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“Sideways” director and writer Alexander Payne was a guest speaker after a Melnitz Mo

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Melnitz Movies held a free screening of “Kinsey” this past year.

There’s a better way to catch free movies than downloading, and all it requires is a trip to campus.

Sponsored by the Graduate Students Association, Melnitz Movies offers up free screenings of films every school year at the James Bridges Theater.

The wide range of films – from retrospectives of silent films to advanced screenings of independents, often with guest filmmakers present – are a cinephile’s dream come true.

“Each year the type of movies screened changes according to whoever is running the program, but in general we all focus on the more art-house type movies,” said Julie Kessler Gumpert, last year’s president of Melnitz Movies.

“I tended to pick independent and foreign films and leave the bigger blockbusters to Campus Events, but I threw in some mainstream movies if they revolved around alumni.”

This past year alone, Melnitz screened awards-season darlings “Sideways,” “Kinsey” and “Finding Neverland,” foreign favorites “Bad Education,” “Oldboy” and “A Very Long Engagement,” and buzzed-about documentaries “Born into Brothels,” “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room” and “Murderball.”

Screenings are obviously beneficial to the students who want to watch a movie for free, but studios benefit as well, utilizing them as a tool for publicity.

“For the distributors, they’re word-of-mouth screenings. They like to show them on college campuses because it gets students talking about the movie,” Gumpert said.

Screenings often feature guest speakers who are UCLA alumni to speak after the movie as well as host question-and-answer sessions.

Last year’s guest speakers included Alexander Payne of “Sideways,” Bill Condon of “Kinsey,” and James Herzfeld, the screenwriter for “Meet the Fockers.”

“To find the speakers, I work with the film and TV event coordinator, who keeps up to date with what UCLA alumni are doing. Since

“I was in the film school, I kind of knew who the famous alumni were and what they’re up to,” Gumpert said.

Along with finding alumni speakers, Gumpert also focused on involving various departments and student groups in the screenings, often hosting screenings in association with them.

“This really is a venue that all students should really take advantage of. If they have an idea about a film they want to show, they should contact us and we can work with them,” Gumpert said.

“We usually cover theater expenses and the students work on getting the film print,” he added.

The screenings attract a wide audience, with everyone from undergraduates to alumni to community members in attendance.

“Anyone’s welcome. People always think they can’t bring a friend, but they can bring anyone,” Gumpert said.

“The crowd is varied; sometimes we have to turn people away and then other times the theater is only half full; it just depends on the movie. Some of our most popular movies weren’t the blockbusters you would expect. They were documentaries and also the films that we have directors and actors come for,” he said.