Portland Press Herald: Kinonik is devoted to preserving, sharing movie history
“By sharing the collection and its wide-ranging view of film history, the volunteers who run Kinonik hope to not only keep the films in good condition, but to help new generations understand what the communal experience of seeing film prints, in a group with others, can feel like.” (Photo: Brianna Soukup)
Tax Driver ON 10/22 and 10/25 AT |kinonik|
Taxi Driver features what would be Bernard Herrmann’s final score. The music was finished mere hours before his death, and the film is dedicated to him.
Creature from the Black Lagoon ON 10/29 and 11/1 AT |kinonik|
Creature from the Black Lagoon follows a group of scientists who encounter a piscine amphibious humanoid — the Creature, also known as the Gill-man — in the waters of the Amazon
The Set-Up ON 11/12 and 11/15 AT |KINONIK|
Robert Wise’s tale of a boxer on his last legs, clocked in with the concept of a drama unfolding in real time three years before “High Noon.”
Signpost to Murder ON 11/19 and 11/22 AT |KINONIK|
Alex Forrester, convicted of murdering his wife, fails to gain his release after spending 5 years in a British asylum for the criminally insane.
The Misfits ON 12/3 and 12/6 AT |KINONIK|
A film so utterly despondent; it could only have been made by the truly lost at heart.
Whisky Galore! ON 12/10 and 12/13 AT |KINONIK|
During World War II, the tiny Scottish island of Todday runs out of whisky. When the freighter S.S. Cabinet Minister runs aground nearby during a heavy fog, the islanders are delighted to learn that its cargo consists of 50,000 cases of whisky.
The Third Man ON 12/17 and 12/20 AT |Kinonik|
Orson Welles’s long-delayed entrance in the film has become one of the hallmarks of modern cinematography, and it is just one of dozens of cockeyed camera angles that seem to mirror the off-kilter postwar society.
Casablanca ON 12/24 and 12/27 AT |kinonik|
One of Hollywood’s finest moment, a film that succeeds on such a vast scale not because of anything experimental or deliberately earthshaking in its design, but for the way it cohered to and reaffirmed the movie-making conventions of its day.
Father Brown ON 12/31 and 1/3 AT |KINONIK|
When amateur detective Father Brown (Alec Guinness) is put in charge of shipping an extremely valuable religious artifact — a crucifix — from London to Rome, a master thief and master of disguise named Flambeau (Peter Finch) outwits the young priest and steals the cross for himself.
- Tax Driver ON 10/22 and 10/25 AT |kinonik|
- Creature from the Black Lagoon ON 10/29 and 11/1 AT |kinonik|
- The Set-Up ON 11/12 and 11/15 AT |KINONIK|
- Signpost to Murder ON 11/19 and 11/22 AT |KINONIK|
- The Misfits ON 12/3 and 12/6 AT |KINONIK|
- Whisky Galore! ON 12/10 and 12/13 AT |KINONIK|
- The Third Man ON 12/17 and 12/20 AT |Kinonik|
- Casablanca ON 12/24 and 12/27 AT |kinonik|
- Father Brown ON 12/31 and 1/3 AT |KINONIK|
Kinonik is a registered 501(c)(3) non-profit, and donations are tax-deductible.
About Us
Kinonik is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization whose mission is to enlighten and entertain audiences of all ages through projected screenings of celluloid classic films. Our current archive consists of more than 2,000 16mm films.
A century into the film industry, digital offers myriad options for viewing media that the pioneers of the film industry surely never envisioned. While the benefits of accessibility can’t be argued – something is missing.
Films have been created to give audiences the shared experience of temporary escape from the mundane into a world of heightened emotions and suspense that give them license to laugh, cry, gasp, chortle, and even shriek together.
The streaming experience is essentially solitary. The theater experience is unfolds with a community of many. The more solitary our world gets the lonelier our world gets and the less we experience common experiences
This is the magic of movies; it’s the difference in nuance between sprocketed frames of real images speeding past the bright bulb of a projector than the digitized experience of pixels on a flat screen.
We’re committed to preserving the film experience through the real-deal – projected screenings of must-see silent and sound classics.
Contact Us
Kinonik
121 Cassidy Point Drive
Portland, Maine 04102
Our Mission
Kinonik is a nonprofit microcinema dedicated to the communal experience of watching films projected on analog formats. We preserve and present 16mm and 35mm film as a living medium with the aim of fostering dialogue, education, and resistance against cultural homogenization. In an era of increasing social isolation and algorithmic control, Kinonik serves as a space for collective meaning-making where cinema is not a commodity but a shared encounter with history, aesthetics, and radical imagination.
Our programming emphasizes overlooked, suppressed, and subversive voices by placing them in proximity to famed classics. To this end we continuously seek to expand our film collection— embracing digital formats only as a means of access to exceptional works that are unavailable to us on film. We are fascinated by the craft of projection as an art form and strive for excellence in presentation regardless of medium.
Committed to accessibility and community-building, Kinonik maintains fair pricing, proactively encourages diversity among our audience, and collaborates with artists, scholars and organizations. We approach our screenings both as entertainment and acts of celebration. We offer an alternative to the isolating forces of the mainstream by cultivating a joyful space where people can gather, discuss, and engage with the art of film through the analog experience.
Our Board
- James Cradock
- Julia Dunleavy
- Andy Graham, Co-Director
- Gregory Jamie
- Joshua Jenkins
- Skylar Thorne Kelly, Co-Director
- Nicholas Loukes
- David Nutty
- Carolyn Swartz
- Bob Wirtz
- Katherine Worthing