First we invented the moving-image camera. Then we used the new camera to record the world around us. But it was only when the moving image was finally seen on screen by its very first audience that cinema truly began. Air, speed, the world at 24fps: the modern world was promisingly, thrillingly, on the move. Or that’s what we thought.
Today a virus has disrupted the smooth momentum of our shared world. The continuum that cinema always promised is one of this virus’ many casualties. From time to time essential quarantines shut the doors on communal spaces. When that happens it is up to us, the audience, to play our part: to keep the space of cinema open.
Projectionism was made for the ICO’s Cinema of Ideas project and was generously enabled by the East Anglian Film Archive. The film was made in response to an open call for cinema memories shared by the cinema workers, makers and thinkers who keep film culture alive and well; an experiment in collaboration for a time of separation.
Projectionism is available for book for online screenings via the ICO’s Cinema of Ideas. A revenue-sharing online film streaming platform, the Cinema of Ideas gives independent cinemas the opportunity to enrich their programme offer through an extra virtual screen without financial risk.
To find out more, go to: independentcinemaoffice.org.uk/films/the-cinema-of-ideas