OFS’s virtual screening room offers its lineup of arthouse films to watch at home

Although the Capitol Theater is empty, the Olympia Film Society is still showing movies — just in a virtual screening room. And among the current offerings is “And Then We Danced,” which had been part of the lineup for the now-postponed 36th annual Olympia Film Festival.

“Danced,” about a gay dancer in the conservative country of Georgia, is a tale of first love and political rebellion. It’s directed by and stars Swedish/Georgian filmmaker Levan Akin.

“It’s a bright light for us that we’re still able to present film,” said Audrey Henley, the society’s executive director. “We’re still able to do what we do and offer some degree of normalcy.”

Film buffs can rent “Danced,” the ongoing film phenomenon “Fantastic Fungi” and three other titles in the society’s virtual screening room at http://olympiafilmsociety.org.

The screening room aims to make online streaming as close as possible to a trip to the historic downtown Olympia theater — though you’ll have to provide your own popcorn. As with regular ticket sales, a portion of proceeds goes to the society.

“You hit our home page, and it looks exactly the same,” Henley told The Olympian. “It shows you what is playing right now. It’s just done virtually.”

“We’re lucky to screen many of the same titles we were originally intending to play at the Capitol Theater,” said film programmer Rob Patrick. “Most film distributors have been rushing to the aid of arthouse cinemas by getting their catalogs digitized.”

“Fantastic Fungi,” which screened at the theater in December and January, is getting its longest run yet through the virtual screening room. “It is never going away,” Henley joked.

“Fungi,” a look into the mysterious world of mushrooms and the mycelium that connects them, was the first film to play in the online screening room, which opened March 26 in conjunction with live online question-and-answer sessions with filmmaker Louie Schwartzberg and Olympia mycologist Paul Stamets.

“It’s been the largest streaming program for OFS so far,” Henley told The Olympian. “We had over 700 viewers in the first four days.”

Opening Friday, April 10, is “Beanpole,” which won two awards at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. The brutal drama follows two best friends coping with trauma in the aftermath of the Siege of Leningrad during World War II.

Also screening during the next week are “Extra Ordinary,” an Irish mix comedy and horror, and “The Whistlers,” a Romanian thriller about a high-stakes heist.

While seeing a movie at home can’t compare to sitting in the balcony of the iconic theater, there is one way the streaming films improve on the theater experience: You can watch any of this week’s five selections at any time of the day or night. On a regular week — or what used to be a regular week P.C. (pre-COVID-19) — the film society screens just two films and shows each a half-dozen times at most.

But while they give film fans access to some quality independent releases, the online screenings and the society’s fundraising efforts haven’t yielded nearly enough money to offset the financial impact of an extended closure, Henley said. The society has been applying for grants and loans, so far without success.

“I have to figure out whether we’ll be able to continue to withstand the mandated closure,” she said.

“Programming is number one for me,” she said, “but if you don’t have a place to program … “ She paused.

“We have a very special place where we program. It’s a community space. It’s a house that belongs to all of us, and we can’t lose our house.”

OFS online screening room

• What: The Olympia Film Society is showing five independent films in its virtual screening room.
• Tickets: $4.99-$12 for a two- to five-day rental
• More information: http://olympiafilmsociety.org