New Bedford’s close-up

When the Zeiterion Performing Arts Center emerged from pandemic restrictions this past summer, it did so with something entirely new for the South Coast.

In June, the Z brought film back to area audiences with the debut of Cinema New Bedford. For the first time, a dedicated series was being devoted to screening independent art and foreign films. It was launched in partnership with the New Bedford Film Society with a month’s worth of LGBTQ+ themed films, followed in July by a series of film festival awardwinning flicks. After taking August off, it returned in September with a new series, as well as October, and now promises to stretch into the foreseeable future. Cinema New Bedford screens each Tuesday evening at the Z. Show time is 7 p.m., and the films are often followed by a panel discussion with special guests, mostly virtual. This new program is curated by Mocha James Herrup, Ph. D. Herrup teaches Social Issues and Documentary as a Senior Lecturer at Suffolk University in Boston, and founded the New Bedford Film Society in 2020. Dr. Herrup explains that Cinema New Bedford fills the gap that currently exists in the South Coast region for indie film screenings. In so doing, it will program the series around voices and images not often reflected in mainstream film. Thus, each month will continue to have its own unique theme.

The November lineup is a film afficiendo’s delight. It begins with Moonlight on Tuesday, November 2 and ends with Whale Rider on Tuesday, November 30. In between are Paris, Texas; Chungking Express; and Days of Heaven. Moonlight is Barry Jenkins’ bold and tender Oscar-winning film that shatters any mainstream preconceptions about Black male intimacy, love, and mentorship. Whale Rider tells the story of a 12-year-old Maori girl whose ambition is to become the chief of the tribe; it was, press material states, given an unprecedented standing ovation at its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Cinéma vérité

Cinema New Bedford certainly heralds a bold return for the Zeiterion Theatre, after the Covid-induced shutdown during 2020, with its emphasis on the new. Of course, the Z is still featuring a full season of its classic audience-pleasing programming, from concerts to musicals and every sort of performance in between. The return to normalcy, however, comes on wings of change. Programming a performing arts center is a complex business in the best of times, involving negotiation with performers, touring companies, and agents, for example. Before anyone steps foot on a stage, let alone in a theater, a host of logistical hurdles must be dealt with. And now, the Z team led by director Rosemary Gill has committed itself to returning to center stage with a renewed focus on social equity in both its offerings and backstage practices. Cinema New Bedford is one reflection of that ethos – even as it builds upon this historic theatre’s fabled past. The Zeiterion has a history before its modern incarnation that stretches all the way back to vaudeville and silent pictures in 1923. Since its present-day run began in the early 80s, it has acted as a powerful economic catalyst in the successful reinvention of New Bedford’s downtown into the Seaport Cultural District. As such, it has filled a critical function in the city, presenting on its stage performances which brought razzle and dazzle to South Coast while it burrowed deep into the region’s own unique culture. Historically, that cultural heritage always included a robust moviegoing experience. But incredibly, before Cinema New Bedford, this city of a hundred thousand people lacked something important: a movie house! In days gone by, the Orpheum Theater delivered for audiences; it sits empty today by the side of Route 18. A happier fate awaits the Capitol Theater on Acushnet Avenue. It will soon be a mixeduse retail and residential renovation. And the former Strand Theatre, also on Acushnet Avenue, is being transformed into the Cape Verdean Cultural Center. Many other movie palaces of old have been demolished, like the Baylies Square and the Empire. While film screens once populated neighborhoods from the South End to the North End, not a single screen has been dedicated to motion pictures in New Bedford since Flagship Cinemas closed around the year 2010. That is, until Cinema New Bedford. Now, every Tuesday night at the Z, movies assume a starring role in the city and for the region. For tickets and further Cinema New Bedford screenings as they are scheduled, log on to Zeiterion.org. Then, enjoy independent cinema as the Zeiterion Performing Arts Center brings South Coast together for a shared, “reel-time” experience.