The local organization’s bi-annual festival continues with screenings of Doris Day films
By GIA LOOMIS — city@theaggie.org
This spring, the Davis Odd Fellows have resumed their bi-annual Classic Film Festival in Downtown Davis. The festival spans three Sundays and returned on March 30 with a showing of “Pillow Talk (1959).” Each week, the festival will screen a different classic film, all within the featured genre this year: Doris Day films.
The Odd Fellows’ Classic Film Festivals began in 2014, making this the 11th year of classic film screenings. Back then, the idea behind starting these film showings came alongside an upgrade to the Odd Fellows’ projection system. Dave Rosenberg, a Davis Odd Fellow and previous chair of the classic film committee, shared his inspiration for beginning the film festival.
“I come up with a lot of ideas that are fun and contribute to the community,” Rosenberg said. “I personally have always enjoyed classic films, so when we installed projection systems in the lodge around 12 years ago, it occurred to me that we should utilize them. Now we do through the classic film festival.”
Since its start, the film festival has featured a pre-movie presentation, the screening and a post-movie Q&A. These festivals have featured numerous genres, actors and more, including classic westerns, film noirs and science fiction. As long as the movie was released over 50 years ago, it’s fair game to be screened.
This festival, the Odd Fellows decided to keep the movie genre more lighthearted. The classic film committee kept it cheery by featuring old romantic comedy star Doris Day. Rosenberg shared the committee’s inspiration for the lighter theme this season.
“The United States is in turmoil,” Rosenberg said. “So we thought, let’s do something really lighthearted, so we decided on some of these old romantic comedies featuring Doris Day. It’s light, it’s fluffy, and while they are dated in many ways, they’re still fun.”
Regardless of the year’s theme or movies, the film festival aims to not only screen movies but also to help attendees learn and understand more about classic films. To achieve this, the Odd Fellows collaborates with The Davis Enterprise film critic Derrick Bang to help choose and share more information about the movies.
“I have lived and breathed movies since I was old enough to understand what I was watching,” Bang said. “It’s my job to explain why we picked [the movie and] find hidden treasures.”
With his extensive film critic background, Bang presents a preview before the movie to explain why it was chosen and provide some context. Following the film, he helps host the Q&A with the audience to answer any questions they may have about the movie. This intends to not just provide information on the movie but also create a forum for film criticism, which Bang explained as part of his goal in these film presentations.
“A lot of movies get made every year, and a lot of good ones slip through the cracks,” Bang said. “Today, movies aren’t rescreened as they were in the 1970s to 1980s, and streaming services today are like an information dump. Film criticism is becoming an endangered species. I’m trying to keep this end of it alive in Davis.”
Bang is not the only one fighting for in-person movie screenings to stay alive in an age of streaming services. Younger audiences, like UC Davis students, are expressing their sentiment for keeping classic film events like the Odd Fellows’ film festival alive.
Alex Murdock, a first-year cinema and digital media major, expressed the importance of keeping screenings alive.
“It’s all about the tradition of delivering a full experience, isn’t it?” Murdock said. “I think no matter if it’s a classic film at the film festival or a modern film, there’s always the aspect of stepping through the theater doors, watching the lights dim and anticipation [building] for the movie’s opening. Everyone should have the chance to experience a movie in person like the good old days.”
The Odd Fellows’ Classic Film Festival will continue throughout April with “That Touch of Mink (1962)” having screened on April 6, followed by “The Thrill of It All (1963)” set for April 13. The event hosts free admission and free popcorn with doors opening at 6:29 p.m. and the movie beginning at 7:01 p.m. each week. Visit the Davis Odd Fellows’ website for more information.
Written By: Gia Loomis — city@theaggie.org
