The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) kicked off a new effort with a special membership to aid its faltering film program, in a bid to raise additional funding, the museum announced Tuesday.

The special offer, titled "CineClub," is a 50 dollars add-on to any level of museum membership. Club members will receive priority ticketing, seating and admission, as well as a subscription to a film e-newsletter, museum director Michael Govan said.

"We hope the community will demonstrate its dedication to the program by joining us in this new support endeavor," he said. "It is imperative that we have financial support on all levels, from individual members to major corporate and private donations, in order to sustain long-term programming."

Money raised through the CineClub will be used to support film events at the museum, and increase awareness of the film program, museum associate vice president for communications Barbara Pflaumer said.

The museum had planned to stop showing movies on weekends starting in October, but a 150,000 dollars donation from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, Time Warner Cable and Ovation TV last week will help keep the film program operating at least until next summer.

Govan has said he wants to create a film department at the museum that would be charged with critical thinking about the history and future of film,as well as film's increasing importance in the larger narrative of art history.

"As the largest museum in Los Angeles, LACMA should be at the forefront of the consideration and presentation of how film has played an ever-increasing role in contemporary art and life," Govan said.

The film showing program has been operated by LACMA for 37 years, and has become one of the major draws for the museum. However, it has costed the museum 1 million dollars over the last 10 years, due to the decrease of audiences who prefer to watch movies at home instead.

(Xinhua News Agency September 2, 2009)