02/09/2026
🎞️ Why are we so mad for 35mm?
35mm film is more than just a format — it’s a piece of cinema history.
The 35mm motion-picture format has been around since the late 19th century, with films being shown on 35mm for well over a century. For generations, cinemas projected movies from physical film prints — reels of celluloid running through a projector, frame by frame, in front of an audience.
And there’s something different about watching a film this way.
A 35mm print is a physical object. Light passes through the actual strip of film, through the projector lens and onto the screen. Every print has its own character — grain, texture, colour and the little imperfections that come with a physical medium. You’re not watching a file being played back. You’re watching light passing through film.
A properly stored print can survive for decades, and some film prints and negatives have survived for well over a century. How long they last depends on the stock, how they’ve been stored and how much use they’ve had.
35mm projection may have almost disappeared from mainstream cinemas, but it isn’t dead. There’s a growing movement to keep it alive, with cinemas, festivals, archives and independent programmers continuing to screen film. Audiences are seeking it out too, wanting to experience films on the format they were made and originally shown on.
From 18–20 September, the picturesque town of Christchurch plays host to GRINDFEST. As the Regent’s beautiful Art Deco theatre is transformed into a gathering place for genre film lovers. We’ve tracked down 35mm prints from across the globe — known titles, forgotten gems, lost films and plenty of discoveries you may never have heard of.
Come and be part of that wider movement to keep the format in front of audiences and help preserve an important part of our film heritage. These prints are part of the history of cinema, and there’s no better way to honour that heritage than to bring them out of the archive, thread them through a projector and let an audience experience them on the big screen once again.
Arrow Video Presents GRINDFEST
18–20 September
Three days of genre films on 35mm.
