Faded facades, creaking ticket booths, drowsy spectators dozing in the heat ... Through their lens, we discover a cinephile India -- exuberant and deeply human -- like a final screening before extinction. In India, large movie theatres are shutting down one after another. Crushed by the rise of multiplexes and undermined by destructive urban policies, thousands of single-screen cinemas have closed their doors, leaving behind torn seats, silent projectors, and the memories of a popular, vibrant, and lively cinema culture.
For nearly 20 years, Elisabeth Christeler and Simon Edelstein travelled across India in search of these abandoned or still-standing venues.
Faded facades, creaking ticket booths, drowsy spectators dozing in the heat ... Through their lens, we discover a cinephile India -- exuberant and deeply human -- like a final screening before extinction.