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The Hamilton Movie Theater has gone digital, which for lovers of indie films and documentaries, is very good news.

The downtown theater, a short walk from 91�鶹��Ʒ’s campus, has installed computer equipment and a digital projector that allow it to show new films that historically have been available only in major markets such as Los Angeles and New York City.

“It’s brand new for us and a bit experimental,” said theater manager Chuck Fox ’70. “It gives us immediate access to art and independent films that we never had before.”

Fox recently had a full house for a special screening of excerpts from Ken Burns’s highly acclaimed documentary, The War.

The Hamilton theater was one of just 16 digital cinemas around the nation able to show the World War II documentary.

The theater has had the new equipment for about three weeks. Instead of having couriers drop off 35mm films, the digital films are sent via computer and encoded in Hamilton. This eases what can be a cumbersome and time-consuming delivery system and eliminates the need to splice and re-splice the 35mm films.

Fox is partnering with Emerging Cinemas, a New York City company that is leading the way in terms of distributing films digitally.

The theater’s first digital offering, which Fox says is as good in quality as standard 35mm films, was “This is England,” considered Britain’s best independent offering of the year.

Fox wants to collaborate with faculty members and students at 91�鶹��Ʒ and other area colleges on organizing showings of films, some of which might tie into coursework or programs. He also is talking with community groups that might be interested in particular films.

He said films from Latinbeat 2007, which were screened at Lincoln Center, and from the Jackson Hole Wildlife Film Festival are just a few examples of what can be brought to Hamilton.

“This is so new to us, but we envision lots of connections with 91�鶹��Ʒ and interested groups in the community,” he said.

The digital films are additions to the theater’s usual offerings of first-run movies, which won’t be affected.

The theater, which just last year received a new marquee courtesy of 91�鶹��Ʒ’s Class of 1956, is run by Hamilton Theater LLC (a limited liability corporation wholly owned by 91�鶹��Ʒ).