"Celebrating 40 Years of Arts Creativity and Leadership"
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Some of the Past News Stories about Flickers
• Flickers presented its first International Film Festival during the summer of 1983 as a salute to the America's Cup Contender. The festival was held in conjunction with the Newport Music Festival. Click here to read the story.
• Flickers presents its first Annual Japanese Film Festival which premiered in 1984. Click here to see part of the original news story and photograph. The event continues today with screenings in Newport during the Annual Black Ships Festival; making it one of our longest-running events at 24 years! Flickers was a founding organization of this event and Producing Director, George T. Marshall, a Black Ships Board founding member . The event continues today, albeit in a different and truncated form. This article is from the second year of the festival. Click here.
• Here is an advertisement for the Japanese Film Festival. We still use the imagery today. Click here.
• In 1984 and 1985, Flickers continued its summer programming with the International Film Festival, a sidebar to its regular series. Here is an article about the 1985 Festival. Click here.
• As Flickers progressed in the 1980's with film exhibition, it became more sophisticated and demanding, moving from 16mm to 35mm. This was the first film we screened outside a mainstream theatre in 35mm with a portable Xenon projector. The world premiere of "Coaster," took place that the 429-seat Van Alen Casino Theatre off Freebody Street in Newport. The building sits behind the main complex of the International Tennis Hall of Fame. Built in the late 19th Century, the Theatre was designed by Stanford White. The space has been dormant since our last use in 1987. There have any number of studies to turn the Theatre into a performing arts center, and to this date, there's an occasional rumor that plans are afoot. The Van Alen Casino Theatre was our original home and it effectively launched Flickers as a credible arts institution. Click here.
• The problem in the 1980s, as it is today in Newport, was securing permanent space particularly if you were a non-profit organization. While the Van Alen Casino Theatre was a wonderful jewel box, it had antiquated utilities, notably the heating. The twin broilers were installed in 1969 by the former Newport Players Guild. They were located on the outside of the building and not maintained. By 1985, the management of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, which owned the building, began their removal. No replacements were installed. This limited usage to summer months. Of course, there no air conditioning. While we had steady and strong audiences, we ran a year-round operation, so Flickers in each early years moved from space to space in Newport. This article addresses one of several moves. It ultimately did not meet our needs and was not handicapped accessible. However, it was a great learning experience for the Flickers Board and in many ways set the foundation for the future. Click here.
• This is the programming and guide we produced for the Charles Street location. Note that at this point in its growth, Flickers specialized in classic, art and foreign films. Most were double bills and always featured short subjects to open the evening. Ironically, many of the films screened by Flickers were regional or state premieres; keep in mind that Flickers started before video tapes were available and Rhode Island did not have cable television. Clickhere.
• As part of its community outreach efforts, Flickers with the Newport Cultural Commission, produced the 1994-1995 Newport Cultural Directory. The cover artwork was created by former Flickers Board member and artist, Winona Taylor. Funding came through grants by the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts (RISCA) and the Newport County Convention and Visitor's Bureau. The book was coordinated by George T. Marshall, the layout was completed by Nancy Schwab with assistance by Eric Bronner; Click here.
• In 1992, Flickers created the January Film Festival. Working with the Newport CVB, George T. Marshall and Dr. Philip Baskin built the prototype of the Newport Film Festival. Using the model created by Flickers in 1983 and repeated annually, the pair developed a long term prospective of what an international would mean to the local economy, how much it would cost to run, and the type of programming that would be needed to make it an efficacious operation. To read this article, please scroll up and down from pages one and two. Time as they say is fleeting, and memories short. Good ideas, however, will always take root. Click here.
• Here is a copy of the printed calendar for the first January Film Festival, an integrated event that laid the foundation for the Newport International Film Festival. Linking all levels of community involvement, the event was designed to bridge shoulder (defined as off-) season events in the tourism economy that nurtures the City of Newport. George T. Marshall and then local newspaper critic, Patricia Hatfield (Lacouture) did twice weekly movie reviews on local radio station, WADK. That program was called, "DoubleFeature," a name that would later resurface in future programs created by Flickers. Click here.
• In 1992, Flickers also produced the video of the then-annual Holiday dance presentation of "The Snow Queen." Created by the Newport Children's Dance Theatre (CDT), the event was choreographed by Emma Reimer, Artistic Director and Founder of the CDT. George T. Marshall was the CDT Board President. The holiday event was a special community treat and filed the entire Rogers High School Auditorium. In keeping with the CDT mission, the performance was free to the general public with a open request for donations. The video that was shot was subsequently narrated by Academy Award winning actress, Joanne Woodward. Click here.
• The Jubilé Franco-Américain was created in 1994 and had official debut in 1995. The event, which was supposed to be a one-time outing, became such a hit that it won the Governor's Tourism Award. The hard work of the original Jubilé committee made that a reality: Trudy Rheaume Lamoureux, Julien Bissette, Gerry Lamoureux, Doris Demers. Anne Conway, Rev. Douglas J. Spina, Louise Champigney, Bob Billington, Michel Coutu and Ann Dagesse. This 1996 article appeared in the Woonsocket Call due to the success and impact of the event. Click here.
• One of the many musical events created by Flickers was "DoubleFeature" which mixed film and music composition. This RISCA grant funded event took 5 months to build and rehearse. The final presentation was at the Salomon Auditorium at Brown University. The program was coordinated by our Musical Director, Eric. R. Bronner. Jim Seavor, arts writer for the Providence Journal, was the program's narrator. Click here.
Behind the scenes of the annual Spectacle for the Jubilé .
