A highlight of the Old Greenbelt Theatre’s grand opening on Saturday, May 14 was touring the Screening Room and Media Arts Literacy Lab at 125 Centerway, the new center for the Beyond the Screen initiative. As stated on the OGT website, this new space will allow the Friends of Greenbelt Theatre (FOGT) to “take its mission to be the center for film culture and education in Prince George’s County to new heights.” See more about the initiative at greenbelttheatre.org/beyond-the-screen.
The screening room first opened as a pop-up on July 3, 2019. After the theater closed at the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020, a successful fundraising campaign set in motion the transformation of the former storefront. An interior door now connects the Art Deco theater lobby to the new space, allowing for easy passage from one venue to the other. The wooden honey-toned wall of the screening room, with curved bench seating, welcomes attendees into this adjoining room. Dark green fabric on the old-style movie seats in the screening room, blue-green tile in the bathroom and on the wall of the concession stand, and a mosaic of green triangles on the workshop tables suggests a contemporary revision of the original theater’s 1938 style.
The first workshop in the media lab, Making New Sounds for Silent Movies, took place on April 23, led by Washington, D.C., composer Andrew Simpson. Focusing on kids from 9 to 12 years of age, Simpson guided his students in using instruments and found objects to create a score for a short silent film clip.
University of Maryland student Sydney Jones made a short video of the one-day workshop, which was on view in the Screening Room during the grand opening event.
During the grand opening tour, Director of Operations Stephenie Arcido answered questions about future educational opportunities in the Screening Room and media lab, which will include camps for kids, workshops for all ages, lectures and classes for adults. Let’s Make a Movie workshops for kids and I Heart Home Movies film-to-digital conversion workshops for adults are just two examples of coming activities. The lobby area and storefront will also include interactive exhibits and displays in collaboration with the Greenbelt Museum. FOGT plan to show additional information about the history of films and the experience of going to see films. As the Making New Sounds for Silent Movies video makes clear, the motto of the Screening Room and Media Arts Literacy Lab is emphatically “Exploring, Learning, Creating.”
