Capitol Theatre celebrates 100th birthday with silent movies, upcoming film fest

Laurens’ Capitol Theatre celebrated its 100th birthday Friday night with a showing of the first film ever screened there and a look ahead at the future of the city-owned and operated venue.

Both “Charley’s Aunt,” the first movie shown at The Capitol, and “The Freshman,” a Harold Lloyd classic were shown to a crowd of around 100 people, a few dressed in period garb. The screening of “The Freshman” also featured piano accompaniment by three-time Old Time Piano Playing World Champion Ethan Uslan.

Around 100 people attended the nostalgic event that featured not only movies, but a firsthand look at a time before “talkies” and televisions.

“The idea behind this space all along has been to not only bring the theater back to life, but to see the theater as a catalyst to help bring people downtown and encourage small businesses,” said Laurens Mayor Nathan Senn. “We’ve been very explicit about saying to come to the movies, but go take the family out to dinner and go shopping beforehand. . . . It’s just one of those ways the city can help encourage small business and also bring vitality to town and encourage the arts. It sort of checks all the boxes.”

In addition to semi-regular free showings of more modern movies such as “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and “Monty Python’s The Holy Grail,” The Capitol is set to host Laurens’ first film festival in its 100th year.

The inaugural Laurens Film Festival is scheduled for late October at the Capitol and will feature competitions in short films in five different categories, including Student Film (grades 6-8), Student Film (grades 9-12), Emerging Filmmaker (college/under age 25), Community Film (all ages) and Laurens Stories (highlighting Laurens history, culture or landmarks).

“It gives somebody with the ability to take advantage of modern technology because there’s so much you can do now on your phone, not to mention professional video software,” Senn said of the festival. “The amateur high school student can do stuff on the phone that you couldn’t do just a few years ago, so being able to encourage creativity is part of the goal along with bringing people into this space. We want to see the creative side of Laurens encouraged.”

Senn said city staff have already reached out to colleges and universities across the state, while still focusing on local talent and aspiring filmmakers.

“We want local students to participate – and not just students, but anybody who just has a little film flair,” Senn said.

Entries are limited to 10 minutes in length and five minutes for student divisions. The submission deadline for festival entries in Aug. 15. Finalists with be announced on Sept. 15. The festival date has yet to be announced, but it is expected to be held in October. All entries must be original and suitable for a general audience.

For information, visit cityoflaurenssc.com/laurensfilmfestival or email [email protected].