DANVILLE — A small crowd gathered in the lobby of Fischer Theatre Saturday night. Some waited in line for refreshments and others stood around to chat about the film they were about to see at the theater’s first annual film festival honoring Danville native Gene Hackman, who died earlier this year.
Theatre manager Lauren Powell, who was working the box office, greeted guests as they entered.
“I like hearing the buzz of excitement when people come in the doors and everyone wants to share their story with you,” Powell said. “We had someone drop off a photo from her parents’ wedding that has Gene in it.”
The festival featured five of Hackman’s most well-known films and an open discussion about his work with Illinois film critics Chuck Koplinksi and Pam Powell.
Danville residents are known to be proud of their city’s stars, which include Hackman as well as Dick and Jerry Van Dyke and singer Bobby Short. There is no shortage of murals and plaques throughout town commemorating the notable figures, but some hope the festival can go further.
Carol Nichols, a theater volunteer, worked at the theater before it was renovated. She created a timeline detailing Hackman’s life and career that was on display at the festival.
“I think it’s important that we’re proud of the people who came from here and that were raised here, and we think that’s helped make them who they are or were,” Nichols said. “And so I think it’s important for them to see their full body of work. We know we have films this weekend that are wonderful films, but they’re just a fraction of everything that he did in his career.”
Nichols, like many of the theater’s staff and volunteers, has a long history with the Fischer. She recalled visiting as a young girl and seeing “The Sound of Music” with her family and waiting in line with her husband to watch the first Star Wars film.
While researching Hackman, she found that he also shared that quintessential Danville memory.
“He evidently came to the theater with his family when he was 8 years old and saw his first live stage production of ‘The Corn is Green’ with Ethel Barrymore,” Nichols said.
While the theater was closed for years before its renovations were completed in 2019, it has served as a center of Danville’s arts and entertainment scene for decades.
Powell said she is glad the festival has brought more people through its historic doors. She said people travelled from other cities — and even from out of state — for Fischerfest.
“The Fischer is the 6th oldest operating theater in the United States, and so for them to get to come in here and experience it, and to just sit here, I mean, it could change somebody’s life,” she said. “I know how dramatic that sounds, but it really, it has, and it will continue to for as long as she’s here.”
The festival received a warm response from community members who attended, and staff members shared that a future festival commemorating another local star may be in the works.