The Cineforum bids goodbye yet again

The last time we wrote about Reg Hartt's Cineforum was a little over a year ago to report that it had re-opened after being shut down for Municipal Licensing & Standards (MLS) violations. When the cinema-space re-opened that January, he claimed that the mayor's office had looked into the complaints against him and decided to close the file. Part of the reason for this, Hartt alleges, is that they originated with merely one individual, Dr. Jamie (Jamie Gillis).

At the time Hartt confidently proclaimed the resurrection of the Cineforum and lauded Mayor Ford for helping to save his living room theatre. Today, he is once again announcing its death. This time there are no MLS violations to speak of, just the postering war that apparently continues to rage between Hartt and Dr. Jamie.

It's hard to know what to make of this. Hartt has written an extensive explanation for his decision on the Cineforum website in which he includes scanned posters that he alleges were made against him and his friend Daniel Goggin. Posters comparing Dr. Jamie to Igor Kenk that use the same phraseology that appears on Hartt's website have also been spotted around town.

The whole thing is a mess of allegations that run both ways, and choosing a side is just not something that I'm interested in doing. So, file this away as another "The Cineforum is dead" post until Hartt has a change of heart, which one would think is possible given the on again, off again history of the institution in question.

Photo by ampro on Flickr