I have a great affinity with Orlando. A short film of mine was selected into the Florida Film Festival, and since that time I have developed strong relationships with many people there. I thoroughly supported the Enzian Theatre and Florida Int'l Film Festival for their unabashed and highly publicized support of independent film.

However, The Enzian has recently changed management and unfortunately does not hold the same goals as before. Minutes after talking up the Enzian with the Orlando Sentinal yesterday, I was told by the theatre that despite all the work I had done to promote WEED, despite the efforts of many local individuals and organizations like GMD and The Slant, despite the filmmaker intending to appear opening night to introduce the films and take questions from the audience, the Enzian decided to only show WEED after midnight on Friday & Saturday, then at 10 for the rest of the week. This change I'm told is because their run of The Apostle is great for their box office, and therefore they don't want to show WEED at a reasonable hour.

Again, it all comes down to choice. I have no reason to think that WEED will perform as well at the box office as The Apostle; however, their choice flies in the face of their commitment to independent films, much less their commitment to friends of the community, their supporters and to filmmakers.

As a filmmaker I choose to help other filmmakers and often suggest the Florida Film Festival as a great festival that supports the arts. I no longer believe this to be true. It upsets me to no end. The Enzian, a not-for-profit organization, is not a friend of the arts, individuals, nor the community. To the contrary, it is only thinking of it's bottom line.

There could be many ways for the theatre to have resolved this problem. I do not suggest that the Enzian stop showing The Apostle. In truth and in fact, I suggested a "split week" and just show WEED at 10pm only, with The Apostle showing 3 or 4 times the rest of the day. The Enzian was not agreeable to anything other than allowing WEED to be shown after midnight or have it pushed a few weeks, then gave me legal verbage that I never had a written contract with them stating they would do otherwise. But it's not about contracts folks, it's about their word, and knowing where their support comes from: you guys. So in the end, they didn't just fuck me, they fucked you too. You have lost your independent movie house to the corporate world.

Choices!

I could have chosen to pull WEED after the Enzian's dis. But I could not do that to you. Hopefully 12:15 is not too late for you to come see WEED. Regardless, it's your choice to express concerns you may have with the Enzian and where they are heading. You are it's patrons. You have a voice. Respond! Tell the Enzian, post something here in the Slant, tell your friends. Or do you even care?

--Doug Wolens

Brian Clark I've worked as a professional musician, a pizza deliverer, a graphic designer, a record promoter, a database programmer, a youth empowerment coordinator and a recording engineer (not necessarily in that order.) Other Articles I've Written