Ontario Library will show free summer movies

On Thursday evenings, the community room at the Ontario City Library is transformed into a quaint theater where films from nearly every genre are shown free of charge.

In April 2006, Paul Johnson, the audio/visual librarian, decided to share the 3,000 films in his personal collection with library patrons.

After obtaining a license to show the movies publicly, Johnson launched the family film festival which runs two months on, one month off throughout the year.

"We looked at our records and the last time we had a film festival was in 1978," Johnson said. "This is something I've always wanted to do, so when I became the audio/visual librarian it was on my to-do list."

Johnson utilizes suggestions from the library staff and the Internet for film titles to incorporate into the ongoing film festival.

Since he is a big fan of adventure, animation and comedy, Johnson usually shows films from those genres.

Johnson owns several movies relating to the Asian culture that he had never watched, so he created the Films East program for the month of July. The films are produced or inspired by Asian and Middle-Eastern themes of life, death, love and family.

"I try to show films beyond the mainstream box office and expose people to more than just a Hollywood box office," Johnson explained.

"Films East is an experimental series and I'm expecting very few people to show up. I want to see if there's a market for these films at our library."

The Films East program began July 5 with a screening of "Dim Sum: A Little Bit of Heart," an independent film that examines the relationships between three generations of a Chinese-American family living in San Francisco.

Library patrons enjoyed light refreshments and said they also enjoyed the free movies.

"I've been to four or five of the movies and I enjoy it," said Dorothy Rivas of Upland.

"I come whenever there's something I like. I really like the Chinese films and the action films. I think it's great that the library does this. A lot of people can't afford to go to the movies."

Patricia Felix considers herself a regular at the screenings and said they are worth seeing.

"I've been coming quite a bit, I think it's a good idea," said Felix, an Ontario resident.

"You don't have to pay to see a movie and it keeps you occupied. I really like the Harry Potter films. I haven't found any other libraries in the area that do this."