The Trash Palace, Toronto's kitschy haven for 16mm film and culture, is in transition. While the space that many local film lovers have grown to love has recently shut its doors for the final time on Niagara St., ending a seven year run, the story of the cinema isn't all doom and gloom. Starting in July, the scene that the Trash Palace fostered over the years will shift to the Revue Cinema, which is still equipped with a 16mm projector to play the various oddities and obscurities so often screened at 89 Niagara.
The closure of the space comes as the area faces significant redevelopment pressure, though impending condos aren't directly to blame for the shuttering of the unique theatre. The Trash Palace was always made possible by owner Stacey Case's screen printing company in the building, and having moved on to a new career in craft services for film, he tells me that "it just seemed like a good time to get out while the going is good."
While the space itself was always at least part of the draw, the move to the Revue comes with some major benefits. Along with increased capacity and greater visibility, the monthly film nights will now have the added delight of booze thanks to the cinema's liquor license. Apologies, but that's kind of a big deal for me. Rather than see this chapter in the Trash Palace's history as an untimely end, Case characterizes the shift as "an underground cinema going legit after seven years." 16mm culture is alive and well in Toronto, after all.
by Derek Flack via blogTO
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