This Sunday, February 19, on the eve of Monday’s Presidents Day Holiday, the Maplewood Office of Cultural Affairs in partnership with The SOMA Film Festival will show the movie “Moonrise Kingdom” at 7:00 p.m. at The Woodland. This event is free to the public.
Directed by Wes Anderson, this quirky 2012 dark comedy stars Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, and Bruce Willis. Prominently featured amid the star-studded cast is SOMA resident Jared Gilman who landed the film’s lead role at age 12. Jared will introduce the film and be available for Q & A immediately following.
As the name “Outdoor Movies Indoors” suggests, people are encouraged to bring lawn chairs, blankets, their own refreshments and spread out to enjoy the film in the comfort of the Woodland’s Great Hall.
The Film is rated PG-13. It is an ideal comedy for teenagers and adults.
Maplewood Township and SOMA Film Festival
Thanks to an alliance between the Office of Cultural Affairs and the SOMA Film Festival, the film will be shown using a new, state of the art hi-definition digital projector. In a win-win arrangement, the Film Festival acquired the projector which they will only need for several weeks per year. The remainder of time it will be available for use by Maplewood Department of Recreation and Cultural Affairs. “We are committed to expanding cultural opportunities for the community” said Mayor Victor DeLuca, “and this joint effort makes it easy to show movies on a regular basis and at very little cost.”
According to Andrew Fishman who manages the Office of Cultural Affairs for Maplewood, “the ability to consistently screen films has been our goal since the facility reopened as the Woodland in 2014. Unfortunately the high quality hardware was just too expensive.” Discovering that the SOMA Film Festival was hoping to purchase a projector, a deal was reached to accommodate and defray the costs for both parties.
“It was of great interest for us to partner with the Township to bring movies to the Woodland” stated Matt Smollon, director of the SOMA Film Festival. “We are happy to show our support and maintain a presence in the community year round”.
The Office of Cultural Affairs and SOMA Film Festival will announce additional screenings in the coming weeks.
Find out more about the 2nd Annual SOMA Film Festival 2017 lineup here.
