The Cinephiles Keeping Montreal's Analogue Film Culture Alive

On a bitter winter night in Montreal where staying home feels like common sense, a line forms outside Cinema du Musée. Inside a film projector hums, casting images that flicker on screen.

Streaming platforms provide endless access to films, yet unexpected analogue scenes like this one are seeing a resurgence, especially in Montreal.

At the centre of this revival are two cinephiles working in tandem: Philippe Spurrell, the director of Le Cinéclub de Montréal—a cinema conservation club dedicated to screening rare 16mm and 35mm prints—and Robert Miniaci, one of the world’s last projectionists capable of repairing, rebuilding, and inventing the machines that make such screenings possible.

Philippe Spurrell (left), the director of Le Cinéclub de Montréal, and projectionist extraordinaire Robert Miniaci (right).

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