Amidst upheavals in Philly’s film scene caused by the rise of streaming and COVID–19, independent cinema screeners in the city have carved out an important role for themselves, one that streaming can never fully replicate. By screening rare, experimental, and topical films, they have managed to foster a sense of community through collective viewing.
Film has a long history in Philly; in 1932, there were 275 active movie theatres. However, by 2002, the last operating movie palace in downtown Philly, the Boyd Theatre, had closed. By 2019, there were only five historic theaters still screening films. In a city with limited brick–and–mortar theaters, independent organizations have stepped in to fill the gap.
Philly’s cinema screeners face a great deal of challenges, including low wages, a lack of space and funding, and minimal access to resources. The pressure is only growing following recent changes to state arts funding, which will make 60% of small arts organizations in Philly ineligible for numerous state grants.
“There’s a kind of scrappiness to the art scene in Philly, you know, co–op galleries and artist spaces like that,” says Jesse Pires, the Executive & Artistic Director at Lightbox, a local nonprofit organization that exhibits innovative and often restored films. “I’m always really impressed with the kind of resilience to make cool things happen without a lot of resources.”
With many audiences preferring to wait for films’ release on streaming platforms, these community organizers continue to create curated experiences that attract broad audiences through their unique programming. Some screeners, like Pires, who mainly show films that are not accessible on streaming services, have found that streaming has also strengthened interest in independent and historical films.
“Streaming really exposes [audiences] to a whole world of cinema and gets them [to be] very knowledgeable and conversant in film history … they want to see things on the big screen, with their friends, with other people,” he says.
For organizers such as The Secret Cinema, the future of screening older films appears more uncertain. A floating repertory cinema series established in 1992, The Secret Cinema has brought hundreds of unique programs to various spaces across Philly.
“I do it in different places, different venues, and I try to turn each of them into a temporary movie theatre for the night using actual film projection equipment, not digital,” says Jay Schwartz, founder of The Secret Cinema.
However, continuing his mission of projecting movies using film reels has proven difficult. When The Secret Cinema first began, local papers like The Philadelphia Inquirer would feature weekly listings of repertory screenings, which have now been eliminated. “I have a huge box of press clippings that doesn't get added to so much anymore because there's very little print media anymore … that's how I usually found people to discover what I do, and then, if I'm lucky, they would sign my email list,” Schwartz says.
Without consistent income or donations, financial instability is a major roadblock for independent film screeners. After the collapse of University of the Arts in 2024 due to financial mismanagement, Lightbox became an independent nonprofit, effectuating a new set of challenges.
“We can't rely on a larger institution to subsidize what we do,” Pires says. “So, certainly, a lot more of my work revolves around fundraising, and particularly, at this moment in time, arts and humanities funding is being cut back in a lot of ways”.
With The Secret Cinema being entirely self–funded, financial sustainability has been a challenge since the beginning. “I've considered going nonprofit and seeking grants, but that comes with a lot of red tape and ups and downs and shortages of money from foundations,” Schwartz says.
Not relying on digital projection means that he must maintain a large collection of film reels. “It cost me a lot of money to store it … I don't have the resources of the Library of Congress or some other large not–for–profit film archives to keep them very cold, which is necessary for the health of film prints, so they're continually decaying.”
Finding affordable spaces to screen has been a long–standing challenge for independent film screeners in Philly. cinéSPEAK is a Philly–based arthouse cinema and journal that cultivates experiences and opportunities for filmmakers and moviegoers. Sarah Mueller, the founder and executive director of cinéSPEAK, has been on a five–year journey to open up a physical space. While screening in public spaces increases accessibility to films for the community, it can be difficult to charge audiences and bear financial burdens.
“It's one of those things where we also need to be able to charge or have concessions to be able to keep the lights on. So having a venue really is wonderful, and I think a lot of us are starting to think more collectively in terms of us all not needing to have our own spaces. But how can we share space?” asks Mueller.
Growing interest in collaboration has been restricted by increased development and real estate costs in Philly, which have made it difficult to find suitable and affordable spaces.
“So I talked to a lot of my colleagues in the industry about our frustrations around space. And frankly, there's a lack of venues, and part of it is a lot of this funding, and also real estate prices going up all over the place. And a lot of sizable properties are being sold to developers for housing,” remarks Mueller. On top of spaces sold for housing, many vacant buildings have already been purchased by investors who are holding onto them until the neighborhood develops further, at which point they can invest in it or sell it.
These roadblocks are not stopping cinéSPEAK and other arts organizations from persevering in their mission to bring the arts to Philly. Instead, organizations lean on each other for institutional support.
“The arts and culture, workers or artists, have had to collaborate out of necessity to kind of keep our projects afloat … I think a lot of places like New York, to be frank, have something to learn from the collaborative spirit that exists here in Philadelphia that is less ego–driven or transactional and is really about artists,” Mueller says.
Like Jesse, Mueller also believes that despite streaming becoming more prevalent, screeners have a responsibility to provide an experience people can’t have at home. “You have to give people a reason to get off their couch … audiences don't really owe you anything. I think it's our responsibility to be innovative and to constantly be evolving into what we see people wanting,” she says.
The floating format of much of Philly’s film scene has become a reflection of the broader state of arts in Philly, with organizations working together to create deeply imaginative programming. Whether they are brought in to see rare films, politically engaged programming, or film–only projection, these cinemas are offering audiences a collective experience whose futurity hangs in the balance.
As traditional venues disappear, the fight to maintain independent cinemas and in–person viewing persists. Cinema was created to be a shared experience, one that unifies the audience through emotion. In preserving these spaces, screeners are acting to safeguard vital third spaces that imbue films with their transformative power.
Upcoming Events:
Lightbox Film Center
Queen Kelly @ Bok Auditorium (Sunday, March 1)
In Excess @ Bok Auditorium (Sunday, March 8)
Nadja @ Bok Auditorium (Wednesday, March 11)
The Secret Cinema
The Hitch–Hiker @ Chestnut Hill Film Group/Woodmere Museum (Tuesday, March 31)
From Philadelphia With Love @ Bryn Mawr Film Institute (Thursday, April 9)
cinéSPEAK
In Process: Jess X. Snow @ Symphony Philly (Thursday, March 5)
