Late Night Film Series makes new home in Memorial Hall
August 21, 2015
By Jonathan Coffman
The Late Night Film Series called Worsham Theater home for nearly a decade, but like other Student Center organizations, they needed to find a new location.
For LNFS, which shows free movies throughout the year, their new home will be Memorial Hall. LNFS will begin Aug. 27 with free screenings of “The Wind Rises” and “The Avengers: Age of Ultron,” and will stay there until the new Student Center is completed in 2018.
Zach Lamb, a graduate assistant for the film series, said his initial fears of moving have subsided.
“We feel incredibly lucky to be in the position that we’re in now,” Lamb said. “We’re in a building that can really accommodate us and one that is actually an improvement in some ways over Worsham.”
Memorial Hall can hold 698 people, whereas Worsham Theater could only hold 450. UK will install a theater-sized screen, 286 feet across, and new surround sound speakers before the semester begins. Those upgrades will bring LNFS as close to top-of-the-line equipment as it has ever been, Lamb said.
In addition to its technical upgrades, Lamb said Memorial Hall’s stage and balcony seating remind him of old-fashioned theaters.
“There’s a historic feeling in this building,” Lamb said. “I know this space wasn’t necessarily made to screen films, but we’re doing a really nice job of turning this space into more of a cinematic one.”
Films will continue to be screened at 7 and 10 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays, but LNFS will no longer regularly show films on Wednesdays due to a high demand for space by other student organizations.
There will also no longer be free popcorn. Food is prohibited in an effort to protect Memorial’s upholstery, and drinks will now be sold in bottles with resealable caps rather than cans.
Regardless, the move to Memorial Hall has presented the series with new opportunities, Lamb said.
The building’s historic silhouette will be incorporated into all LNFS movie posters. Lamb said this easily-recognizable image will help students find the movies and make the series more memorable.
“This is the most iconic building on campus,” Lamb said. “Before, they might have known the Student Center, but when they arrived they had to figure out where the theater was. Now it’s very clear where the theater is.”
LNFS released an official schedule Aug. 14 for the fall semester. It includes a record 11 sub-series, each individually curated by a student who works with a student organization or academic department.
“Our schedule has more variety than ever before, I think,” Lamb said. “They’re going to see things they absolutely love, and know they have loved. And if they give some of the smaller, lesser known films a chance, they’re going to find something completely new to love.”