For the first time ever, Squeaky Wheel Film and Media Arts Center will be transforming Silo City into an urban drive-in theater on Saturday, Oct. 10.

“This FREE outdoor event boasts a line-up of movies from noon to midnight on a gigantic LED movie screen, courtesy of Indigo Productions, enabling maximum screen brightness in broad daylight,” Squeaky Wheel’s website, squeaky.org, said.

Squeaky Wheel Program Coordinator Tina Dillman said there will be outdoor activities and food vendors at Silo City during the event, including a local food truck.

“During a meeting with Silo City, we were thinking of alternative ways to utilize the space in a public event and we came up with the idea of turning the space in a giant outdoor movie theater,” Dillman said. “We liked the idea that people could walk, bike, drive or kayak to the spot.”

The line-up for Saturday begins with a showing of “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” at noon, followed by Squeaky Wheel’s 12^th Annual Animation Festival at 2 p.m.

“This is a program that the staff, on a yearly basis, curates,” Dillman said about the animation festival. “We do an open call, but in terms of the curation process, we’re also kind of doing our own research and looking to see what young and emerging animators are doing, and also what legendary animators, if they’ve made new work. We try to incorporate a little bit of everything, in terms of sort of skill and type of animation that they’re doing. Especially if there’s people interested in the animation and computer-driven art, it’s a nice program.”

After the animation festival, the 1989 film “Do The Right Thing” begins at 3 p.m., followed by “Beasts of the Southern Wild” at 5:30 p.m., “Mad Max: Fury Road” at 7 p.m., and finally “Hedwig and The Angry Inch” at 9:30 p.m. Short films made by local filmmakers will be shown in between feature-length films.

“We are hoping that people will enjoy the experience of watching our chosen films outdoors at Silo City – a place that is magical in its own right; and it’s a place that is not normally open to the public, except when there are events,” Dillman said. “Silo City will make a beautiful backdrop for the films that we curated, and will hopefully provide a new perspective of the films themselves.”

The urban drive-in was originally scheduled for Sept. 12, but due to inclement weather, it had to be rescheduled. Dillman expects more people to be in attendance because of the extended weekend.

“We were expecting over the course of the day, at least a few hundred,” Dillman said. “With the change in date and no major events that we know of already planned, if the weather is good, we could now expect up to 1,000 people rolling through.”

Attendees are encouraged to bring picnic baskets, beverages, comfortable seating, sunscreen, and comfortable clothing for the nighttime, as Silo City can get windy. Explore Buffalo will be offering a ground level tour of Silo City before the first film. Tickets for the tour are $15 and $5 for students.

“We are having access to an FM transmitter, so if it is a little foggy out, people can listen to the films while being in the comfort of their own car,” Dillman said.

For more information on the urban drive-in or other upcoming events for Squeaky Wheel, visit squeaky.org.

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