Movie-’em!
The New Utrecht branch of the Brooklyn Public Library is mixing it up and spreading the love in Bensonhurst by kicking off an international film series to reflect the diversity needs of its ever-changing neighborhood.
“Because of our multicultural population here, we felt that it would be good to have movies from everywhere,” said librarian Diane Barranca. “And I think they’ve been welcomed.”
Barranca in July spearheaded the branch’s International Film Festival, where every other Thursday at 2:30 pm an international film, selected by branch librarians, is screened at the 86th Street book haven. Barranca helps pick the flicks, but the multicultural staff pitches in to pull films from their home countries.
Chinese staffer Yuan Shen says the idea first took hold a year ago when the librarians took note of the community’s prominent Chinese population and started showing movies to celebrate that subset.
“Whenever we find the needs in the community, we try to expand the service possibilities,” said Shen, who selected Chinese historical drama “Back to 1942” for the most recent screening on Aug. 13.
The Chinese film screenings were a hit with the community, so this summer Barranca decided to foster the fledgling idea and branch out to incorporate more languages and nationalities — German Oscar-winner “The Lives of Others” was a recent crowd-pleaser, and the critically-acclaimed bleak Russian drama “Leviathan” will be shown on Aug. 27.
“We thought we’d beef it up with other languages as well, because we do live in a very mixed community,” said Barranca.
Shen says the festival is spawning a whole host of new programs to reflect the needs of the diverse community. The library will test-run a film program this week aimed to help Chinese patrons learn English — showing a film in English and then carefully translating the film section by section — and has goals of starting a program to guide Chinese parents as they acclimate to their kids’ new immersion in American culture.
“This is the kind of quality program we try to develop, because we believe these will have a long-term impact on the community,” said Shen.
Shen says education and community service are at the heart of the New Utrecht branch — movies just help make the learning process fun.
“The library is shifting from a collection of books to a more active program and service to the community,” he said. “There is a balance between entertainment and education, but education is more fundamental.”
International Film Festival at the New Utrecht branch of the Brooklyn Public Library (1743 86th Street between Bay 16th and Bay 17th Streets in Bensonhurst, (718) 236–4086 www.bklyn
