True fans of the original “Star Wars,” the kind that attend events on May 4, the unofficial holiday for “Star Wars” enthusiasts across the globe, are also the kind to know every line from every scene of the 1977 sci-fi classic.
They can tell you the exact moment in the film when Han Solo, knee-deep in galactic garbage, shares “I got a bad feeling about this,” and when Darth Vader chokes out an admiral of the Imperial Navy with his mind after finding his lack of faith, “disturbing.”
They’ve seen it all, over and over again. So why not take them to experience “Star Wars” in a whole new light: dubbed in Diné Bizaad, the traditional language of the Navajo people.
On Wednesday, May 4, The Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway, will be offering a free screening of “Star Wars in Navajo,” an adapted version of “Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope,” dubbed entirely in the Navajo language.
Star Wars, Episode 4
The project, spearheaded by Manuelito Wheeler, director of the Navajo Nation Museum, was completed in 2013 on the Navajo Nation, with the blessing and cooperation from Lucasfilm and its parent company, Walt Disney Studios.
Wheeler would go on to dub other movies, including Disney’s 2003 animated film, “Finding Nemo,” into Diné Bizaad.
“Star Wars: Episode IV” begins at 7:30 p.m. Reservation Sensation Frybread will be on-site starting at 6 p.m.
For more information, visit loftcinema.org/film/star-wars-in-navajo
Photos: 50 years of the Loft Cinema in Tucson
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The audience at the "Rocky Horror Picture Show" cover their heads as rice is thrown at the New Loft Theatre, 504 N. Fremont Ave., in January, 1981.
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Doyne Hill strikes the pose as "Magenta," while waiting in line for the Rocky Horror Picture Show at the New Loft Theatre, 504 N. Fremont, in June, 1978.
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A couple posing as Brad Majors and Janet Weiss, characters in the "Rocky Horror Picture Show," walk to their seats as the crowd calls out and throws rice at the New Loft Theatre, 504 N. Fremont Ave., in January, 1981.
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People standing in line for the Rocky Horror Picture Show at the New Loft Theatre, 504 N. Fremont Ave., on the edge of the University of Arizona campus in June, 1978. The building was demolished in 1997 and Fremont Ave. was eliminated north of 6th Street for a parking garage.
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Charles A. Brown dressed as Dr. Frank N Furter from ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW
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Undated photo of the Loft Cinema box office
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Exterior of the Loft Cinema on Fremont Ave.
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Tucson firefighters at the New Loft Theatre, 504 N. Fremont, on April 9, 1977. The co-owner of Earthly Endeavors, the restaurant in the basement below the theatre, was changed with arson. The fire destroyed the restaurant. About 60 theatre patrons saw the flames from below and evacuated without incident. The theatre suffered heavy smoke damage. Newspaper listings show the theatre was showing films again in early May.
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New Loft Theatre, 504 N. Fremont Ave. in 1991, after it was purchased by the University of Arizona.
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Students remove seating from the New Loft Theatre, 504 N. Fremont Ave., in 1991, after it was purchased by the University of Arizona and converted into a studio theatre for the UA Drama Department.
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Work on a new studio theatre for the University of Arizona Drama Department using seats salvaged from the New Loft Theatre, 504 N. Fremont Ave., in 1991, after the UA bought the building.
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The crowd watches Willem Dafoe, Bill Murray and One Wilson in a scene from The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou at The Loft Cinema, Tucson,.
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Pedro Robles-Hill, Projectionist and Assistant Manager at the Loft Cinema, reads the tail on a reel of 70 mm film in the projection booth in 2015. The 70mm Showcase began with Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece "2001: A Space Odyssey."
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Allie Vega gets the projector ready to show Parallel Mothers in theater #2 at The Loft Cinema on February 16, 2022.
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A couple orders drinks before the "Rocky Horror Picture Show" at the New Loft Theatre, 504 N. Fremont Ave., in January, 1981.
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Alyson Hill, the assistant manager at the Loft Cinema, serves up some candy, drinks, popcorn and more to Max and Mia Ramirez during a photo for the Children's Film Festival in 2012.
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Nancy Sher, general manager, left, and Bob Campbell, program director, at the New Loft Theatre, 504 N. Fremont, in Tucson, in 1973. Sher's father, Louis Sher, owned the Art Guild Theater chain of 35 small, art movie houses, purchased the Loft, which was then known for porn movies. Nanch Sher was studying for a PhD in Art History at the University of Arizona. Her father, Louis, died in Phoenix in 1998.
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Demolition underway at the Loft Theatre, 504 N. Fremont Ave., and several other homes and buildings along 6th Street in 1997, as the University of Arizona clears the land for a parking garage.
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Volunteer Fritzi Redgrave directs a couple of patrons through the gates during a soft re-opening as The Loft Cinema on May 01, 2021. Thirty-six reservations were taken for donors and guests in the main theater, which pre-COVID-19 seated 370.
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The Tucson premiere of "Bonanno: A Godfather's Story," at the Loft, Cinema in 1999. Joseph Bonanno, is escorted into the theater. On the right is Bill Bonanno, his son.
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Madeline Porta, left, and her friend Oscar Jimenez who goes by the drag name of "Heather Boa," sing out loud to an Abba music video at the Loft Cinema in 2007. The videos were part of a sing along presentation of "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert."
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Theatre patrons watch the 1am performance of Rocky Horror Picture Show in 2006. Heavy Petting Stage Show and the Loft Cinema Hosted The Queen of the Deserts 31st Anniversary Convention of The Rocky Horror Picture show in Tucson. Performers from all over the US came to perform and participate in the convention.
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A handful of patrons watch the opening minutes of The Truffle Hunters, the first time in more than a year for indoor movie viewing at The Loft Cinema during a soft re-opening, May 01, 2021. The 36 reservations were taken for donors and guests in the main theater, which pre-COVID-19 seated 370.
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Customers in the lobby at the Loft Cinema in 2015.
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Pedro Robles-Hill, Projectionist and Assistant Manager monitors the digital projector, center, at the Loft Cinema in Tucson. The Loft's 70mm projector surrounds the digital system. The system actually consists of two projectors which flank the center digital projector which pulls out and away from when the 70 mm projectors are in use. The film is shown one real at a time alternating between the two projectors left and right.
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Steve Lee moves across the stage during a costume contest at the Loft Cinema in 2007. The contest was part of a sing along presentation of "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert."
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The Loft Cinema's Lead Projectionist Haley McFeely (left) and Marcel Jeanisse, an assistant manager at the theater, set up for the outdoor showing of "Clueless" behind the theater at 3233 E Speedway Blvd, on Sept. 18, 2020.
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Movie goers at the outdoor viewing of "Clueless" at The Loft Cinema at 3233 E Speedway Blvd, on Sept. 18, 2020.
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Scarlet Letter does a dance during the opening credits of the Rocky Horror Picture Show at 1 am on October 15, 2006. Heavy Petting Stage Show and the Loft Cinema Hosted The Queen of the Desert 31st Anniversary Convention of The Rocky Horror Picture show in Tucson. Performers from all over the US came to perform and participate in the convention.
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A couple head into the theater past the Jessica Gonzales mural on the building's wall just before the evening screenings at The Loft Cinema on February 16, 2022.
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General manager Kyle Canfield gets the all digital projections system up and running for an afternoon showing of Miami Connection at The Loft Cinema, 3233 E. Speedway, in 2012.
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Peggy Johnson, Executive Director of the Loft Cinema, talks with Deputy Director Zach Breneman, Joel Miller, with NW Projection & Sound of Portland, and job superintendent Don Vigil of Tofel Construction, in the Loft's remodeled Theatre One in Tucson on July 6, 2017. The walls are covered in new insulation and the floor and stage are refinished and awaiting new chairs.
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Workers have installed the cleaned and refurbished original draperies in the Loft's remodeled Theatre One in Tucson on Thursday, July 6, 2017.
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The marquee sign at The Loft Cinema on June 6, 2019.
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Mark Zwolinski, in a Zissou-red beanie, is one of the first in the theater to see his favorite movie, The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, at The Loft Cinema, February 16, 2022.
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Program director Jeff Yanc introduces the night's feature, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zussou, on the main screen at The Loft Cinema, February 16, 2022.
