Presenter(s): Katherine Wilson—English
Faculty Mentor(s): Peter Alilunas, Stephen Rust
Session 1: Flicks and Pics
Cinema 7 was a unique “art house” movie theater in Eugene, Oregon, 1974–87 . It was part of Oregon’s emerging film culture in the early 70s; showcasing the films of Poetic Cinema Filmmakers Ron Finne, Sharon Genasci and Don Cato, among others; and was partially funded and staffed by Oregon Film’s Pioneer Film Crew member Katherine Wilson, a professional Location Scout and Casting Director . The cinema boasted attendance by such notables as cast and crew from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Animal House, and Stand By Me; as well as local icon Ken Kesey .
Curious about what the venue looked like, U of O Cinema Studies Professor Alilunas discovered in 2020 that one of the students in his class, filmmaker Katherine Wilson, had worked there; and an opportunity arose to learn more about the theater’s special place in history .
Only a single photograph from the Eugene Register Guard Newspaper (of the hidden projector room) and one polaroid image of a corner of the lobby existed, so Katherine made the decision to make a diorama from the blueprints Dr . Alilunas had found at Eugene’s City Planning Department .
The interior design itself was inspired by the great former movie and opera houses of Eugene (the ornate theater seats were reused and recycled from the demolished Heilig Theater in 1973) as it mimicked The Egyptian Theater and The Bagdad Theater in the Art Deco/ Egyptian Revival style popular in the 1920s .
Therefore, it became more important than ever to somehow preserve the theater’s history for students who were studying how and why Art Houses were so important beginning in the early 70s; as these “underground” artistic filmmakers helped create Cinema as we know it today .
Additional photos were later found and printed from negatives by the Cinema’s Interior Designer and Graphic Artist Lynn Peterson, who also designed all the Cinema 7 posters starting 46 years ago . Lynn had donated many of them along with Katherine’s to the Katherine Wilson Special Collection at the Knight Library in 2016 . Video link: https://vimeo .com/401805694/0167ee0cc3