Synopsis

Walter has run the projector of a small-town cinema for fifty years. Tonight is its last night. In the corner of his booth, a new digital projector waits under plastic; tomorrow the old machine goes to the scrapyard. Before he leaves, Walter finds an old reel with no label and threads it one last time. The screen shows the same hall in the 1960s, full and laughing. A young usher, Elena, guides people to their seats, and a young projectionist watches her from the booth. Walter is watching his own life. Then Elena, on the screen, turns and looks straight up at the booth. "You always watched from up there." For the first time, Walter comes down and sits in Row F, seat seven, beside the seat that was always hers. The old film overheats and burns away into white light. Walter is alone in the empty hall. "Thank you." In the morning, the movers take the old projector away and a technician switches on the new one. Instead of a test pattern, the screen shows Elena in her seat. She raises her hand to Walter. A film about memory passing from film to machine, and about the moment a man who always watched finally takes his seat.

Project members

• Writer and DirectorAlex Lombrozo