The Last Picture Shows
“Why should we be upset about the disappearance of yet another cinema?
Because it matters. Every theater matters.”
Martin Scorsese
Play Trailer
A film by Rustin Thompson
Executive Producer, Rachel Price/Foghorn Features
Ten states. 10,825 miles. 123 theaters.
Filmmaker Rustin Thompson journeys into the American West on a search for traces of what was once a center of small-town life: the movie theater. On the trip, he finds long abandoned and forgotten cinemas; movie houses that have fallen into disrepair; theaters recently closed, theaters struggling to hold on, and theaters that—thanks to their thoughtful caretakers—are not only surviving but thriving. Between the stops along the way, Rustin poetically intersperses excerpts from Peter Bogdanovich’s 1971 classic film The Last Picture Show, as well as reflections on past and present hardships facing the film exhibition industry. The Last Picture Shows is not only a timely portrait of an industry in crisis, one facing the headwinds of consolidation, streaming, and the diminishing theatrical experience, but it also reminds viewers that even in vast cinema deserts, there are oases of community and gathering that remain, where the movie house continues to be a place of wonder, contemplation, and connection.
Past Screenings
Fine-Cut Preview Screening Dec. 4 at 7pm/Carsey-Wolf Center, UC Santa Barbara (FREE)
Upcoming Screenings
Santa Barbara International Film Festival. Feb. 9 and 10. (World Premiere)
Flathead Lake International Cinemafest. Feb. 14. Nominee for Best Documentary. (Montana Premiere)
Oxford Film Festival (Honorable Mention)
Thin Line Film Festival. Denton, Texas. March 14-18
Ashland Film Festival/Benefit Screening. March 7th, 7pm at the Historic Varsity Theater
Spokane International Film Festival. March 8. Closing Night film.
Ethnografilm Festival/Paris. April 2-6
Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival. April 10th and 11th.
More to come! Stay Tuned!