It’s 7 o’clock on a chilly Saturday night in downtown Winston-Salem. Slick spots linger on the sidewalk from a Friday snowfall, while blustery February winds whip up the Fourth Street corridor. It’s certainly not the type of weather that says, “let’s go out on the town.”

But inside the whitewashed confines of a/perture cinema, there’s a little bit of electricity offsetting the arctic climate. A mix of couples, individuals, and friends file through the cinema’s modest double-door entrance — some look around, some look up, some look toward the concessions, but all seem to smile at what they see. As they step up to the ticket counter, many opt to add an adult beverage to their bill.

“We’re going to have two tickets to Broken Embraces and two glasses of the pinot noir,” Colin Miln tells the concessionaire.

Miln, who’s there with his wife, Isla, is thrilled at the reality of an art-house cinema in Winston-Salem. “We’re very excited that [a/perture] is here,” he says just before entering the theater. “We used to love to go to a little place like this in Edinburgh [Scotland] when we lived there.”

Just behind them stands another couple, Tim and Beth O’Connell, who are visiting a/perture for the first time. Tim, who’s holding a beer, and Beth, sipping on red wine, are making the evening a date night.

“We love what we’re seeing so far.” Beth says. “Where we used to live [in Raleigh], there were several places like this, so we got used to being able to see these types of films in our hometown. We’re excited to have that option again.”

Minutes later, the theater doors swing open and both couples stroll in. The lights dim, the projector fires up, and the a/perture experience is under way.

Setting the Scene

Similar to the multiplexes that dot the outskirts of town, a/perture shows new-release movies and sells popcorn. That’s just about where the similarities end, though.

Everything inside the cinema’s 8,000 square feet is pared down, creating an experience that’s more intimate than ostentatious. Even the exterior is dramatically scaled back. A bright green banner hangs over the entrance while TVs in the windows show previews (there are plans to add a marquee, though).

From the moment you enter the lobby, with its sleek branding and black trim, you enter a world without pretension. Instead of stadium seating and billboard-sized screens,  a/perture has just two theaters and 160 seats total.

Instead of a grand lobby and adjacent arcade, a/perture’s lobby features a small ticket/refreshment counter and a little bit of standing room.

And instead of showing huge blockbusters that uniformly fill the cineplexes, a/perture screens a select number of independent, art, and foreign films — the ones you see winning all the awards, but typically can’t find in Forsyth County. It also shows locally made films.

Add it all up, and it’s easy to see why the small space is generating a sizable buzz. A quick scan of the cinema’s Facebook page — which in mid-February had nearly 2,000 fans — speaks to its rapid popularity. A sample of some of the comments:

“Words can’t express how thrilled I am you’re here.”

Another reads, “This place rocks my socks! I can’t wait to go again, and again, and again.”

And, as one person ecstatically points out, the so-called “City of the Arts” now has its very own art-house cinema.

So how did a/perture get here? And who were the people who made it happen? Lawren Desai, the cinema’s curator and general manager, is happy to fill you in.

Building the Set

Though she’s a Winston-Salem native and Reynolds High grad (class of ’94), Desai never thought she’d come back here. “Not in a million years,” she says, laughing. Not when she had dreams of working in the film industry.

She left town for Philadelphia, then headed to Los Angeles, where she enrolled in a film course at UCLA. That led to internships with Sony and Warner Brothers production companies. She got accepted into USC’s film school but opted not to go, electing to study film on her own instead.

Money became tight, though, and Desai ended up back in Winston-Salem. She took a job working at the UNCSA School of Filmmaking under then-dean Dale Pollock. A year later she was off to New York City, trying to break into the film industry. “It wasn’t easy,” she says. “Being in New York, I eventually had to get a job.”

She found a job as a merchandiser for a luxury watch company, but realized she wanted to go back to school. She applied and was accepted to Wake Forest in 2002, where she earned her MBA. That’s also where she met her husband, Jigar. After graduating, she got a job as a financial marketing analyst in Greensboro.

All the while, she never let her love of film go, but assumed she’d never again work in the business. That is until she got word that Andrew Rodgers, the executive director of RiverRun International Film Festival, was looking for someone to open an independent cinema in town. It was an idea that had been gaining momentum for a while.

“It’s just something that needed to be done,” Rodgers says. “RiverRun didn’t have the capacity to own and operate a cinema, but we knew we could support one in a strong way.”

Rodgers met with Rence Callahan, chairman of the Downtown Winston-Salem Partnership board, to start looking at potential spaces. When Callahan showed him the space at 311 West Fourth St., everything seemed to fall into place.

The spot is owned by Callahan’s architecture firm — Walter, Robbs, Callahan, and Pierce — though it sat empty for a few years. It originally housed Montaldo’s, a high-end clothing store popular in the early 1900s. In fact, some of the store’s ornate grapevine molding still remains. It transitioned over time to a place of business, with Cavanaugh and Associates — an engineering-consulting company — being the last tenant. Cavanaugh would eventually outgrow the space, leaving behind a large opening right in the center of Winston-Salem’s theater district. This could work, Rodgers thought.

So with a location selected, the only other hurdle was finding someone to manage it. Callahan had just the person in mind. “I remember Rence being really coy about it at first,” Rodgers says. “He just said, ‘I know someone who could make this work.’ ”

That person ended up being Desai, his daughter. She quickly got to work on a business plan, coming up with $500,000 in startup costs. “There’s a lot of indie theaters that take over old spaces and don’t put much thought into the design,” Desai says. “But I’m a bit of a perfectionist, so I was going to make sure we did it right.”

She toured similar theaters around the state and headed to festivals to look for films.

Along the way, she partnered with Elephant in the Room, a local design and advertising company, to do the branding and come up with a name. The two parties eventually settled on aperture, which refers to an opening in a camera that controls how much light gets in.

Demolition started late last summer. Seats were installed, screens were hung, and loads of black and white paint were applied. Despite the space constraints, construction rolled along smoothly. By January, Winston-Salem officially had a cinema in downtown — something it hadn’t seen since the early 1980s.

“It was definitely exciting, but it was frantic,” Desai says of the opening night. “Now that we’ve found our footing, we’re just trying to make everything better.”

Her family is helping make the process a bit easier. Jigar, a financial analyst by day, handles the cinema’s blog and also spends time behind the counter. Her mother handles the a/v society — a/perture’s membership club that rewards joiners with discounted tickets, concessions, and a T-shirt (among other things). Even her father gets in on the action from time to time. “Oh, she definitely puts me to work,” Callahan says. “I’ve gotten pretty good at filling up those little popcorn bags.”

Rodgers is helping out, too. Not so much with labor, but by shouldering some of the costs. RiverRun is now a rent-paying tenant at a/perture, with Rodgers’ office sitting just behind one of the screens. When the festival arrives in April, RiverRun will take over the cinema for 10 days, showing numerous films in both theaters. Rodgers will also use the space to screen movies throughout the year.

“I can walk out of my office, down the hall, and boom, I’m in the projection booth,” he says. “How great is that? And the theaters have such a nice vibe. They’re both small, but well-proportioned, so you can really feel the impact of the film you’re seeing.”

RiverRun isn’t alone in their admiration of a/perture. Several surrounding businesses have also applauded Desai’s efforts. “Some of the downtown restaurants have approached me just to say thanks,” Desai says. “I think a lot of people assume the only thing you can do downtown is eat or go to a bar. Now there’s another option to go along with that, and that’s what’s exciting.”

To Be Continued

Back in the lobby, assistant manger Genevieve Moore is taking a second to breathe. “It’s rush, rush, rush before the movie starts, then wait, wait, wait once it’s on,” she says. “I’m still getting used to that.”

In a few hours, the last of the Saturday night shows will wrap up and theatergoers will head out. Moore and her co-workers will then be left with “about 50,000 pieces of popcorn to sweep up … and probably a wine spill or two.”

They’ll lock the doors at a/perture, but not for long. Tomorrow is Sunday after all, and the cinema has a round of matinees on tap. It’s a hectic pace, sure, but it’s something that everyone involved — from Moore, to Desai, to Rodgers — seems to welcome. More than that, it’s something they hope continues for a long time.

“The key to a/perture staying here and growing here is continued community support,” Rodgers says. “Everyone is excited about it now, and that’s fantastic, but it’s not going to be new forever. Once it’s been open for a while and the luster wears off, that’s when it’s so important to still come see movies. I just hope people always remember what a treasure this place is. It’s a treasure for all of us.”

Movies are shown seven nights at varying times. Admission is $8.50 for adults, $7 for students and seniors, and $5 for kids 12 and under. Tickets to any show before 5 p.m. go for $6.50. For information on featured films, show times, the a/v society, and more, call 336-722-8148 or go to aperturecinema.com

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Sneak Peaks
March means Oscar season, and a/perture is taking notice. Here is a quick look at three award-winning films showing this month.

The Last Station (2009)
Rated R; 112 Minutes
A historical drama about author Leo Tolstoy’s switch from a life of wealth to a life devoid of material things. Actress Helen Mirren, who plays Tolstoy’s wife/secretary, is an Academy Award nominee for Best Performance by an Actress.

The White Ribbon (2009)
Rated R; 144 Minutes
A small village in Germany begins experiencing a series of strange events just before the dawn of World War I. Shown in black and white, the film is up for a couple of Oscars, including Best Cinematography. It previously won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film (German).

Fish Tank (2009)
Not rated; 123 Minutes
A powerful film about growing up in modern-day Britain, Fish Tank focuses on a 15-year-old girl’s struggle against her parents, peers, and life in general. The film won awards for Best Director and Top Newcomer at the British Independent Film Awards.