As credits roll on The Projector, fans mourn the loss of a cinema that was a rare place for community

SINGAPORE: When Mr Hadi Lee and his partner decided to throw a party to celebrate their life together, the only venue the couple considered was independent cinema The Projector.

"As two people who didn't really even want a wedding, we just wanted a celebration with people we love in a space where we felt comfortable to be ourselves," the 32-year-old said.

"The Projector was really more than just an old cinema. It felt like a cracked open window where self-expression could breathe."

Just three days after the party, The Projector announced its sudden closure on Tuesday (Aug 19), shocking regular patrons who had sensed nothing amiss.

"At a time where we feel like we're losing a lot of Singapore's heart and soul", the loss of this space was "the final nail in the coffin", said Mr Lee.

Founder Karen Tan attributed the closure to rising costs, changing audience habits and "the worst consumer market conditions in a decade".

Pocket Cinema, the company behind The Projector, owes more than S$1.2 million (US$971,000), according to an email sent to creditors on Tuesday night. Nearly S$90,000 is owed to about 2,300 cinema members, with a creditors' meeting set for Aug 29 via video conference.

The Projector opened in 2014 in a vintage theatre on the fifth floor of Golden Mile Tower. Over the years, it built a reputation for championing independent films not seen on any other screens in Singapore.

"People go to church on Sundays, right? Cinema is kind of my religion. And The Projector always has films that you can't get in all the other cineplexes," said Mr Jeremy Sing, 48, founder of former online film publication SINdie.

Two things defined the Projector experience for him: the vintage theatre seats and the irreverent pre-movie video featuring a "Turkish Luke Skywalker" reminding patrons to silence their phones.

"If you already think of going to The Projector, it makes you quite a bona fide cinephile, because the seats are not the most comfortable," said Mr Sing.

"It means something. You can feel this common appreciation when people are there seriously for the film."

MORE THAN JUST THE MOVIES

Local cinemas have been struggling to attract audiences for years. But before Tuesday, The Projector seemed to have cracked the code.

It not only survived but expanded, popping up at The Cathay Cineplex in 2022, then moving into a second venue at Cathay Cineleisure from 2023 until earlier this month.

For Mr Benjamin Yap, 33, co-host of the Deep Cut film podcast, The Projector was one of the only places in Singapore showing movies "off the beaten path".

"It also provided a safe enclave for individual expression for marginalised and niche communities in Singapore, especially the queer community, with its regular Pink Screen programmes that highlighted LGBTQ+ stories," he said.

Singapore Film Society vice-chair Eternality Tan, 37, said its appeal lay in how it blended cinema with cultural events – from Q&A sessions with film directors to themed food and drinks, music gigs and stand-up comedy.

"It was more than just popcorn and movies. You were going to a cultural space to be immersed and even transformed," he said.

The Projector's annual screening of cult American film The Rocky Horror Picture Show was a highlight for cinemagoer Ms Hoo Yanhan.

The 30-year-old fondly recalled how audience members were given bags of goodies to throw at the screen and the subtitles were customised to reflect local humour.

"Where else will you experience (the) whole cinema hall yelling movie lines together in sync now? That's why I'll best remember The Projector for bringing communities together.

"There are few spaces like that in Singapore ... we just lost one of them," she said.

THE PROJECTOR'S LEGACY

Beyond its film offerings, The Projector also became a venue for cultural and civic events. Upcoming August programming had included a discussion on electoral boundaries by the Singapore Democratic Party and the launch of a local long-form magazine's latest issue.

Mr Hadi Lee said working with The Projector for his party opened his eyes to how it was "a passion project held together by people who had nothing much to gain besides the fact that they truly loved it".

"It's not glamorous or transactional, but it was all real," he said, contrasting it with other "prescriptive and manufactured" efforts to invigorate Singapore's arts and culture scene.

Former film programmer David Lee, 45, said it was "already a miracle" The Projector lasted as long as it did, considering the high costs of running a cinema in Singapore.

He recalled organising a five-hour documentary screening with a Q&A some years ago, where the cinema didn’t charge extra despite running past closing time.

"Which commercial venue will let you do this (for) five hours way past closing time and not charge you an extra dime?" he said.

Independent cinemas, Mr Lee added, help shape the cultural identity of a city, as it does in global capitals like London and Tokyo. Singapore, too, needs a congregation space for the arts and culture, he said.

"I don't think ever since The Substation ... (has there) ever been another space that quite fills that niche for the misfit, if you will, for people who just want that independent space to champion whatever they're working on," he said.

The Substation, once a stalwart arts venue, left its Armenian Street home in 2021 after more than 30 years and later said it would shift from an arts centre to an arts company.

Mr Yap, the film podcaster, similarly described losing The Projector as "another blow to Singapore's artistic soul", after the steady loss of critical spaces to gather around art.

"It's alarming to hear the news but we understand that keeping such spaces alive is a unique challenge in Singapore with its limited audience, lack of financial support for the arts, and seemingly diminishing interest in such experiences," he said.

"When The Projector opened, it was like a light turned on in the cinematic landscape in Singapore, and it is now hard to imagine that landscape without it.

"The Projector as a physical space might disappear, but our memories of it won't."