Baltimore Or Less

Getting people to watch movies the right way – in the dark, on a big screen, with an audience – is far from impossible, says RetroFest programmer

By Chris Kaltenbach (Baltimore Sun, November 17, 2012)

Downloading movies and watching them on a computer is not for George Figgs, who has spent the better part of three decades affording Baltimore cinephiles the chance to experience films the way God intended — in the dark, projected onto a bigger-than-life screen, sharing the experience with a bunch of people whose only commonality is an urge to see how the on-screen story plays out.

“I think people are tired of going to Netflix or Google or whatever, and watching films on their laptops,” says the 65-year-old Figgs, who co-organized and is hosting this weekend’s first RetroCineFest, running through Sunday at the University of Baltimore. “Why is that? Film depends on scale — movie magic depends on space. The film has to be bigger than you; the sound has to be all around you. And you’re supposed to be quiet.”

Continue reading “The movies are a mission for Baltimore’s George Figgs” at baltimoresun.com.