Sometimes, “going to the movies” can be as big a production as the blockbuster itself. You fast-forward to the theater, pause in the outrageously expensive ticket line and attempt to mute the loud whisperers before realizing the futility of the cineplex experience and sign up for Netflix. Instead of taking two and calling it a wrap, stop seeing movies—and start experiencing them.

The Cinema Arts Center caters to all film buffs, indie junkies, cult-classic-cravers and those who see the world through 35mm lenses.

“To keep the programming fresh,” co-director Vic Skolnick explains, “we keep our eyes and ears open, and look for those extraordinary movies that are not going to get play anyplace else.” It is this desire to present audiences with gems from every genre that has placed the Cinema Arts Centre at the forefront of the cinematic scene.

An art house in every sense of the word, the center boasts outdoor gardens and indoor artwork as diversely lush as the cinema’s program. “We don’t just show international cinema that comes down the pike, that’s well publicized and promoted,” Skolnick explains. It’s true: just hang in the lobby and listen as laughter from audiences enjoying Woody Allen’s Scoop in theatre one mingles with gasps of viewers down the hall engrossed in Blood of My Brother, Andrew Berend’s portrait of war-torn Iraq. The center scoffs at Hollywood habit and chooses to base a film’s merit on technical style, content and audiovisual brilliance rather than opening box office numbers and big names in the rolling credits.

Guest speakers talk before most movies, placing the film into a social and historic context. Many directors even raise the house lights and hold discussions following the picture.

Thus, there exists a symbiotic theatre-community relationship: the center provides the community a major cultural hub and networking resource, and member monetary support makes up one-third of the budget.

It is the genuine desire to raise the audience’s collective conscience and promote dialogue that leads the trinity of co-owners (Vic Skolnick, Dylan Skolnick and Charlotte Sky) to offer a choice of foreign, domestic, restored, esoteric flicks and multiple “stretched out festivals.”

“The so called ‘festivals’ that we put on,” Skolnick explains, “provide a year-round hit of a wide-range of films that would ordinarily get stuffed into a one week setting. We show the same festival multiple times, so that no month goes begging.”

Certain themed festivals, such as “Creativity” and “Theatre of the Wild” act as umbrellas for a range of movies shown on a regular basis while the Samurai Festival (Aug. 7-30) focuses solely on Japanese warrior films ablaze with scandal and seppuku. The Summer Camp Horror Film Festival runs Saturday evenings at 11pm until August 19th and the 2nd annual “Dawn Horror Movie Marathon” grants courageous viewers $10 off their ticket price if they “survive the night!”

“The idea is to keep a large rich mix of films on a monthly basis,” Skolnick said, “so that if you’re a film cognoscenti, you can find something aside from the big, popular films.” Aside from quality cinema, viewers highly tout the center’s healthy organic snacks. Skolnick explains, “Our theme is, if we don’t poison your mind, why should we poison your body?”

For information regarding festivals and daily schedules, see www.cinemaartscentre.org.