'The Projectionist' Trailer: Abel Ferrara Makes A Documentary Love Letter To An Indie Cinema Legend

Bronx-born, Italian-based filmmaker Abel Ferrara is a character and so is Cypriot independent movie theater owner Nicolas “Nick” Nicolaou. “I do it cause it combines two things I like to do,” Nicolaou says in Ferrara’s new documentary “The Projectionist.” “Make money and keep neighborhood theaters alive. Nicolaou was a mainstay in the 1970s Times Square adult film house scene, went on to get into the arthouse film exhibition business and has been in the New York theater business for decades. In Ferrara’s charming new doc, the filmmaker — no longer living in his beloved New York, but still intrinsically tied to it — chronicles Nicolaou’s life story, moving from Cypress, emigrating to the United States and then eventually making his way into the theater business with all the ups and downs that come with competing with major mainstream theater chains. Nicolaou currently owns and operates Manhattan’s Cinema Village, Bay Ridge’s Alpine Cinemas & Forest Hills’ Cinemart.

Here’s the official synopsis:

This documentary portrait of theater operator Nicolas “Nick” Nicolaou moves from 1970s Times Square adult film houses through decades of city regulation, chain takeovers, and cultural shifts, charting a charming odyssey through the history of film exhibition and New York City. Abel Ferrara traces the life and work of friend and fellow cinephile Nicolas “Nick” Nicolaou, a Cypriot immigrant who began working as a teenager in small neighborhood movie theaters around Manhattan, defying gentrification, changing viewing habits and corporate dominance in the 1980s, only to emerge decades later as one of New York City’s last independent theater owners. A moving tribute to friendship, tenacity and the love of cinema, The Projectionist is also a timely paean to what going to the movies is all about.

Interesting enough, in the spirit of the movie, Kino Lorber, the distributor announced that it will offer Abel Ferrara’s “The Projectionist” to arthouse cinemas for their theater screens as they open during this ongoing pandemic. 100% of the ticket sales will benefit local theaters. “The Projectionist” made its debut at the Tribeca Film Festival last year.

Here’s Kino Lorber’s statement:

Kino Lorber is now offering the film to cinemas as they reopen safely with 100% of sales going to the theaters. We are encouraging theaters to add conversations with its theater staff and programmers to its screenings of The Projectionist as a way to welcome back their audiences when they can open safely, pull back the curtain, and talk about why they share Nicolaou’s passion for keeping the movie theater experience alive.

Watch the new trailer below.