Director Abel Ferrara (Bad Lieutenant, King of New York) traces the life and work of friend and fellow cinephile Nicolas “Nick” Nicolaou, a Cypriot immigrant who began working as a teenager in small neighborhood movie theaters around Manhattan, defying gentrification, changing viewing habits and corporate dominance in the 1980’s, only to emerge decades later as one of New York City’s last independent theater owners. A moving tribute to friendship, tenacity and movie love, The Projectionist is also a timeless paean to what going to the movies is all about.
STARRING
Nicolas Nicolaou
WRITER
Abel Ferrara
DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY
KEN KELSCH
MUSIC
Joe DELIA
FILM EDITING
FABIO NUNZIATA
PRODUCTION
Faliro House and Washington Square Films in association with The Match Factory
DISTRIBUTION
The Match Factory
Abel Ferrara
With a reputation as a director of controversial cinema,
ABEL FERRARA moves into his fourth decade of filmmaking with continued work in the US as well as European projects. Recent successes include Pasolini, starring Willem Dafoe, and Welcome to NY, starring Gerard Depardieu and Jacqueline Bisset. Born in the Bronx in 1951, Ferrara started on Super 8 in his teens in upstate New York with writers Nicholas St. John and John McIntyre. His first features were Driller Killer and Ms. 45 in the late 70s. The 80s and 90s led to a cult reputation with legendary films like The King of New York, Bad Lieutenant, The Addiction and The Funeral. Ferrara just completed the principal photography of his next feature Siberia with Willem Dafoe.
FILMOGRAPHY
1979 DRILLER KILLER
1981 Ms. 45
1984 FEAR CITY
1987 China Girl
1990 The King of New York
1992 Bad Lieutenant
1993 Body Snatchers
1993 Dangerous Game
1995 The Addiction
1996 The Funeral
1997 The Blackout
1998 New Rose Hotel
2001 R XMas
2005 Mary
2007 Go Go Tales
2008 Chelsea on the Rocks documentary
2009 Napoli, Napoli, Napoli
2011 4:44 – Last Day on Earth
2014 Pasolini
2014 Welcome to New York
2017 Piazza Vittorio documentary
2017 Alive in France documentary
2019 Tommaso
2019 The Projectionist documentary