We hope the people who book movies for Caribbean Cinemas took note of the smashing success of The Forum's recent mini-film festival.
All three films – "Frida" "Rabbit-Proof Fence" and "Nowhere in Africa" – were sellouts. They were sellouts at $13 a pop on Wednesday nights in the middle of the summer. That"s impressive.
Clearly, there's an audience in St. Thomas hungry for good films. Many of these people are regulars at the Market Square East theaters despite the heavy dose of flicks, week in and week out, featuring violence and horror ("Bend It Like Beckham" was a recent welcome aberration). But hundreds of people – maybe more – would flock to high-quality art and foreign films.
If The Forum could fill St. Thomas' largest movie theater at $13 a ticket for a one-night showing of its films, surely Caribbean Cinemas could make money by offering one high-quality film at its smallest theater one week out of every month.
We're not asking Caribbean Cinemas to bring in films that will lose money. We're just convinced that good films – shown in a small setting for a limited time – make good economic sense.
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