Campus News

Screening of ‘Singin’ in the Rain’ inaugurates annual film festival

One of the most beloved movies of all time, Singin’ in the Rain, is returning to the big screen-for one night only, and only in Athens.

The digitally re-mastered 35-mm print of Singin’ in the Rain will be shown March 19 at 8 p.m. at the Classic Center as the inaugural event of Robert Osborne’s Classic Film Festival, which will bring the best of classic cinema to the big screen in Athens each January. The film festival is being presented by the Grady College of Journalism and Mass ­Communication.

Tickets are $10 for the movie and $75 for a pre-screening VIP reception with Turner Classic Movies host Robert Osborne. Tickets may be purchased at the Classic Center box office (www.classiccenter.com or 357-4444). Tickets to the reception are tax-deductible. All proceeds benefit the not-for-profit event.

As host of the Turner Classic Movies cable television network, Osborne nightly brings viewers into the world of classic Hollywood, providing inside information, facts and trivia on TCM movie presentations.

“It’s a tremendous coup for the university and for Athens that Robert Osborne has agreed to make our community the home of his classic film festival,” says telecommunications professor Nate Kohn. “Robert is the world’s foremost authority on the Academy Awards, and his passion for great motion pictures will inspire us all to help build a community of active film-goers here in Athens at the Classic Center.”

Kohn worked with Osborne and the university’s community liaison, Pat Allen, to make Athens the home of this unique film festival.

“One of my goals is to better connect the resources of the university to the needs in the Athens community,” Allen says. “Robert Osborne’s Classic Film Festival uses the wonderful resource that we have in Nate Kohn and matches it with the community’s need for increased tourism, in what is usually a slow time for tourism. While the film festival is benefiting our local economy, it is also providing us with yet another