It's just a matter of showing the interest."
Negra said he appreciates that students are so interested in what films the theater shows.
"The fact that people want to see it and take the time to write in a suggestion means a lot," he said.
MOVIES:
Choke - Showing at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. today. Tickets are $8 for adults, $6 for students and seniors. In between attending sex addict meetings to meet women and working at a colonial-themed fair, Victor Mancini pretends to choke in restaurants and then guilts his rescuers into giving him money. Based on a Chuck Palahniuk novel.
Milk - Examines San Francisco businessman's Harvey Milk's career as a pioneering openly gay businessman and politician before his assassination in 1978. Starts Friday Feb. 20.
The Boy in the Striped Pajamas - A Jewish boy befriends the son of a Nazi commandant, despite the fact the two are separated by the barbed wire fence of a concentration camp. Starts Friday. $8 for adults, $6 for students and seniors.
Orgasmic Birth - This film presents birth as a natural experience a woman can enjoy instead of endure. A panel discussion will be held afterward. The film will show at noon Saturday. Panel Discussion: 1:45 p.m.
Synecdoche, New York - A theater director, played by Philip Seymour Hoffman, struggles with work and women as he creates a life-size replica of New York inside a warehouse as part of his new play. Starts Jan. 25.
Akeelah and the Bee - An 11-year-old girl from a working class family enters the Scripps National Spelling Bee and struggles to deal with competitive students, their parents and carrying the dreams of her peers on her shoulders. Coming in February.
Persepolis - A young Iranian girl growing up during the revolution of 1979 experiences the oppression of the new fundamentalist government firsthand. Coming in February.
