The Broken Altar
2013 ยท 20m ยท Documentary
[19:30 | 35mm (1.85) | Stereo Sound | 2013] The Broken Altar is a portrait of open-air theaters documented under the strange light of day, emptied of the once present hum of human voices, radioed-in soundtracks and tires on gravel. Scripting the landscape and exploring the residue of a cinematic history, The Broken Altar forms a sculptural treatment of the architectural artifacts of these abandoned and barren spaces: speaker boxes rise from tall grass like grave markers and the screens themselves are monumental, sepulchral in their peeling whiteness.
More Like This
At the Drive-In
2017 ยท โ 7.3
Unable to purchase a $50,000 digital projector, a group of film fanatics in rural Pennsylvania fight to keep a dying drive-in theater alive by screening only vintage 35mm film prints and working entirely for free.
More info โ
Under the Stars
2022 ยท โ 5.8
Paying tribute to some of America's only surviving drive-ins โ and those who keep them running โ this heartfelt documentary captures efforts to preserve these nostalgic theaters in small-towns across the country.
More info โ
In Light, In!
2014
A darkly beautiful visual essay that explores human emotion in response to societal standards. With a lone cello providing the soundtrack, this collage of archival footage from 1950โs-era films is a superb example of manipulation via sound and image (Dorothy Woodend, DOXA Documentary Film Festival)
More info โ
Drive In Movie Intermission Ads - Volume One
2016
A collection of Drive In Movie Intermission ads from the 1950's - 1960's.
More info โ
Vineland
2009
A short experimental documentary is filmed at the last drive-in movie theater in Los Angeles, located in a desolate area called the City of Industry. Floating within a backdrop of smokestacks, beacon towers and passing trains, dislocated Hollywood images filled with apocalyptic angst are re-framed and reflected through car windows and mirrors as the displacement of the radio broadcast soundtrack collides with the projections upon and surrounding the multiple screens. In VINELAND, the nocturnal landscape is seen as a border zone aglow with dreamlike illusions revealing overlapping realities at the intersection of nostalgia and alienation.
More info โ
Drive-In Movie Memories
2001 ยท โ 8
A nostalgic, informative history of drive-in movie theaters, featuring extensive archival photographs and interviews with Leonard Maltin, John Bloom, Samuel Z. Arkoff, Barry Corbin and many others... Drive-In Movie Memories is a film celebration of America's greatest icon of youth, freedom and the automobile. What began as an auto parts owner's business venture to make some easy money accidentally became a magical place where romance, fun and a sense of community flourished. This film chronicles the drive-in's birth and development, its phenomenal popularity with audiences of all ages, its tragic decline, and its inevitable comeback as a classic form of Americana.
More info โ
Back to the Drive-in
2022 ยท โ 5
A feature-length documentary that goes behind the scenes to get to know the families who own and operate drive-in theaters.
More info โ
After Sunset: The Life & Times of the Drive-In Theater
1995 ยท โ 5.8
A video documentary/road trip that celebrates the drive-in movie theater's impact on the United States, and pays homage to the people who keep the few remaining ones fully operational. Features interviews with horror movie maker John Carpenter, movie critic John I. Bloom (aka "Joe Bob Briggs"), Michael Wallis, author of "Route 66: The Mother Road," and others.
More info โ
Twisted
2016 ยท โ 6
In Thorold, Ontario in the summer of 1996, a movie legend was made when a real-life tornado hit a drive-in theatre during a screening of Twister. But how much truth really lies inside this tale of life (or weather) imitating art?
More info โ
Bikini Drive-In
1995 ยท โ 5
Kim Taylor inherits her grandfather's drive-in theatre. She must raise $25,000 over one weekend or the bank will take the property from her. She also has to deal with pesky capitalist J.B. Winston.
More info โ
Nightmare at Shadow Woods
1987 ยท โ 5.8
Twins Todd and Terry seem like sweet boys -- that is, until one of them takes an axe to the face of a fellow patron at the local drive-in.
More info โ