Our Collection and Presentation
What began as the personal 16mm film collection of film educator and advocate Juris Ubans has expanded greatly since our founding in 2016. As of 2025, we have over 2,000 16 and 35 mm films, ranging from shorts and student projects to feature-length auteur, classic, and popular works. Our collection spans 130 years of international film history, and we are always building new lending relationships with other cinemas and archives.
We present our films with a Eiki EX-6000 16 mm projector and our recently donated FP-30 EC II 35 mm projectors. FP-30 EC II projectors are designed for in-studio review of final cuts of films; we are the first microcinema (to our knowledge) to have them installed for public theatrical screenings. We are dedicated to carrying forward the art of projection by training new projectionists and forever improving our own craft.
We prioritize collecting essential cinema: works that had something to say, tried something different, captured the fears and hopes of their time, that marked a turning point in storytelling or cinematographic methods. In our programming, we seek to put films in conversation with each other, creating a cohesive experience for attendees over the course of a series. Our film research, screening introductions, and community-building efforts mean that we are able to not just screen films but contextualize them, giving audiences the opportunity to engage with and discuss them on a deeper level.
From Portland micro-cinema uses films from the past to cast light on the present | By Nicole Ogrysko | Production: Tulley Hescock | Maine Public
Donate Films to Our Collection
As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit enterprise, we are able (and excited) to accept tax-deductible film donations from individuals, libraries, and archives. We not only repair and preserve the prints in our collection, but strive to make them accessible to the public through screenings at Kinonik and partner locations, ensuring the works can continue to serve their intended artistic purpose.