Charleston Music Hall continues film series with five-flick run

Last year Charleston Music Hall launched a film series where every month or so they’d screen a documentary or film focused on music — be it an artist, a movement, or a city. CMH kicks off 2016 with round two of this series, proving that yes, Charleston, there is a movie theater downtown. Catch the first film, All Things Must Pass, on Wed. Jan. 13 at 7:30 p.m.

Charles Carmody and fellow CMH staff select music-based films based on extensive research, looking at critics’ reviews and audience reactions. You won’t find any run-of-the-mill movies here. Says Carmody, “It’s not just Grateful Dead live. We want something with a story.”

Carmody says that he focuses on topic specific films — All Things Must Pass, for example, is a detailed account of the rise and fall of Tower Records — because, “unless it’s special interest, people won’t come out to watch it.” The other reality is that screening big-name films is just too expensive.

“I have so much respect for places like the Terrace,” says Carmody, acknowledging the expense and effort that go into securing a film screening. So why do it? “Film is an important art form,” says Carmody. “It’s insane that we don’t have a theater downtown.”

If music flicks are your thing then check out the full lineup of movies — you can even purchase an all-access pass for $35.

CMH Film Series
Jan. 13, All Things Must Pass
Feb. 3, Marley
Mar. 2, Salad Days
Mar. 30, Bob Dylan: Don’t Look Back
April 19, Muscle Shoals

If your special interests veer more towards the outdoors, say fly-fishing and mountaineering, then Music Hall’s got you covered, too. The Telluride Mt. Film Fest will show both a kids’ screening and a feature on Feb. 21. The Fly Fishing Tour flies (swims?) into town on Mar. 12, and the BANFF Mt. Film Fest will screen films on April 16 and 17.

CMH partners with Charleston Moves on May 19 to screen Bikes vs. Cars, a film that Carmody, a bike commuter himself, calls “intense and true.”