Documentary looks at life and death of B.C.’s independent theatres
Independent theatres are surviving, and some are even re-opening, in B.C.’s small Interior towns
Adocumentary about the survival of movie theatres in B.C. Interior towns will be shown in Kelowna next week. Husband-and-wife filmmakers Curtis and Silmara Emde look at the reasons why theatres in such places as Invermere, Grand Forks and Revelstoke continue to operate when many independent cinemas in cities like Vancouver have closed.
Some formerly shuttered movie theatres, like the Civic Theatre in Nelson and the Towne cinema in Vernon, have even reopened.
The filmmakers discovered the switch from traditional 35-millimetre film to digital projection was a major factor in many of the cinema closings. Costs of conversion to digital projection were simply too high for many owners of small theatres.
But some theatres in smaller cities and towns not only managed the outlay for new equipment and renovations, but are now thriving.
The Emdes’ film, Out of the Interior; Survival of the small-town cinema in British Columbia, will be shown at the Black Box Theatre in the Kelowna Community Theatre, Tuesday at 7 p.m.
The documentary will also be shown Monday at the Towne Theatre in Vernon at 5:30 p.m., and at the Summerland Community Arts Centre, Oct. 5 at 7 p.m.