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Kickstart New England: The Orson Welles Complex

7 Nov , 2014  

Written by Casey Stirling | Posted by:

A devastating fire in 1986 left the film landmark, the Orson Welles Complex in Cambridge, Mass shuttered, but its mark on film history had already been made. Now filmmaker Garen Daly is working on a film to chronicle the history of the theatre. Read more about it in this month's Kickstart New England series. To be considered for the series, email editor@newenglandfilm.com.

Garen Daly and the filmmakers behind The Orson Welles Complex seek support to fund their upcoming documentary. Founded by Harvard students in the late 1960s and named after the famous director, the Orson Welles was a landmark in Cambridge, Massachusetts until it closed in 1986. The Orson Welles complex included a cinema, restaurant, film school and more.

As the filmmakers explain on the project website, the students who founded the Orson Welles were guided by an important idea: “let’s create a place where we can meet and talk, see films. That idea, and that place, became known as The Orson Welles. It was a complex.” It hosted many famous filmmakers in its day, and its “reputation for creating a venue for emerging American independent filmmakers was so profound that theaters elsewhere in the country would say, ‘If it played The Welles, I’ll play it.’”

After a devastating fire in 1986, the Orson Welles closed permanently, but its legacy lives on as what the filmmakers believe “can arguably be called the first modern art house in America,” a place that “helped make Boston one of the top film communities in the country.” The Orson Welles Complex will focus on the cinema’s history, impact, and relevance today. Support is needed through volunteers or donations. Funds will help with production and marketing costs. To read more about the project, sign up to volunteer, or make a donation, visit orsonwellescomplex.com.