Thirteen years after it formed and promised to bring independent cinema back to Halifax, Paradise Sisters Film Society is finally, officially giving up the ghost.
But not before it passes on its torch (not to mention $20,000 and a long members list) to Halifax's current hope for honest-to-goodness rep cinema: Carbon Arc Cinema Co-op.
While this still doesn't mean another Wormwood's Dog and Monkey Cinema (Halifax's beloved rep for over 20 years), it is good news for Halifax film lovers.
"We've been running on half a shoestring," says Carbon Arc director Siloën Daley, "so money in the bank will give us a sense of security." But the biggest boon is the sense of unity, she says, in having all the repertory cinema-loving forces in Halifax aligned under Carbon Arc. The show of support "lights another fire in my spirit," says Daley. "It keeps me excited to keep doing it."
The Paradise Sisters raised a lot of money in its time, but nowhere near the $250,000 they wanted to open and operate a fully functional cinema. Under the stewardship of Daley, Carbon Arc has taken a much more incremental path, renting spaces for screenings, relying heavily on volunteers and running short, manageable seasons.
Daley says there's still room to grow at Carbon Arc's current home at the Museum of Natural History, where Leviathan screens Friday. Moviegoers can expect more second screenings, matinees and improvements to give the theatre a more cinematic feel.
"We are definitely not at our limit with that space," says Daley, but the search for a larger space of their own continues. "It's always on our radar, looking for a good fit."
Leviathan
April 3, 7pm
Carbon Arc Cinema, 1747 Summer Street
$7
www.carbonarc.ca
