Erik Moe Art & Design

As we filmgoers gear up for the 13-day monsoon known as the Philadelphia Film Festival. City Paper’s Sam Adams reminds us of the drought we endure the rest of the year and has frustrating news about the future of International House following the departure of director of film programs Michael Chaiken.

International House is the leading venue for independent and repertory film in the city despite the fact that they only average maybe ten film events per month (outside of film festival screenings). The program staff there are great people dedicated to film, but Adams’ article makes it clear that I-House management has no interest in developing the program beyond its current modest niche. As the de-facto leader in the region, I-House CEO Oliver St. Clair Franklin’s comments about not replacing Chaiken are embarrassing:

“Why should you replace him when he’s in New York?” Franklin says. “Can you do better?” Chaiken, Franklin explained, will still be booking programs from his new perch, with staffers Robert Cargni and Jesse Pires increasing their contributions to the calendar…. Franklin says Chaiken will “be doing the same thing up there that he was doing down here — except up there, he’ll be in the center of the action.”

Can you do better than have an ex-staffer occasionally arrange for a few prints to be shipped to Philly while the rest of the staff does more work for the same amount of money? Um. Yes.

Chaiken is a great guy, and New York is a good place to be for a film devotee, but he is clearly not thinking of Philadelphia audiences first and foremost. He may have left on good terms, but he is working what sounds like a more-than-full-time job at a startup program in Harlem serving the Harlem community.

If I-House takes its role in the Philadelphia film community at all seriously, it needs a full-time director of film programs that can build on existing relationships with Chaiken and others. Such a position is essential if the program is to grow. There is no reason that Philly can’t support a year-round calendar featuring both the “esoteric” films Chaiken loved to program as well as the classic and contemporary films that draw dedicated audiences to non-profit cinemas in cities much smaller than Philadelphia. With decent leadership, I-House is well positioned to grow into the premier venue for repertory, documentary, and independent cinema that Philadelphia sorely lacks.

At least they are installing more comfortable seats this year.