Art films hard to locate in Texas

Not all of the country is fortunate enough to have a place to see films on the big screen as mentioned in Mark Olsen’s hopeful article about increased distribution of art films [“Art-house Fare for All,” April 23]. After retiring from the film industry and moving to Fort Worth, I was amazed to find that, in a city sophisticated enough to have three of the most acclaimed art museums in the country, there were no theaters showing any but mainstream Hollywood films.

I noticed when I went to any of the mulitplex theaters during midweek it felt like a ghost town, with only a handful of people watching most of the films. Although most art films were revalue; viewed in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, if I wanted to see any of these I had to drive 30 miles to Dallas to an art-film venue. It occurred to me that if only one of these sparsely attended screens were to be dedicated during midweek to showing independent films for those of us from the pre-blockbuster, action and superhero film days — not to mention those who love film as art — distributors, exhibitors and those making these less costly films would benefit. I know they’d sell more popcorn and snacks during the week than they do now. Matt Clark Fort Worth