COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — When Kimball’s Peak Three Theater closed in downtown Colorado Springs over a year ago, the Pikes Peak region lost a cultural gathering place for cinephiles. The venue often screened independent and non-mainstream films not widely available elsewhere.
And with the Academy Awards on Sunday, many might be left wondering how and where they might catch these often limited release movies. Sources have told News5 the Peak Theater is gearing up to announce its reopening in the coming month or so. But until then, there remains an apparent lack of an independent film cultural hub.
Richard Skorman, longtime community and business leader, also served as the city’s first film critic and author, publishing a guide to independent foreign films called Off-Hollywood Movies.
In 1982, he opened Poor Richard’s Cinema. It was a small venue within his bookstore that would screen films not widely available. Kimball Bayles would go on to purchase that arthouse cinema and eventually transform it into Kimball’s Peak Three Theater, moving its location to the historic building at Pikes Peak Ave and Tejon in downtown Colorado Springs.
“People have mentioned it 500 times since Kimball passed away, to me, whenever I go anywhere or through the businesses here. But people miss it,” Skorman said. “I think people really do miss that interaction with each other, a larger screen and more impact.”
Calling the independent and arthouse films often screened at the Peak Theater “emotional,” Skorman said its closure is indicative of a nationwide issue with similar theaters all shutting down.
“There's not that many cities that have these kinds of theaters left. Or if they do, they're nonprofit,” said Skorman. With streaming services hosting so many options, the general population might often choose to watch these movies at home on a TV, he added.
INDEPENDENT FILM SCENE IN COLORADO SPRINGS PERSEVERES
Despite the large void left by Peak Theater’s closure, the arts and culture community in Colorado Springs stresses there remains a thriving independent film scene.
Angela Seals is the executive director for the Cultural Office of the Pikes Peak Region, a nonprofit agency that works to elevate visibility and impact of the creative community in El Paso and Teller Counties.
Without the Peak Theater, Seals said live events are a great alternative for film lovers.
“Every month in Colorado Springs, there's Pop-UP Cinema with Rocky Mountain Women's Film. There's also festivals here, like the Independent Film Society's Indie Spirit Film Festival every summer, Three Nights of Horror Film Festival every fall,” said Seals. “And of course, Rocky Mountain Women's Film Festival, which is the longest running women's film fest in North America.”
Seals encouraged people to check the film events calendar on their website, www.peakradar.com.
Ralph Giordano is the festival director with the Independent Film Society of Colorado, which is based in Colorado Springs. He’s a filmmaker himself and reiterated the options presented by the cultural office.
“I think that we have the ability to keep presenting these films, just that people have to figure out where it is and know more about the organizations that sponsor these films,” he said.
Through his film networking group Peak Film Forum, Giordano said he’s worked with at least 250 local filmmakers over the years, showing the homegrown independent film scene in Colorado Springs is growing as well.
He said apart from attending screenings, the community can support these filmmakers who are often looking for funding on sites like GoFundMe to help get their films launched.
“I think this town is going to support independent cinema. And we'll keep it going,” he said. “Well, at least I hope they do.”
OTHER OPTIONS TO CATCH OSCAR-NOMINATED FILMS
When it comes to the Academy Awards, the winners and nominees often come back to larger theater chains like Cinemark in Colorado Springs.
In the week leading up to the Academy Awards, Cinemark’s Tinseltown theater screened all of the Best Picture nominees. But these were one-off screenings for each film.
For cinephiles like John Kisner, who just moved to Colorado Springs from Iowa, these options are a great start, but he’d like to see an arthouse theater back open.
Kisner and his wife were catching the one o’clock showing of Bradley Cooper’s Maestro on Wednesday afternoon.
“I'm just shocked. We moved from a smaller city. And we're shocked that there isn't something that's more like a small multiplex that has these kinds of movies,” said Kisner. “You read about some of these arty films that the critics rave about, and then they just never come to town. And that's what we're missing here.”
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Email Senior Reporter Brett Forrest at brett.forrest@koaa.com. Follow @brettforrestTVon X and Brett Forrest News on Facebook.
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