The Albright Memorial Library will show \u201cThe Trouble With Cali\u201d this weekend in anticipation of a documentary film being made about the movie.<\/p>\n
Library officials will host a free screening of the movie, filmed in and around Lackawanna County, Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Henkelman Room at the Albright Memorial Library in downtown Scranton.\n<\/p>\n
Directed by actor Paul Sorvino, the 90-minute movie was filmed between 2006 and 2007, and funded in part by $500,000 in public money from the county. However, taxpayers never got their investment back when the film, which also features Sorvino\u2019s daughter, Oscar winner Mira Sorvino, failed to find a distributor.\n<\/p>\n
It eventually premiered in 2012 at an Arizona film festival, followed by a second screening at a New Jersey film festival in 2014, but was not released in theaters.\n<\/p>\n
Sorvino, who died in 2022, sent three Blu-ray Discs of the film to the Lackawanna County commissioners in 2015.\u00a0One of those copies went to the Albright. Scranton Public Library CEO Scott Thomas said the library has done public screenings of the movie since the library received the copy but they have been infrequent. He said interest in the movie comes and goes, but library staff have received more inquiries about it since news came out in the fall that filmmaker John Mikulak is making a documentary about it. They decided to schedule the screening as a result.<\/p>\n
\u201cDemand wanes and waxes for seeing that movie,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cNow with the documentary, we decided to show it. That has renewed interest in it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The copy of \u201cThe Trouble With Cali\u201d at the Albright can\u2019t be checked out, he said. Those wishing to view the movie have to watch it at the library.<\/p>\n
In an interview Thursday, Mikulak said the film is in postproduction, which he hopes to have done by the end of the year. The untitled documentary, which he spent several years shooting, will focus on the making of \u201cThe Trouble With Cali\u201d and the local intrigue surrounding it. It will feature interviews with former officials, members of the media and those involved in the movie\u2019s production.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s kind of a bear because there\u2019s so much footage and trying to create an interesting story,\u201d Mikulak said of the documentary\u2019s postproduction process. \u201cIt\u2019s not only finding its own intrigue and political intrigue, but also you want to talk about what happened on set and then you really want to go into the whole notion of why do I think this (movie) should be released and why do I think it could become a cult film.\u201d<\/p>\n
Thomas said people have asked to see the movie at the library over the years and Saturday\u2019s screening has generated interest, with registration for it reaching nearly half of the Henkelman Room\u2019s capacity of 40 people. He said another screening will be scheduled if the number of people registered reaches the room\u2019s capacity.<\/p>\n
The commissioners approved an agreement late last year to license clips from the movie to Mikulak and his company, Monkya Films LLC, for use in the documentary. County officials previously decided that as the movie\u2019s primary investor, the county has rights to it and the authority to license Mikulak to use footage.\n<\/p>\n
Mikulak hopes to submit the documentary to film festivals, where it can hopefully find a distributor.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it makes more sense to try to get a (distributor) if it does well at a festival, then you get a little bidding war,\u201d he said. \u201cThe more people that know about it, the better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lackawanna County Commissioner Thom Welby mentioned the library\u2019s planned Saturday screening of \u201cThe Trouble with Cali\u201d during Wednesday\u2019s commissioners meeting. In expressing hope the event is well attended, he suggested the film has potential to develop something of a cult following.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know if it will turn into (a) \u2018Rocky Horror Picture Show\u2019 kind of cult thing, but maybe something toward that direction,\u201d Welby said.<\/p>\n