BY KADIE TAYLOR
THE OBSERVER
OPELIKA — BOXCAR, a local community microcinema, opened its doors in February, combining the work of creative volunteers and community passion to create a space for the cinema and camaraderie.
“It’s been a long time coming,” said BOXCAR Assistant Director and Programming Coordinator Kevin Ives. “We’re really still growing into the space right now. That’s one of the things that’s really good about BOXCAR as a theater, and supporting the Opelika Auburn Film Arts Collective, is that it is continually evolving. What we offer to the community and the feedback that we get from the community influences decisions that we’ll do in the future… We’re always going to have artwork that rotates in and out, and different collaborative things that will happen in the space. So we’re still constantly growing, and that’s a good thing.”
As BOXCAR has begun to become a cherished community space, Ives said he has already seen a strong response from local businesses, organizations and community members.
“We have seen a response from community groups wanting to partner and wanting to see how they can expand our mission through the Opelika Auburn Film Arts Collective, but also seeing that it’s a very unique venue,” he said. “It’s something that is very unlike anything in this area, because it has a more intimate setting. You can tell that it’s all done through the love of art, love of community and love of film — and all of that resonates just through the walls of the theater itself.”
Through the help of volunteers, Ives said BOXCAR reflects the hard work and talents of locals invested in the cinema’s mission.
“All of our stuff is volunteer; there are no employees, nobody is getting paid — it is a complete nonprofit,” he said. “Anything that you see when you walk in — from the stage itself being built, the sound panels that have been hung, artwork that’s on the walls, the bar top that is there to putting the hand dryers up — that’s all been people that have volunteered their time, volunteered their hours and they’ve done it because they want to be a part of the space. This is kind of a living, breathing community entity. We’ve seen people who wanted to give back, and they’ve asked how they can volunteer. We’ve set up a volunteer information form to collect all of that information and put people in the right roles to have them excel in some of their strengths.”
Ives said locals can find a fun way to spend a night in Opelika with the various events offered by BOXCAR.
“Right now, the focus has been on film; we’ve had movie screenings primarily on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays,” he said. “As we progress, we’ve expanded what all can be offered and what all we are able to offer. We’ve had some live events, some bands, some musical artists have come in — we hope to continue that on Fridays pretty regularly. We’ve had partnerships with community groups that have utilized the space and have sponsored events there, from Alabama Arise, a domestic violence awareness event, to the League of Women Voters, which is going to be putting on an event. We’ve had poetry, spoken word and we’ve had a drag performance.”
In order to keep the showing accessible for locals, Ives said BOXCAR accepts sponsorships from local businesses along with donations from community members.
“All the screenings are free,” he said. “We would like the screenings to be free and to remain free, and we’re searching for and hoping to find businesses and people that want to sponsor these films. We are paying the rights to show these films, so BOXCAR is taking a bit of a loss when we show these movies, because it’s a service, it’s something that we want to provide. If we have a business or a group that wants to sponsor a film or a screening, we will help them out with promotion, and then we can keep them free. Our goal is to keep the films free, outside of a film that may explicitly need some type of funding, because the artist is directly involved with the screening or the director is directly involved with the screening.”
For more information, visit BOXCAR on Facebook or Instagram. To reach out to volunteer, donate or sponsor a showing, email ofac.boxcar@gmail.com.
