The Dying of Light - The History of Motion Picture Presentation

Streaming video - 2014

Largely unchanged for more than a century, the projection of photochemical film faces an uncertain future in the digital age. The practice of handing and projecting film is in danger of being lost; and the role of film projectionist is nearing extinction.. THE DYING OF THE LIGHT explores at the history and craft of motion picture presentation through the lives and stories of the last generation of career projectionists. By turns humorous and melancholic, their candid reflections on life in the booth reveal a world that has largely gone unnoticed and is now at an end. The result is a loving tribute to the art and romance of the movies—and to the unseen people who brought the light to our screens.. Lovely... an elegy to a century of watchin...g movies and to the craftspeople who made it possible.” – Ty Burr, Boston Globe. "An elegiac tribute to the artistry of film [and] a not-to-be-missed treasure of movie history. In the course of his investigations, Flynn sends his camera along with film collectors and historians into the bunker-like, windowless projection booths of long abandoned movie palaces. The effect, as one historian observes, recalls the opening of ancient Egyptian tombs." – James Verniere, Boston Herald. "Fascinating! The visual beauty of the photography here is a fitting homage to the level of artistic quality many cinema aficionados crave: quality that is now harder and harder to access, as convenience overtakes visual purity as the main concern of exhibition houses." – Peg Aloi, Arts Fuse. "‘The Dying of the Light’ preserves a precious slice of history. It will engage anyone who ever went to a movie." - David Bordwell, film theorist. more