Reel Stories: An Oral History of London's Projectionists

Documentary charting the experiences of projectionists who work or worked in cinemas in London, exploring the skills and dedication required for this unique role, set against changes in technology, society, and entertainment.

2022-07-05 | en

Retratos no Escuro

2025-06-25 | pt

Going Dark: The Final Days of Film Projection

Hollywood has made up their minds, forcing theaters to convert to digital or go dark. As theaters around the world change to newer digital technology, the job of the 35mm film projectionist is becoming irrelevant. Going Dark profiles two theater projectionists during their final days on the job.

2013-06-07 | en

The Last Projectionist

When the UK's oldest working cinema opened in 1909, it took five years to train a projectionist - a century later, it takes less than an hour. The Last Projectionist charts the amazing history of UK independent cinema, taking a tour of some of the most magical picture houses in the world, all centred around The Electric in Birmingham, the oldest working cinema in Britain.

2012-06-22 | en

The Diary of a Projectionist

This is the story of my grandfather, Tiago Florit, who for 50 years was a film operator at the Teatre Principal de Maó, in Menorca. It is a review of his life, from his birth to his death, in a cinematographic key. A true love story to cinema.

2022-09-10 | ca

Der Vorführ-Effekt

Documentary about film projectionists.

2001-09-28 | de

Last Action Hero

After 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.

1993-06-18 | en

Coming Soon

Two 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.

2008-10-28 | th

Empire of Light

The duty manager of a seaside cinema, who is struggling with her mental health, forms a relationship with a new employee on the south coast of England in the 1980s.

2022-12-09 | en

Sherlock Jr.

A 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.

1924-04-17 | en

Clash by Night

An embittered woman seeks escape in marriage, only to fall for her husband’s best friend.

1952-05-30 | en

Cigarette Burns

With a torrid past that haunts him, a movie theatre owner is hired to search for the only existing print of a film so notorious that its single screening caused the viewers to become homicidally insane.

2005-12-16 | en

The Projectionist

A projectionist bored with his everyday life begins fantasizing about his being one of the superheroes he sees in the movies he shows.

1970-10-17 | en

The Smallest Show on Earth

Jean 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.

1957-04-09 | en

Wishful Thinking

A 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?

1999-07-09 | en

Pearl

Trapped on her family’s isolated farm, Pearl must tend to her ailing father under the bitter and overbearing watch of her devout mother. Lusting for a glamorous life like she’s seen in the movies, Pearl’s ambitions, temptations, and repressions collide.

2022-09-16 | en

Whipsers and Shadows

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.

| en

Return to the Theatre of Terror

A 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.

2023-01-28 | en

The Serial Rape Murderer

12 Years ago, Fuyuko, was 7 years old, watched her sister, a high school student, raped and choked to die. Fuyuko never forgets that the man who killed her sister has a red snake tattoo on his thigh. Suffering from the memory and deeply being traumatized, Fuyuko meets the tattooed man by accident and tries to hunt down...

1983-10-10 | ja

Matinee

The cinema hall as a liminal space during a matinee show, and the experience it evokes.

2024-03-14 | ml