BY KEVIN HOLSAPPLE
If you have tuned in to the plans and event schedule for the new SALA Events Center in Los Alamos, you will have noticed that SALA will feature more than just first-run Hollywood movies. For instance, Tuesdays in December feature both classic films and a series SALA calls “Parallel Cinema.” “As people have been joining our ‘Friends of SALA’ program, we have been surveying them about the kind of films and events they want to see happening at SALA,” says owner Allen Saenz. “More than 90% of people want first-run Hollywood movies back in the theater and we plan to begin a schedule of those in January. More than 60% want classic films, and more than half asked for the kinds of content we are calling “Parallel Cinema.”
Parallel Cinema refers to alternative programming that is not the standard commercial fare. When you see Parallel Cinema in the SALA calendar, expect things like innovative independent films, interesting foreign films, provocative art films, documentaries, shorts, animated features, and music films. The first Parallel Cinema next Tuesday evening features a poignant indie-drama from co-producers Spike Lee, Spike Jonze, & Riz Ahmed titled “You Resemble Me.” The film was released in the U.S. earlier in November and has a 91% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Other films planned for the Parallel Cinema series in December are “My Donkey, My Lover & I” an award-winning French comedy (89% on Rotten Tomatoes), and “The 22nd Annual Animation Show of Shows”, a curated collection of the best animated shorts from around the world in 2023. When possible, Parallel Cinema will feature Q&A with filmmakers following the screening via Zoom.
December Classic films include “The Sound of Music” (91% on Rotten Tomatoes) and the Christmas classic “It’s a Wonderful Life” (95% on Rotten Tomatoes). “There is nothing like seeing great films the way they were intended to be viewed,” says Saenz. For dates and showtimes of all movies and events, see the calendar on the SALA website at sala.losalamos.com
“For both the Parallel Cinema and Classic Film series we will be looking for input from our growing Friends of SALA Group,” says Saenz. “If you haven’t become a “Friend”, I hope you will go to our website and sign up. If you do so by Friday, you will be invited to a free screening of “Top Gun: Maverick” (96% on Rotten Tomatoes) for our Friends group on Friday evening.”