The award-winning filmmaker Matt Finlin discusses his new documentary The Movie Man, a loving look at films as he captures cinema owner Keith Stata and his sprawling movie palace Highland Cinemas in Kinmount, Ontario, with Joseph Planta.

Text of the introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.

There’s a terrific documentary that will screen at DOXA next week. The Movie Man is a fascinating film about films. And it’s told about a man in Kinmount, Ontario, Keith Stata, who many years ago sought to builds a movie theatre in the backwoods of cottage country Ontario. The town has only a few hundred residents, no longer has a gas station or a school, yet Stata’s Highland Cinemas is a movie palace with five screens. And it’s been a long running attraction especially in the summers when up to 50,000 people visit the area. Matt Finlin is the director of this new film, and I’ll ask him about the summers there, and the evenings he spent as a kid watching movies, surrounded by a fine collection of movie and pop culture memorabilia, not to mention Canada’s largest projector collection. As independent cinemas would close or switch to digital, Stata’s movie mecca would be the last stop for all sorts of projectors going back to the early days of cinema. Mr. Finlin, who joined me a couple of weeks ago, talks about the struggles of independent cinemas like Mr. Stata’s, what with the stranglehold the huge chains have on the moviegoing public, not to mention the surfeit of streaming offerings. And in the midst of filming this love letter to film, Matt captures Stata at his lowest, as the COVID-19 pandemic closes his cinema for at least a couple of seasons. Matt shows us how Keith copes, and how he continues to feed the many animals in and around the property, cats and racoons. The community steps up as you’ll see and brings over food donations for the menagerie he’s become responsible for. Visit www.themoviemanfilm.com for more information on the documentary. Matt Finlin has had a successful career in making award-winning documentaries, music videos, and commercials. His Twitter handle is @mattfinlin, and the website for more is at www.dkm.com; that’s for Door Knocker Media, the company at which he is partner and director. The Movie Man screens Tuesday, 07 May 2024 at The Cinematheque. Please welcome to the Planta: On the Line program, Matt Finlin; Mr. Finlin, good morning.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (17.0MB)

Subscribe: RSS