The Southampton Playhouse is celebrating 30 years of legendary indie production banner Killer Films, as IndieWire can announce. The historic theater is set to host Killer Films co-founders Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler with a special screening of Todd Haynes’ cult 1998 film “Velvet Goldmine.” The event will close out Pride month, and also coincide with the release of another Killer Films feature, Celine Song’s “Materialists.”
Haynes’ “Velvet Goldmine” centers on a fictional British journalist Arthur Stuart who is investigating the career of a 1970s glam superstar. The iconic film stars Christian Bale, Ewan McGregor, Jonathan Rhys-Meyers, and Toni Collette. It was the third feature between Haynes and Killer Films, which was founded in 1995.
In addition to the “Velvet Goldmine” screening, the Southampton Playhouse has unveiled its full June programming lineup for its inaugural summer season. Highlights include a conversation event with “Andor” creator Tony Gilroy; a reunion between “When You Finish Saving the World” director Jesse Eisenberg and star Julianne Moore, who will presents her book “Freckleface Strawberry” at the theater; and a car club meet up with Rally Point East to toast to the exclusive Fan First IMAX premiere of “F1.” For more details, go here.
“We are thrilled to launch the season with a range of incredible guests and special events that make the most of our theater and its community,” Southampton Playhouse Artistic Director Eric Kohn said. “Our June programming epitomizes the powerful blend of cinema and related cultural experiences we will be celebrating at the Playhouse throughout this summer and beyond.”
The Southampton Playhouse also recently unveiled its inaugural annual Gary Cooper Festival. The four-screen theater boasts a state-of-the-art IMAX screen, 35mm projection, and a flexible space for parties and performance arts. The center additionally has a lounge area and bookstore. The Playhouse first opened in 1932.
“Velvet Goldmine” producer Vachon previously told IndieWire that the feature took years to resonate with wide audiences after winning a Special Jury Award at Cannes. “I don’t know if anyone ever goes into a movie saying, ‘I’m going to make a cult film,’” she said when reflecting on the legacy of the feature. “When the movie came out and didn’t do terrific, it was right at the time when the Internet was really starting to take hold. I was just starting to go online and look for things like mentions of my movies and stuff like that. I started to notice that ‘Velvet Goldmine’ was being written about and talked about online. Todd’s movies have always had their fanbase, but they were always very much about Todd. The fans that I was seeing building up around ‘Velvet Goldmine,’ they didn’t even know who Todd was. They were all about the movie and the characters and which lines came from where. The way they wrote about it and the fan fiction that they wrote; it was really quite extraordinary.”
