Cinemas in a Van

I just thought I would share with you a couple of projects from people I know which coincidentally happen to involve vans and cinemas. When I was a kid, my mom had a little project in Nicaragua where we took 16mm prints of films to neighborhoods in Esteli; we projected Chaplin classics, Cuban comedies (always comedies!) and audiences would sit on the street and watch it being projected onto a white sheet on a wall.

So the idea of taking movies to people (the mountain to Mohammed, if you will) is one I am completely behind. First there is Cannes in a Van, a motely crew of cinephiles who take cinema to the Croisette each year in a veg-oil powered transit van. Sam Clements (@sam_clements on Twitter), a projectionist, filmmaker and in general nice chap, is part of the crew.

And my good Dutch friend Maureen Prins (who I met in Venice last year) has a fantastic project, an entirely solar-powered van that travels around Europe showing films. CosyMo's Solar Cinema is exactly the kind of idea that keeps film culture alive - small but inventive, full of energey and enthusiasm. I am looking forward to Maureen's eventual arrival (and conquest) of England.