By Renee Lorenz Special to OnMilwaukee.com Published May 21, 2011 at 11:09 AM

A person doesn't have to go far in Milwaukee to find a quality movie theater. The Oriental, Downer, Times and Rosebud are known for providing a diverse range of wide-release titles, indie, foreign and cult films.

While these classic venues are easy enough to come by, finding classic cinema takes a little bit of searching.

The FOCUS Film Society, led by film experts Henry Landa and Dan Guenzel, is trying to change that. Since 2007, the pair has been screening vintage films at Church in the City, 2648 N. Hackett Ave., in a bi-weekly program that gives people the chance to connect with the classics.

"I have believed for many years that Milwaukee should have some venue for showing classic movies. We thought we'd fulfill that need," said Landa. "There's plenty of good material out there, it's just a question of showing it and getting access to it."

Though there are thousands of films that can be considered "classics," FOCUS aims to draw attention to the quality forgotten films of yesteryear – a goal made clear by its name, which is an acronym for Films: Old, Classic and Unknown on Saturdays.

"We wanted to dig into the unusual classics, not to be different but just to try to find some little old gems that sort of slipped off the radar screen," said Guenzel. "Sometimes we show the classics like "Citizen Kane" and "Casablanca," but we want to get away from that."

Not only does FOCUS spotlight lesser-known films, they enhance the classic movie experience by showing selections on film using a 16 mm reel projector.

"We didn't want to go the video or DVD route, so we had to make a list of all the available archives that would loan us or rent us 16 mm films," said Guenzel. "Obviously not every film in the world is still available on 16 mm. Some of the archives that we use – The Museum of Modern Art in New York and several archives in California and sometimes even England – we have to use because you can't get them here."

Deciding which films to rent from the archives is mostly based on Landa and Guenzel's familiarity with the work, but every once in awhile they channel the "Unknown" component of the acronym and take a chance on an especially rare title.

"We've taken some films that neither of us have seen, but we took them on reputation," said Guenzel. "There has to be some kind of value in it; it can't just be old or vintage. We rely a lot on contemporary criticism of the time because that'll give you a more accurate picture of what the reaction to the movie was when it was originally released."

Filmgoers also get unique insight into the film before each screening to help put the viewing into context.

"I usually give a short talk before the film which touches on various aspects of the film," said Landa. "There's an awful lot of literature out there about film that people don't know about or don't realize is there, and a good film society should bring that out and expose them to it."

The turnout can be anywhere from a handful of people to a crowd of 20 to 30, but both Landa and Guenzel are optimistic that the FOCUS Film Society will continue to grow.

"I suppose it's a perfectly normal reaction to say, 'Gee, if I don't know this film I don't want to run down and see something if I have no idea what it's like,' but even though the films we show aren't familiar, they're good and entertaining," said Guenzel. "With a lot of these films, we've had people tell us when they leave the theater, 'Oh, I've never heard of this film, but it's really good. Why haven't I heard of this before?' So what we're trying to do is fill that gap."

Renee Lorenz Special to OnMilwaukee.com

Contrary to her natural state of being, Renee Lorenz is a total optimist when it comes to Milwaukee. Since beginning her career with OnMilwaukee.com, her occasional forays into the awesomeness that is the Brew City have turned into an overwhelming desire to discover anything and everything that's new, fun or just ... "different."

Expect her random musings to cover both the new and "new-to-her" aspects of Miltown goings-on, in addition to periodically straying completely off-topic, which usually manifests itself in the form of an obscure movie reference.