The silent minority

By the time you read this, Sean Ottosen will be well on his way to Madison, Wis., hoping to get into graduate school and sink into a tremendous film culture, complete with one of the largest film archives in the nation. Before leaving, Ottosen has one more night in Baton Rouge to showcase another set of silent films.

For the past year, Ottosen and Peter Excho have hosted Silent Movie Nights at Insomkneeacks the first Tuesday of each month. The screenings were free and the evenings filled with rattling and spotty frames of vintage comedy or drama, depending on Ottosen’s mood and what he could find on Netflix.

But unless Ottosen can find a replacement, Silent Movie Nights might dissolve quicker than a burn-in of the final frame. Ottosen started and maintained the movie nights because of his passion for film. Studying film at LSU, he was only able to graduate with an English major and a minor in Film and Media Arts. “My interest was larger than what the class provided,” Ottosen says. He started the movie night as “a platform for my own studies and to see what the audience does or does not like.” One day, he hopes to teach about film and build a course in documentary film studies.

“The idea for the movie night started out as an obscure or weird film night,” Ottosen says. But when he went back to Excho for the go-ahead, Excho asked, “When are we going to do the silent movie night?”

So he began curating silent films, and not just the routine Chaplin.

Though these showcases never had much of a crowd, a couple of onlookers and coffee drinkers always ended up gawking at the screen.

“They tell me, ‘I never knew this stuff existed,’” Ottosen says. “And that’s the reason I kept doing it.”

If nothing happens with Silent Movie Nights after he boxes up his belongings, Ottosen will be disappointed. He feels the local arts community is not intensive enough. This was his child, his outlet, his way to make the community that much more interesting.

Time will tell. One can only hope Ottosen can return a year from now to see his passion passed on to someone else. He can return to Insomkneeacks as an audience member and marvel at the host’s choices of the finest in silent cinema.

Insomkneeacks coffee shop is located at 9810 Florida Blvd. Call 935-2824 for details on film screenings and other special events.