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ShowRoom Cinema has joined more than 160 theaters across the globe in Saturday’s First Art House Theater Day.

A part of Art House Convergence – an international consortium of independent, community-based, mission-driven movie theaters – ShowRoom will be screening “Danny Says” one week prior to its official Sept. 30 release date.

The sneak peak screening takes place at 7:30 p.m. at the Cookman Avenue art house.

The film traces music industry icon Danny Fields progression from a Harvard Law dropout to the Warhol Silver Factory, Director of Publicity at Elektra Records and his trajectory as a ‘punk pioneer.’

For 50 years, he’s played an instrumental role in the music industry and its culture. Fields taste and opinion, once deemed defiant and radical, turned out to be quite prescient as the late 20th century marginal became mainstream, and avant-garde turned prophetic.

He’s worked with the Doors, Lou Reed, Cream, Nico, Judy Collins and managed groundbreaking artists like The Stooges, MC5 and the Ramones.

Directed by Brendan Toller, the Magnolia Films documentary is largely crafted from over 250 hours of present-day interviews and items from Fields’ immense archive, consisting of thousands of photographs, audio cassettes, and ephemera.

 

Art house theaters, now on the rise, are forums where film lovers can congregate and connect with each other, Art House Convergence organizers said in a written statement.  Art houses nurture an ecosystem of adventurous audiences and independent productions, while functioning  as economic drivers in their localities.

“Art House Theater Day is a chance to show film-lovers that their local theaters are part of a larger cultural movement,” said Art House Theater Day cofounder Gabriel Chicoine.

“These cinemas are not passive, insular venues; they are passion-driven institutions that collaborate with distributors, filmmakers, and each other to deepen film appreciation and increase the diversity and the artistic integrity of what you see on the big screen.”

Inspired by the success of independent Record Store Day, Chicoine, the head of Amherst Cinema in Mass founded Art House Convergence with Lawren Desai of a/perture Cinema of Winston-Salem, NC. to celebrate art house theaters and films, the filmmakers, patrons, projectionists, and staff dedicated to providing the more intimate cinematic experience.

Art House Convergence began in 2005 as part of the Sundance Institute Art House Project. By 2008, the independently run group launched its first annual conference, an industry educational program designed to empower and inform independent cinemas nationwide.

Magnolia Films, known for its independent and foreign film catalog offered the exclusive advanced screening for the inaugural event.

“We’ve attended and supported the Art House Convergence for years, and offering these special screenings is a great way to step up our partnership with them,” said Neal Block, Magnolia’s Head of Distribution. “We’ve long valued our relationships with independent theaters [we wouldn’t be here without them]  and I’m personally very pleased to be working on this program.”

For more about National Art House Day, click here, and for more about the ShowRoom Cinema, click here.

[Video and featured photo courtesy of Magnolia Films]

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