Magic Hours(2024)

The Final Reel(en)

An affectionate and entertaining look at our nation's obsession with cinema from the early days of silent cinema, through the golden age of the picture palace, to the modern multiplexes and beyond. A celebration of Norfolk-area cinemas past and present that introduces some colourful characters who kept audiences coming back for more, this film also asks: Is this the final reel in the story of cinema or just another chapter in its continuing development?

Spokane’s 21st Century Fox(en)

Opened in 1931, Spokane’s Fox Theater was the place to go, with a line around the block to view the latest Hollywood feature, usherettes in evening gowns, and famous performers on stage. After years of decline as a discount theater, the Fox was threatened with demolition in 2000 - until the community rallied to save it.

Un sale métier(fr)

Le Nouveau monde(fr)

Artavazd Pelechian, le cinéaste est un cosmonaute(fr)

Pictures of Ghosts(pt)

Downtown Recife’s classic movie palaces from the 20th century are mostly gone. That city area is now an archaeological site of sorts that reveals aspects of life in society which have been lost. And that’s just part of the story.

The Moviegoer(en)

A filmmaker celebrates his inspiration for movies by recreating what it was like for his 9-year old self in 1972 when he journeyed downtown to spend a magical Saturday afternoon at the movies.

Sur la route des Drive In(fr)

Cinéma Laika(fr)

In the heart of the Finnish forest, the long-closed foundry of the little town of Karkkila has come back to life thanks to director Aki Kaurismäki and his creation of the town's first cinema. The peace and calm of the little town of Karkkila, nestled deep in the Finnish forest, is interrupted by unexpected sounds. In the abandoned foundry, noisy building work is taking place. Inside the building, Aki Kaurismäki is both builder and site manager of what is soon to become the Kino Laika cinema. The creation of the cinema is the talk of the town. In the factory still in activity, in a 1960s Cadillac, in a bikers' club, in the local pub, in the woods or in Aki Kaurismäki's former editing room, people start talking about cinema again.

Only in Theaters(en)

ONLY IN THEATERS, a film by actor/director Raphael Sbarge, is an intimate and moving journey taken with the Laemmle family, spanning nearly three years of challenges, losses, and personal triumphs. Laemmle Theatres, the beloved 84-year-old arthouse cinema chain 3rd generation family business in Los Angeles, is facing seismic change and financial pressure. Yet the family behind this multigenerational business – whose sole mission has been to support the art of film – is determined to survive.

The Capitol of Singapore(en)

Inaugurated in 1930, the Capitol has been able to survive through 90 years of successive ownership by prestigious families such as the Namazies or the Shaw brothers, and today by Perennial Holdings, as well as of various historical, cultural and architectural vicissitudes, always reborn like a phoenix, thus mirroring not only the cinematic history of Singapore, but also reflecting the many cycles of change that the city went through.

No More Joy: The Rise and Fall of New Orleans Movie Theatres(en)

From the first movie nickelodeon on Canal Street in New Orleans at the turn of the century to the mega-plex theatres in the suburbs of the city, this film traces their history. With interviews from the people that were working in silent movie theatres to the visionaries that knew that "if you built them they will come", this is fascinating look at a history in a city that is a joy in everyone's memory.

Hollywood's Musical Moods(en)

In the silent film era, movies were never really silent. In the background of films that made figures like Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton into cultural icons, were the musical giants whose compositions defined the very films that captivated a generation of movie-goers. Arthur Kleiner converses with the still-living legends from that bygone golden age of cinema.

At the Drive-In(en)

Unable to purchase a $50,000 digital projector, a group of film fanatics in rural Pennsylvania fight to keep a dying drive-in theater alive by screening only vintage 35mm film prints and working entirely for free.

81 Meters(lv)

Spring 2021. A cinephile invites you on an intimate trip through the last surviving cinema houses in Latvia. This documentary essay, shot on super 8mm, opens the locked doors to picture houses during a Covid-19 lockdown, perhaps the most difficult time in the history of physical cinema space.

Handbook of Movie Theaters' History(it)

Handbook of Movie Theaters' History is a documentary about the history, the development in the present days and the future of movie theaters in the city of Turin, Italy. It mixes the documentary language with comedy and fiction, and is enriched by interviews to some of the most important voices of Turin cinematography. The film follows the evolution of movie theaters by enlightening its main milestones: the pre-cinema experiences in the late 19th Century, the colossals and the movie cathedrals of the silent era, the arthouse theaters, the National Museum of Cinema, the Torino Film Festival, the movie theaters system today and the main hypothesis about its future. The mission of Handbook of Movie Theaters' History is to explore and give back to the audience a deep reflection about the identity and the value of movie theater, in its social and anthropological role and as a mass media, and to analyze the experience of the viewer.

Room 999(fr)

In 1982, Wim Wenders asked 16 of his fellow directors to speak on the future of cinema, resulting in the film Room 666. Now, 40 years later, in Cannes, director Lubna Playoust asks Wim Wenders himself and a new generation of filmmakers (James Gray, Rebecca Zlotowski, Claire Denis, Olivier Assayas, Nadav Lapid, Asghar Farhadi, Alice Rohrwacher and more) the same question: “is cinema a language about to get lost, an art about to die?”

Cinema Morocco(pt)

For two decades, Cine Marrocos, a movie theatre in the heart of São Paulo, was one of the most popular and opulent of the city. After it was closed, in 1972, it was occupied by a homeless workers' movement. The documentary tells the story of the people who lived there, alternating scenes from an acting class with those of the movies exhibited there in the past.

Setting Sun(en)

On July 6, 2024, The Sun-Ray Cinema at 5 Points in Jacksonville, Florida screened its final film.

Going Attractions: The Definitive Story of the Movie Palace(en)

Celebrating the splendor and grandeur of the great cinemas of the United States, built when movies were the acme of entertainment and the stories were larger than life, as were the venues designed to show them. The film also tracks the eventual decline of the palaces, through to today’s current preservation efforts. A tribute to America’s great art form and the great monuments created for audiences to enjoy them in.