Located a few blocks off-campus on the corner of 13th Avenue and Ferry Street, Bijou Art Cinemas provides a unique movie-watching
experience in an age of oversized, over air-conditioned mega theaters located in even larger consumer-inspired malls. In simple terms, the Bijou is refreshingly local.
“We’ve been around for thirty years,” said Edward Schiessl, who co-owns the theater with Jamie Hosler and Louise Thomas. “The original owner (Michael S. Lamont) started the Bijou because he was dissatisfied with the types of movies shown in theaters.”
Housed in a building designed in 1925 by the first dean of the University architecture school, the Bijou’s setting instantly separates itself from the contrived plastics and velvet of larger box office corporations. Inside, the difference between the Bijou and other theaters is made further apparent by the alternative content the Bijou plays on its two big screens.
This philosophy can be seen by looking at the creative lineup the owners put together on a regular basis. Currently, the Bijou is screening the 1927 classic “Metropolis;” “Waking Sleeping Beauty,” a 2009 documentary on the art of modern animation; “The City of Your Final Destination,” a 2009 introspective drama; and “The Kids are Alright,” a fun comedy about two lesbian parents who experience the chaos of letting the father donor into the lives of their children.
Except for 83-year-old Metropolis, the three other recently released movies account for a total of $21.5 million combined in box office sales. “The Social Network,” David Fincher’s movie about the multi-billion dollar corporation Facebook, made more than all three movies combined in its first weekend. The owners at the Bijou care more about the quality of the films than their money-making potential.
“The old motto of the Bijou is movies matter,” Schiessl said. “Our movies are a little meatier or have more of an original vision that’s not made by a corporation.”
From the moment the Bijou opened its doors, the theater hasn’t strayed from the ideology of films made with real value.
Throughout fall term, the Bijou will feature a lineup that samples from such variety. Many of the movies will draw from the international film community, which doesn’t necessarily receive the commercial circulation from corporate theaters. The Bijou will also focus on thought-provoking documentaries, as well as films that cater to a college audience.
“We’re playing ‘The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest,’ which is the third movie in the millennium trilogy, which should be pretty cool,” Schiessl said. “We’ve also got a couple fascinating documentaries: ‘Waiting for Superman,’ which is from the guy who did ‘An
Inconvenient Truth,’ and ‘Inside Jobs,’ which is about the economic collapse.”
Each film draws from very different concepts while also having tangible ideologies that don’t stray into commercial appeal.
Playing into the concept of a local theater, the Bijou offers fun alternatives that larger theaters can’t provide. One of these is a series of late-night movies. The intention behind the late-night films is to show movies for people who may not have anything else to do. These films, such as “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” and “Zombieland,” will be more commercially circulated.
“They’re movies that won’t put you to sleep if you’re staying up that late for it,” Schiessl said. “It’s more commercial films late at night that will start around 11 or 11:30 p.m..”
The Bijou will also feature a Halloween-inspired movie lineup of creepy and scary movies.
The theater is located at 492 East 13th Ave. between Mill and Ferry streets.
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