Randy Berler did not set out to start the go-to place for screening new films in the South Bay, but now for the past 13 years, he has been running the South Bay Film Society. On about 30 Wednesdays a year, he fills theaters at AMC Rolling Hills in Torrance with eager film-lovers looking to see the best independent and foreign films circulating through art house theaters.

Arnie with Arthur Cohn, Nurith Cohn, Randy Berler, Linda Berler

Since beginning the society in 2012, Berler has amassed more than 3,000 members on his email list and consistently fills multiple theaters for screenings. But he did not start the society because he thought it would grow this large — really, he just wanted to see the films himself.

Berler recalls that when he was in college in the 1970s, he started a film society on campus.

“I had developed a love of film, and I would show mostly international films, but also film noir and screwball comedies and all that — a range of things,” he says. “We would charge $1 and we'd fill up big lecture halls.”

Though he had a deep love of film, Berler went into urban planning as a career. For a period of time, he chased the dream of working on Hollywood films, even going to the acclaimed film school at USC. However, he turned down an opportunity to be an assistant editor on a Hollywood film, instead turning back to a career in urban planning in Redondo Beach to support his family.

Though he was no longer pursuing a career in Hollywood, Berler never lost his love of film. He discovered that in Redondo Beach, there were no art house theaters showing the art films he wanted to see. That is when he discovered TUGG, a program that allowed people to book films and bring them to their local communities.

“I thought: That sounds great. Maybe I can see if I can get a film to the South Bay,” Berler says. “They did not have any new films, so I found an old art house-type film from 1995 called ‘Red,’ from the Three Colors trilogy.”

Though it was not a new film, the turnout shocked him: he filled a theater with 200 people.

“From there, it just mushroomed. [Some] films had two theaters booked, and eventually I started booking three theaters. I started developing relationships with all the film companies, and I worked out being able to rent the theaters myself and being able to get the films myself. Our email list quickly grew,” Berler says. “After a while, tickets began to sell out very, very quickly. Sometimes a film pretty much sells out in just a few hours now, and most of them, I'm showing in three rooms. So it's been totally unexpected. I never thought this would happen. [Now], I feel a responsibility to do it.”

Berler works with film distributors so he can obtain new movies for screenings, which film companies often are happy to do for him because it creates word-of-mouth buzz about the films. Sometimes the society will also host film discussions and Q&As after a screening, featuring film professors and filmmakers.

Berler and his wife put in hours of work each week ensuring that the logistics — from ticketing to attendance lists — run smoothly, and they screen various movies to ensure they show good films that will cater to their audience.

“You have to know your specific audience you have in the local area, and we're unique in the South Bay,” Berler says. “We have a very educated audience of people that are worldly, and no art house theater. Every other section of LA with a population similar to what we have in the South Bay has an art house theater, and we don't.”

The films Berler chooses are unique and niche compared to normal Hollywood films.

“The films [aren’t] action films and special effects. They don't hit you over the head, especially international films. A lot of times, [they] let you imagine the ending, so it’s different from just going to a regular Hollywood film,” Berler says. “I think film is great as entertainment. But I think it's important for films to be about a lot more than about entertainment, for it to let us think about things in new ways, to be able to have important things to talk about after the film, to take us to countries all over the world and to develop an understanding of cultures around the world.”

On the horizon, Berler has consistent showings coming up, which are listed on the South Bay Film Society website, and they also have a fundraising event for Brainstorm Productions, a Torrance-based animation studio that teaches animation to neurodivergent adults, on April 9.

Berler says he keeps the South Bay Film Society going because he sees how important it is for the people who keep coming, and he has seen its significance in his own life. He has made many friends through it who he would not have met otherwise.

“What I'm really pleased about is we've developed an audience that wants a different experience,” Berler says. “It's not [just] going to the movies. When you come to our show, it's coming to community theater, basically. Everybody is there, and they start meeting new people, and they make new friends. In the hallways after the film, sometimes for a half hour, people are talking with each other. To me, that's what it's really about.”

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Bio:

Emily McGinn is a journalist based in the Los Angeles area. She enjoys reporting on and writing about a variety of topics from lifestyle to news, especially in her areas of specialty, environmental science and political science.