1. Temple of Film: 100 Years of the Egyptian Theatre
Guillermo del Toro, Rian Johnson and other film luminaries look back at LA's historic Egyptian Theatre as it returns to its former movie palace glory.
It has an average vote of 6.25 on TMDB.
2. Cinema in Kingston: From Muybridge to the Multiplex
An oral history exploring the development of film projection and cinema in Kingston-on-Thames - from resident innovator Eadweard Muybridge through the heyday, decline, and re-emergence of cinema. Features interviews with historians, projectionists and usherettes as well as cinema-goers with rare footage and images from Kingston’s cinemas.
3. Essential Exhibition
An independent documentary about the unprecedented struggles of movie theaters and the film industry as a whole during the COVID-19 pandemic
4. Under the Stars (Sous les étoiles : road trip au pays du Drive-in)
Paying tribute to some of America's only surviving drive-ins – and those who keep them running – this heartfelt documentary captures efforts to preserve these nostalgic theaters in small-towns across the country.
It has an average vote of 5.8 on TMDB.
5. Scala!!!
This feature-length big screen documentary tells the riotous inside story of the infamous sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll repertory cinema which inspired a generation during Britain's turbulent Thatcher years.
It has an average vote of 8.667 on TMDB.
6. Cinema Morocco (Cine Marrocos)
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.
It has an average vote of 8 on TMDB.
7. At the Drive-In
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.
It has an average vote of 7 on TMDB.
8. The Capitol of Singapore
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.
9. Hollywood's Musical Moods
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.
10. Cinéma Laika (Cinéma Laika)
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.
It has an average vote of 8 on TMDB.
11. Going Attractions: The Definitive Story of the Movie Palace
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.
It has an average vote of 7 on TMDB.
12. Only in Theaters
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.
It has an average vote of 5.7 on TMDB.
13. The Moviegoer
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.
14. Pictures of Ghosts (Retratos Fantasmas)
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.
It has an average vote of 8.026 on TMDB.
15. Ghosts Behind the Screen
In the excitement of the roaring 20s, a new kind of movie palace was constructed by the Bay. More than 90 years later, Tampa Theatre has become known as one of the most haunted buildings in the city, This Documentary uncovers the rich history and explores the unexplained events with a Team of Historians, Ghost Hunters and Staff.
It has an average vote of 7 on TMDB.
16. No More Joy: The Rise and Fall of New Orleans Movie Theatres
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.
17. Celluloid Bloodbath
DEFINITION: 'Celluloid' - Motion picture film, cinema film. 'Bloodbath' - Savage, indiscriminate killing, a massacre. CELLULOID BLOODBATH: MORE PREVUES FROM HELL - the long-awaited sequel to 1987's horror cult classic, MAD RON'S PREVUES FROM HELL. An awesome collection of 61 over-the-top horror movie prevues, from the golden Grindhouse age, spanning the 1960's through the 1980's! Also features commentary from film makers, actors, critics and fans, that make this a true, incredibly entertaining, one-of-a-kind movie-going experience!
It has an average vote of 5.1 on TMDB.
18. Palace of Silents
Built in 1942 by a maverick film preservationist, this small Los Angeles theater championed silent film at the very moment when the Hollywood studios across town were busily destroying their nitrate inventories. With hard chairs, phonograph-record accompaniments, and mostly original vintage prints, the dingy mom-and-pop operation was nonetheless a palace to the fanatical few who became its loyal audience.
It has an average vote of 6.4 on TMDB.
19. 81 Meters (81 metrs)
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.
It has an average vote of 6 on TMDB.
20. Handbook of Movie Theaters' History (Manuale di Storie dei Cinema)
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.
It has an average vote of 8 on TMDB.
