We've all been in theaters and seen a film that's been out already for six months and
it just looks like hell.
Scratched up, it's splicey, there may be chunks missing, it may break at some point
during it and maybe you have a focus or all kinds of problems.
There's something about the collective experience of being in a public environment and watching
film, sometimes it's the sort of brine house feel of watching something that has just been
through the record.
Hi, I'm Danilo Lima, I'm a filmmaker from Sao Paulo, Brazil, I live in Brooklyn right
now and I'm working on a short documentary project called Black Booth, which explores
the craft of film projectionists.
Now, I always loved old vintage stuff, I was always intrigued by the design and how these
things worked.
This was always in the back of my mind and to the day I had the opportunity to speak
with Manuel Tosti, a film projectionist from Brazil that told me some amazing stories and
introduced me to a craft that I had never paid attention to.
Look, I'm a cinematographer, my name is Tosti, I've been working for 31 years in the
cement room and my life has always been a paradigms movie.
I started at 16 years old, I went to the Imperator Cinema, I gave my merit to the
operator, who is an Italian operator, to be able to watch the film of the cabin and a
beautiful day for me as a surprise, I was 16 years old, I had to replace it and that
was what I was looking for.
Over the years, the way people listen to music has changed a lot and this is also happening
with the film industry right now, everybody's now working digitally and this of course has
pushed the movie theaters to also be digital.
This whole movement had a big impact on the very last link of the chain, the projections.
A lot of people naturally will struggle with that, but it's not my goal in this film to
advocate for analogue or even to compare it with digital, after all, if it weren't for
digital I wouldn't be able to do this.
My goal is to explore a beautiful craft that is very likely to be extinct, if not it will
be restricted to museums and small movie theaters, just like they happen with violin.
I also want to explore the stories behind the people who have been practicing this craft
for so many years, finally I want to understand some stuff, does this transition take away
the human element, does it make the theater less significant, what is the next step for
the industry?
Now it's time to keep this project going on, I want to interview a lot more film projectionists
and get their perspective on this switch, but for now all I need is your help liking
this video on video and also spreading the word for your friends, family, and fellow
film lovers, this way I can go to the second round of the Able Scene documentary grant.
Thank you so much for watching and see you soon.
