35mm outdoor cinema revives unique warmth of vintage movies

Before the widespread use of television, attending free open-air movies was a popular street entertainment in rural areas. However, unable to compete with new and emerging technology, the old-fashioned open-air cinemas gradually faded into obscurity. In order to revive this old movie culture and bring back the 60s era, Bearmen Film Studio (熊南人電影映像工作室) revamped a vintage 35mm movie projector out of operation for more than 60 years, set up a nostalgic white canvas movie screen, arranged row after row of seats, and invited novel local food vendors along to Tainan City’s Jun-xi Road.  

Before the main movie, a short 15-minute Drunken Eight Immortals movie is shown, which not only protects the film reel but is also very much a part of the traditional movie culture, where deities birthdays and special occasions etc. used to be celebrated by screening an outdoor movie show. Street vendors then dispense candies to “enliven” the cinema space while the film reel is changed for the main movie, another old tradition that has been warmly received by people and helped attract a mix of old and young to this festive occasion. The reason why organizer Gao Pu-yuan (高璞元) began to revive the old open-air 35mm movie scene in our modern digital age is a desire to keep this unique movie culture alive and ensure it doesn’t become just another museum specimen, but also because of the depth and warmth that 35 mm reel films exude. Though digital technology has brought refined images, it has also deprived us of the precious interpersonal communication that open-air movies used to provide. Thankfully, the movie showings each Saturday from July through August at Junsi 13 District Market x Open-air Cinema are helping to change all this, providing Tainan with a very different kind of open-air movie experience.   

35mm outdoor cinema revives unique warmth of vintage movies

URL：https://www.peopo.org/news/343939

(以下是中文對照)

35釐米露天電影院 找回老電影獨有溫度

免費的露天電影，在電視尚未普及的農村社會是台灣街頭巷尾的重要娛樂。但是不敵時代與科技的汰換，老式的播放機台以及露天電影院卻逐漸沒落。為了復興這個文化，「熊南人電影映像工作室」，搬出運轉超過一甲子的老機台，架起懷舊的白色布幕，以及一排排座椅，結合特色商家，將入夜的台南市郡西路拉回了六零年代。

正片開始之前，會有15分鐘的《醉八仙》片段 用以保護膠捲，更顯示電影酬神習俗，換片之中店家會出來撒糖果暖場，這些都成功營造出懷舊氛圍，吸引民眾不分老少一起共襄盛舉。在全面數位化的世代，主辦人高璞元卻反其道而行，推動35釐米電影的復興。除了不讓文化脈絡成為博物館裡的標本，更因為膠捲有著不一樣的溫度。數位科技帶來精緻影像，但也剝奪了珍貴的人際交流，藉由郡西十三番地，七八月份每個周六，台南有了不一樣的露天電影。