A time-honored tradition is up and running once again, giving students a chance to see some alternative movies at an affordable price.

Thursday marked the start of the SUB Films, sponsored by the Student Union Board and held in the Memorial Union, by showing IShot Andy Warhol at the Maintenance Shop.

Since the early 1970s, SUB has offered movies for students and faculty members at the end of each week. Films that may never reach the Ames theaters, or have not been shown in Ames for many years, are featured.

Last semester, SUB Films provided entertainment for more than 1,200 people. It showed 13 different movies including Citizen Cane, 2001 Space Odyssey, Friday the 13th and Farewell My Concubine.

Tim Foley, director of SUB, said, “We choose our movies carefully. Everyone on the committee votes on which movies to show. We then take a vote and decide which ones we will show. Our committee is very diverse and what movies the person chooses depends on what their particular tastes are.”

He said some film showings have very low attendance with audiences of no more than 10 people, but other shows may have as many as 50 people or more.

The cost to show films, which includes film rental, equipment and advertising expenses, averages about $135 per night. SUB pays for the films with the $2 admission charge, subsidies from the Memorial Union and its own funds.

This semester’s SUB movies, usually shown in the Pioneer Room, include I Shot Andy Warhol, which will be shown again Friday and Saturday nights, Once We’re Warriors, Ghost In the Shell, and Ilmostro, the number one comedy in Italy last year.

According to Doug Wandersee, program adviser for SUB, the most popular film shown by SUB is The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which is traditionally shown during Veishea, at midnight in the M-Shop.