CityView Magazine

in the marketplace I Cameo Appearance BY BRANDON PLOTNICK have to admit, I write this column with a touch of bias. OK, maybe more than a touch. The business I'm focusing on here is probably my favorite place in town. And given a chance, I bet it could be yours too. Mayor Tony Chavonne once joked to Chris and Nasim Kuenzel that photos of their business were on the cover of almost every magazine and tourism guide around town. Hyperbole, yes, but Mayor Chavonne wasn't far off from the truth. The Cameo Art House Theater is an icon of downtown revitalization – visually at least. There's no mistaking the sign in the heart of Hay Street. So while most of us likely recognize the image of the Cameo instantly, it's not surprising at all to hear locals say they had no idea there was a movie theater in downtown Fayetteville. There are many stereotype images that pop into people's heads when they hear "art house theater". Things like: That must be a euphemism for adult films, right? They only show boring foreign films, right? Only art snobs go there, right? Chris and Nasim, both architects by trade, spend much of their time trying to overcome those stereotypes. When they opened the doors to the theater in 2000, a good chunk of downtown's revitalization hadn't really happened yet. They were a mystery stuck in a Hay Street world that people were still scared to take their children near. But with a passion for films and a passion for making downtown better, they knew they could make something work, even here in Fayetteville. "When we bought the building there was hardly anything downtown," Nasim said. "When we opened it was pretty much just Huske Hardware House, us and PWC. Several res- taurants and specialty shops opened over the next few years, but early on, there was nothing." She jokes of times early on when they'd be there on a Sun- day and a car or two would pull up right in front of the Cameo to park and then the people would watch the movie and leave. And that was the extent of traffic downtown for the day. 16 | April • 2012 Times certainly have changed. But have perceptions? How many of you realized that there are no adult films shown at the Cameo? (A free pass is given here to the Oscar-worthy "Shame" that had an abundance of nudity. That doesn't count.) How many of you realized that, yes, there are some foreign films shown there, but the ones that are, are shown for very good reasons? (The theater recently screened "A Separation", which was the Oscar winner for Best Foreign Film, and was one of the best films of the year, period.) How many of you realized that Chris and Nasim are the most down-to-earth, friendly people you'd ever want to meet? (Sure, they'd love to have the elite people there to see a movie, but they'd treat them the same as anyone else. There are no favorites at the Cameo, just family.) Financially, it's hard to sus- tain a theater showing just art house films. That's going to be true anywhere. While getting bigger film distributors to of- fer their films at the Cameo is a lot of hard work, Chris and Nasim do their part. "The Hunger Games" will be a staple in every theater this spring. But the Cameo is the only place around here where you can enjoy a beer or a glass of wine while watching it. "We're really still so happy to be able to bring films to Fay- etteville that otherwise wouldn't come here. That to me, is just really great," Nasim said. "What's still a challenge is that there are still a lot of people that don't even know we still exist." There's no better date night in Fayetteville than a stroll through downtown, dinner at one of the great restaurants in the area and then a movie at the best theater in town. Give it a chance. It may not have a giant movie theater chain attached to it, but not having sticky shoes aſter walking the aisle is certainly worth the price of admission alone. CV Brandon Plotnick is the Marketing & Communications Co- ordinator at the Fayetteville-Cumberland County Chamber of Commerce. He can be reached at 910-433-6766 or bplotnick@ fayettevillencchamber.org.

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