On a recent morning at The Mini Microcinema, C. Jacqueline Wood takes a sip of coffee as her dog skitters across the space’s wood floors, later claiming a spot in the theater’s front window, a red-and-white sign that reads “CINEMA” pointing down at her.
The Mini — an experimental film and video hub — is in the process of packing up. Ephemera of past screenings and events lay about, some affixed on a chalkboard above Wood’s desk space. There are posters, some drawn by local artists, miniature mugs and shelves of film projectors and equipment. It’s a culmination of over five years of work and, more than that, evidence of deep passion for the community surrounding the nonprofit.
The closing of their physical space at 1329 Main St. was announced in September, a decision that Wood says took months to reach. Much of the reason for closing, she says, has to do with lack of funding, but resources and time and energy constraints also played a part.
Hope is not lost for fans of The Mini, however. There are talks of a possible film cooperative and pop-up screenings following the closing of the space, though plans are not yet concrete. Of that, she says a co-op would be democratically run, allowing many diverse voices to be heard. What she has learned about film curating and programming, she would teach to others. And starting in January of next year, Wood will be working with nonprofit arts organization FotoFocus. Stay tuned.
“There are ideals that I’ve built The Mini with and there’s a reason why they are ideals, because they’re not necessarily possible in the real world,” Wood says of the closing. “And so there was this moment where I was just pretty much in exhaustion and burnout — and burnout is a real thing. I think I was pretending for years and years that maybe it wasn’t, that I could overcome it, but it really is.”
As of the publication of this article, The Mini has two more screenings. Saturday, Dec. 14 from 10:30 -11 a.m. will be the final Lil’s + Lils — Films for Kids, a series that features animated films from all over the world. Free coffee and Lil’s Bagels will be on deck. On Sunday, The Mini will be screening Carol Reed’s 1949 The Third Man as part of their year-long “The Anniversary Show” series. (Doors open at 7 p.m.; the film starts rolling at 7:30 p.m.) Both events are free with a suggested $5 donation. On that end, an email from The Mini notes that — though they may be closing — donations are still needed to figure out the organization’s next steps. Bills still need to be paid and there are taxes to file and storage to pay for.
Come Dec. 19, The Mini will celebrate their home of four years with a holiday/closing party from 7-10 p.m. There’s a lot to celebrate. They’ll close having held 400 screenings and having shown work by over 1000 filmmakers — a feat that shouldn’t be remiss. The name of every filmmaker ever shown will be printed out on floor-to-ceiling sheets, which party attendees will be invited to sign.
The Mini’s origins can be traced back to 2014. It was then that Wood first began to formulate what would become the cinematheque. Through a $15,000 People’s Liberty Globe Grant, its first iteration opened in summer 2015. It would later live on at Covington’s The Carnegie before coming to Main Street in the fall of 2016. For People’s Liberty — who also helped fund the Main Street location — and for The Carnegie, she says she will be forever grateful.
When asked what the Main Street space has meant to her, Wood pauses, saying she doesn’t know if she can answer without crying.
“The thing that I’ve realized about arts organizations is that one of the biggest obstacles is having a home base,” Wood says. And by that, she means a place where one wouldn’t need to pack their equipment and chairs up at the end of the night.
“It’s not an ephemeral kind of experience,” Wood says, “so having this home base has meant a lot to me and, I think, the community. People know that it’s here and they’re going to come back to it. It was always my idea to make it a very warm and inviting space.”
And, along with The Mini’s team, she has succeeded in carving out that niche community-anchored space. Another key player is Peter Van Hyning, who Wood says has been involved almost from the beginning. A “dedicated and thoughtful right-hand man and programmer,” he has seen much of The Mini’s highs and lows. Other team members include Julian Etienne, Andy Marko, Samantha Drake, Michael Sweeny, Ann Driscoll and Clarity Amrein.
Along with running The Mini — a full-time endeavor itself — Wood has had to juggle other jobs, such as a teaching position at the University of Cincinnati and various production gigs. All of the juggling and the stress that comes with it has taken a toll on her own health and happiness.
Wood is also critical of the funding structures in place in Cincinnati. There’s support for new and established organizations, but Wood says there needs to be more for orgs that exist somewhere in the middle. She says if The Mini were to have gotten some of the grants they had applied for, they could still be open. She notes that they were rejected “four times in a row” by ArtsWave, one of the largest arts funders in Cincy.
“If we can’t get that then I don’t know how other spaces like ours are going to exist,” Wood says. “I have consciously refused to play the nonprofit fundraising game. Our board is built on love and respect and it’s built on people that have a true commitment to the community. It is not based on money or power.”
Hope, for her, comes from the grassroots donations they’ve received over the years from supporters of The Mini, be it through their membership program, donations at screenings or otherwise. As she anticipates the close, Wood knows that The Mini has been a success. The coming Dec. 19 party should be seen as a celebration of all that has been accomplished and what’s to come.
“I would not be who I am today without the opportunity to even dream about The Mini and then start The Mini,” Wood says. “It’s been pretty incredible.”
For more info, visit mini-cinema.org.
This article appears in Dec 11-24, 2019.
