Three movie theaters in the Rural Intelligence region whose mission goes beyond showing films have found a different way to connect with their audiences. The Triplex Cinema in Great Barrington, The Moviehouse in Millerton, New York, and Images Cinema in Williamstown, Mass. have continued to introduce the best new independent films, but with a twist: Audiences watch them on their at-home screens.

It was pretty wrenching for Richard Stanley, owner of The Triplex, Carol Sadlon, owner of The Moviehouse, and Doug Jones, executive director at Images, when they had to close their doors. In conversation, they kept bringing up the importance of their community, and the thought of not being able to serve their audiences was disheartening.

“Three weeks ago, when we initially closed our doors, one of the things that was on our mind was, we’re a gathering place for the community,” Jones said. “How can we bring together without them coming to the theater?”

If you’re a fan of indie films, you can now be grateful to the indie film industry itself. Yes, streaming their just-released films benefits  the distributors, but it wasn’t like the technology was ready-set-go. They had to scamble to come up with the means to encrypt their files so the movies wouldn’t get pirated en route to home screens.

“It’s a terrific opportunity for us to engage in these really wonderful indie films,” said Sadlon, who calls this new venture “The Moviehouse @ Your House.” Some of the movies she would have programmed anyway, “but some are so niche, you ordinarily wouldn’t see them in theaters.”

You’re basically downloading the film as a rental. After purchasing your ticket, you’re provided an access code to view the movie, which you can watch on any internet-connected device including laptops, tablets and smartphones and most Smart TVs. Each distributor has its own set of instructions, and each sets its own price for the rental, but the films run generally around $10-$12 and are available for three days. It’s important to know, too, that each “ticket” you buy helps to support The Moviehouse and Images; the film’s distributor will donate a percentage of the ticket revenue back to the theater. It’s a way to help the theaters weather their shutdown period

The Moviehouse, which throughout the year hosts frequent post-movie events, introduced its first virtual Zoom Movie Club event last Saturday. Viewers of the film “Saint Frances” tuned into The Moviehouse via Zoom to have a discussion moderated by Claire Goodman, professor of media at Long Island University. The discussion, Sadlon said, was deep and thoughtful.

“We had a great turnout,” she said. “It was so fascinating to interact one on one in a relaxed environment. Every person gave both the movie and the discussion two thumbs up.”

There are six films on the schedule now, and Sadlon thinks its important to build a discussion around them. She’s working on a Zoom Movie Club event for “Sorry We Missed You,” a British film directed by Ken Loach.

“We’re trying to keep the essence of The Moviehouse going,” Sadlon said. While she’d much rather have the theater filled —she misses the audience, many of whom she has come to know well — The Moviehouse @ Your House is a means to keep everyone connected.

Images also has six films scheduled (each available for several days), and while some are the same as at The Moviehouse, they don’t have exactly the same lineup.

It’s not as good as getting together and watching on the big screen, Jones conceded. But he said that they’re still doing what they do at Images — bringing independent film to the Berkshires..

"It's something we can do for our loyal supporters," said Stanley of The Triplex.

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