BY ADAM ATKINSON
North Country This Week

POTSDAM — A local film series that has been bringing thought-provoking flicks, art house films, indy cinema releases, foreign cinema and some classic movies to Potsdam since the 1980s will kick off its 2022 fall season Sept. 12 with ET the Extraterrestrial.

The Roxy Theater will feature a full Cinema 10 lineup this fall.

“I feel it is an exciting and diverse set of films,” said Holly Chambers, Cinema 10 coordinator. “Each title, in one way or another, meets the Cinema 10 mission: to bring films to the area which are significant artistically, socially or politically, but which generally are not popular enough in the mass market to reach our theaters, with an emphasis on current international and American independent films; to increase cultural diversity in an area relatively isolated culturally and ethnically; to increase the public's awareness of film as an art form.”

“Even E.T. which is now a classic,” Chambers said.

Chambers said she was unsure which movie this year would be the biggest draw for local film buffs.

“We just settled the schedule last week so it isn't quite clear what the biggest draws will be. Judging by what a few people said when I told them E.T. would be the first film on 9/12, people are looking forward to seeing this classic on a big screen. I am too,” she said.

The series still offers one of the best deals around in terms of admission. Tickets are $5.50 general or $45 for the season; or $4.50 students and seniors or $35 for the season for those demographics.

“The support of the New York State Council on the Arts has been very important to our keeping ticket prices low,” Chambers said. “We also very much appreciate the support the Roxy has given us in keeping their charges to us very reasonable, and support from local businesses who have placed ads in our season posters. In addition, the people working on running Cinema 10 are all volunteers.”

Chambers said the series lineup is often put together from suggestions from the public and that in addition to the physical suggestion box at the Roxy, patrons can leave ideas on the series website https://sites.google.com/a/cinema10.org/www/home .

Cinema 10 kicks off Sept. 12 at 7:15 p.m. with the inimitable Steven Spielberg classic, E.T. This 1982 fan favorite is 115 minutes long.

When Elliott discovers that an alien life form has landed right in his backyard, he has to help the lovable E.T. return to his home planet.

“We now have the distance to see just how close to a flawless and utterly timeless a film Steven Spielberg and his collaborators crafted – one that transcended genres… to become one of the greatest and most durable of American movies,” writes Lou Lumenick of the New York Post.

The movie is rated PG for language and mild thematic elements.

All Cinema 10 films are shown on Monday evenings at 7:15 in the Roxy Theater in Potsdam, with a few noted changes on dates and times.

Masks are required at all Cinema 10 screenings.

The rest of the schedule includes:

• Sept. 16 Belle / Ryû to sobakasu no hime (Japan, 2021, d. Mamoru Hosoda), 121 min., PG; film screening is part of the North Country Arts Festival event, free film in Ives Park, 8 p.m. Smoke free event;

• Sept. 19, Red Rocket (US, 2021, d. Sean Baker), 128 min., R;

• Sept. 26, Flee / Flugt (Denmark/France/Norway etc., 2021, d. Jonas Poher Rasmussen), 89 min., PG-13;

• Oct. 3, Drive My Car / Doraibu mai kâ (Japan, 2021, d. Ryûsuke Hamaguchi) 179 min., NR;

• Oct. 17, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On (US, 2021, d. Dean Fleischer-Camp), 90 min., PG;

• Oct. 24, Parallel Mothers / Madres paralelas (Spain/France, 2021, d. Pedro Almodóvar), 123 min., R;

• Oct. 31, Petite Maman /Petite maman (France, 2021, d. Céline Sciamma), 73 min., PG;

• Nov. 7, Writing with Fire (India, 2021, d. Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh), 82 min., NR;

• Nov. 14, Happening / L'événement (France, 2021, d. Audrey Diwan), 100 min., R;

• Nov. 28, Lupin III: The Castle of Cagliostro / Rupan Sansei: Kariosutoro no Shiro (Japan, 1979, d. Hayao Miyazaki), 102 min., NR.