During the summer of 2021, UTOC visited Jesse McDougall's backyard in the Annex for an outdoor screening of Alone in the Wilderness (2004) about the craftsman Dick Proenneke who builds a cabin by hand in Alaska.

After moving into a new apartment this summer and leaving the borrowed projector behind, McDougall set about showing outdoor movies on his roof-top patio in Baldwin Village with a used projector he found online. The events were open to all UTOC members and their friends who brought snacks and drinks to share.

The first screening took place on August 16th and around 10 UTOC members joined in to see Grizzly Man (2005). The documentary details the adventures of a man hell-bent on living around Grizzly bears and his appropriately grizzly end. McDougall thought it was the perfect film to show before he and 17 others trekked off to camp in Algonquin Provincial Park the following weekend.

One week later McDougall's screen was back up and around 7 people turned out to see Kon-Tiki (2012), a film about Norwegian anthropologists who raft unassisted from Peru to Polynesia in the '40s to prove their theory on how the islands were settled. The movie depicts an arduous journey filled with sharks, storms, and drama amongst the crew.

Having a portable projector screen set-up has proven useful, and some UTOC members are discussing a trip to the cabin in October for a Halloween-themed screening in the woods. It's been said that a student-made horror movie was even filmed in the cabin itself.

But overall, showing outdoor movies is a terrific way to spend an evening, and as long as the summer temperatures persist, McDougall's roof may see more screenings yet.

Thanks to all who showed up!