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Watch the Trailer for Cashiers Du Cinéma’s 10-Film BAM Series—and Enjoy an Exclusive Comic by Co-Editors Dan Welch and David Cardoza
Dan Welch and David Cardoza, self-described “editors-for-life” of the NYC-based Cashiers Du Cinéma zine, are taking over Brooklyn’s BAM Cinema for a 10-film series “contemplating cinema work in works of cinema,” running from February 13-19.
For those unfamiliar with the pair’s publication, each edition features a variety of comics, essays, and short fiction “about the ragged glory of working at movie theaters,” all penned by current or former movie theater employees. The first issue was published in 2023, and the most recent fourth issue was released back in December to substantial buzz, complete with a shout-out in The Strategist’s “Best Gifts for Movie Lovers” holiday shopping guide.
Appropriately, live comic readings by Cashiers contributors will precede several screenings. Esteemed New York cartoonists A.T. Pratt will read ahead of the 1984 slasher Blood Theatre on February 13; Josh Bayer will present before Sarah Jacobson’s winning indie Mary Jane’s Not A Virgin Anymore on the 14th; and Katie Lane will perform ahead of Marie-Claude Treilhou’s porn theater-focused Simone Barbès on the 15th. J. Malzone returns with a redux of his “Bathroom Dissertation,” previously performed at a Roxy Cinema one-off screening of Mary Jane last spring, which will now accompany Tsai Ming-liang’s Goodbye, Dragon Inn on the 19th.
“There’s a lot of downtime and navel-gazing involved in cinema work, and from time to time the job starts to eat its own tail,” Welch and Cardoza told Filmmaker in an exclusive statement. “In other words, you find yourself wondering: Is it possible to make a movie about WORKING at the movies?”
“These films obviously EXIST,” they continue, “but in the process of compiling them for this program we realized it’s not an easy job to dramatize. The work is so low-stakes, and the conflicts that arise so inconsequential and stupid that they seem basically impossible to hinge an entire movie on. But we also found that this negative space has been used in interesting ways: Like Mary Jane’s Not a Virgin Anymore or Murmur of Youth (the latter of which screens for FREE), the film can follow relationships formed between co-workers when there are no customers to attend to. Like Goodbye, Dragon Inn, Variety, or The Good Fairy, encounters in the theater can be used as a launching point to follow other ‘extracurricular activities.’ Cinema Paradiso portrays an all-too-common over-identification with the product, as does The Projectionist (presented on a 35mm print courtesy of MoMA), the story of a disillusioned booth operator with a rampant imagination who dreams about diving into ‘the other side’ of the silver screen.”
A “Cinéma Du Cashiers Program Guide” zine, featuring 11 original comics and essays reflecting on the films in this series, will be available for purchase at each screening. For those eager to dig into the Cashiers archive, all issues to date will be up for grabs as well.
Below, enjoy a hand-drawn comic by Welch and Cardoza, which they share as an exclusive sneak-peak for Filmmaker readers ahead of their forthcoming zine. To see the full lineup and purchase tickets, visit BAM’s website.
