By Sara Bickley

Sometime between Saturday evening and Sunday morning, the main screen at the Paine Street Cinema was defaced by a person or persons unknown. According to police, the words “You have no right to see, you have no right to know” were written in an unknown “grey, gelatinous” substance on the surface of the screen.There were no signs of forced entry, and no suspects have been identified.

Cinema co-owner and operator Marian Wasocki, who discovered the damage, is outraged. “Do these Philistines have any idea of the consequences?” she asks. “We’re not exactly in this for the money, but the financial loss is tremendous. We operate at very low profit margins anyway, and if we’re not careful, this incident could be the beginning of the end.” She adds that, while the screen probably does not need to be replaced, it will require costly cleaning.

Three films by Italian director Annunciata Bortolami were scheduled to be shown on the main screen Sunday as part of a two-day event. The event’s coordinator, Dyer College faculty member Martin Richárd, thinks there may be a connection to the vandals’ cryptic message.

“There used to be some nasty rumors surrounding Bortolami and her movies,” he says. “It’s possible someone got wind of that and decided to stop their being shown.”

There are no plans to screen the Bortolami films in the near-future. “If there’s someone out there who’s that strongly opposed, then the security of these rare prints could be at risk,” said Richárd.  “We can’t afford to take any chances.”

Police have not officially identified a motive for the vandalism.

Wasocki is already looking toward the future: “We’re going to tighten up security, get the big screen ready to go again, and just push on.” The building has re-opened and is now showing films on the undamaged secondary screen. Revised showtimes may be obtained by phoning the cinema.

 Print | Filed under: Lifestyle, Monster Bytes by silviamg