
In a darkened booth high above the audience, a lone projectionist threads reels of 35mm film through a machine older than many who come to watch. The Man in the Upper Room is a one-day documentary that captures the sacred solitude of one of cinema’s last keepers. Shot in a single 24-hour period, the film is both a portrait and a meditation: on ritual, on the fragility of tradition, and on the quiet hands that keep the magic alive. As theaters shutter and celluloid vanishes, this intimate story asks a simple question: why does it still matter to gather in the dark and let light tell us who we are?
Self

In a darkened booth high above the audience, a lone projectionist threads reels of 35mm film through a machine older than many who come to watch. The Man in the Upper Room is a one-day documentary that captures the sacred solitude of one of cinema’s last keepers. Shot in a single 24-hour period, the film is both a portrait and a meditation: on ritual, on the fragility of tradition, and on the quiet hands that keep the magic alive. As theaters shutter and celluloid vanishes, this intimate story asks a simple question: why does it still matter to gather in the dark and let light tell us who we are?
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In the dark, few keep the light alive.
8.0A film projectionist longs to be a detective, and puts his meagre skills to work when he is framed by a rival for stealing his girlfriend's father's pocketwatch.
6.5After his father's death, a young boy finds solace in action movies featuring an indestructible cop. Given a magic ticket by a theater manager, he is transported into the film and teams up with the cop to stop a villain who escapes into the real world.
6.2Two projectionists discover a disturbing film featuring the lynching of a woman. Not only are they troubled by the content of the movie, but strange events befall them following the viewing.
6.6An embittered woman seeks escape in marriage, only to fall for her husband’s best friend.
0.0The cinema hall as a liminal space during a matinee show, and the experience it evokes.
A new projectionist spends her first evening on the job screening short films for an upcoming festival inside an old movie house. As she watches the horror films alone from the projection booth, she begins to feel that she is not alone.
0.0"The acid soil of New England, its wide stretches of hardwoods, its numerous sugar maples, its rolling or mountainous character, the sunshine of its autumn weather, all these contribute to the glory of this annual display. The birches of Maine the aspens of the White Mountains, the sugar Maples of Vermont, the long rainbow of the Connecticut River Valley cutting from top to bottom through New England, the Berkshires - mention these to anyone who has traveled widely through a New England fall and you will evoke instant memories of superlative beauty." -Edwin Way Teale, Autumn across America, 1956
6.5Jean and Bill are a married couple trying to scrape a living. Out of the blue they receive a telegram informing them Bill's long-lost uncle has died and left them his business—a cinema in the town of Sloughborough. Unfortunately they can't sell it for the fortune they hoped as they discover it is falling down and almost worthless.
8.0A mysterious projectionist in abandoned movie house plays host to a young intruder and offers him the chance to watch four spine-tingling tales of terror on the big screen.
5.6A projectionist bored with his everyday life begins fantasizing about his being one of the superheroes he sees in the movies he shows.
8.0A young mariachi faces his first performance alone but discovers his brother has always been by his side.
5.0White’s camera offers several 360-degree pans of views of the fairground, then amazes by tilting up and down the Eiffel Tower, and concludes with a stunning tracking shot to the highest point above Paris. Exhibitors freely grouped films into nascent narratives such as those displayed here. - Bruce Posner
5.0A story told from three angles. Max meets Elizabeth; they live together, but when she talks of marriage, he balks. He becomes extremely jealous, probably without cause, and thinks she's taken up with a friend of his, Jack. Elizabeth, stung by Max's refusal to marry, catches Jack's eye, but the friendship seems innocent. Lena, who works with Max, likes him and realizes she can manipulate his jealousy and maybe engineer his split from Elizabeth. When she's sure Elizabeth is with a man, she calls Max at work, sending him home to confront the lovers. Then, Lena feels guilty and takes off for Max's apartment. What's really going on? Who's with Elizabeth?
0.0An executive recalls how he may have ended up going from his golf game to an autopsy room.