As it gets down to the wire on its Indiegogo crowd-funding campaign, Sudbury Indie Cinema Co-op has raised $10,550 of its $15,000 goal.
“The team is calling out to filmmakers, film-lovers, northerners, and patrons to pull the remaining $5000 together before the campaign ends this Sunday at midnight,” said a press release.
Sudbury Indie Cinema is a not-for-profit cooperative whose mission is to bring the best of Canadian and world cinema to Northeastern Ontario audiences from a downtown Sudbury location.
After five years of programming “pop up” style, renting a variety of screening venues from library meeting rooms, art galleries, theatres, churches to high school auditoriums, the group said it's “incredibly close” to having its dream come true of opening a single screen movie house downtown, by converting a former school gymnasium into a state-of-the-art fully digital movie theatre.
When Sudbury Indie Cinema opens its doors, it will be the first not-for-profit independent cinema in Northern Ontario.
As such, it is part of a response to broaden the offerings to the public beyond Hollywood blockbuster movies, and screen top festival films and include a high Canadian content, including documentaries, and also foreign films.
Many Canadian film insiders lament the barriers for Canadian films reaching an audience: Independent cinema provide a key role in redressing this issue.
Sudbury Indie Cinema has brought countless titles over the past five years of programming to Sudbury for their Northern Ontario premieres.
Once it opens its doors, they will shift from single screenings of a title to multiple screenings working from a monthly calendar.
Sudbury Indie Cinema also has a strong track record in proactively supporting the development of local artists and emerging filmmakers, having screened numerous local films as well as organizing professional development opportunities for Northerners.
The Co-op was awarded grant monies to renovate and purchase equipment to open shop at 162 Mackenzie St., but there is always a shortfall between the actual project cost and the amount of government funding provided — hence the Indiegogo campaign.
If you're interested in contributing to the Indigogo campaign, check it out here.
