SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — The smell of popcorn, the hum of a projector, and the flicker of light hitting a big screen. For most people, that experience is a distant memory, or no memory at all. But thanks to a new Syracuse film club, old school screenings are starting to make a comeback.
That’s where Emery Cinema comes in. Founded in March 2026 by Central New York natives Sam Johnston and Pranathi Adhikari, the Syracuse-based film club screens exclusively on analog, meaning every film is projected from a physical reel rather than a digital file.
Because of this format, the screenings are not perfect. Analog film reels flicker, make noise, and get discolored with age, but at Emery, they embrace the imperfections, as they help tell a deeper story.
“35 millimeter is going to sometimes have grainier texture,” said Adhikari. “It’s going to have some dirt. You can see from the physical form that’s being projected onto the bigger screen. And so it kind of tells the story of all the different times that it’s been shown.”
Since the COVID pandemic, streaming has reshaped how people watch movies, and with it, the sense of community that once came with a trip to the theater has quietly faded. Emery Cinema wants to bring that feeling back. Its goal is simple: show films the old-school way, and let the movies do what they have always done best — bring people together.
“It means a lot to us to be able to provide a source of community,” said Adhikari. “Also an outlet to be able to talk about different forms of art, and also what they mean about the world around us.”
Emery is a club and it has no set location for its screenings. Its first screening took place in the back of a video game store, and the upcoming screening of The Simpsons Movie will be hosted by the Palace Theatre, a historic theater located on James Street in Syracuse.
Adam Ast has been the general manager of the Palace Theatre for years, and says Emery Cinema is doing something he could never quite figure out.
“By the time you get to be in your 50s, I think you’re pretty skeptical. Cynical of everything,” said Ast. “But with Emery Cinema, it was just such a relief, I guess, to see the passion. They’re able to do what we’ve been wanting to do and trying to do for years, which is like reach the younger crowd.”
But putting on these analog screenings is far from easy. Unlike digital, a projectionist is required to be in the booth for the entirety of the film to make sure things run smoothly. Film reels hold about 12 minutes of footage, meaning someone must switch them throughout the movie.
Ast has been projecting analog films for decades. Adhikari is still learning, but thanks to his mentorship, she and Johnston are getting ready to run the booth themselves for Friday’s Simpsons screening.
For Adhikari, stepping into the booth has given her a new appreciation for everything that goes into bringing a film to an audience.
“It kind of makes me think about — how does the food get on the table?” said Adhikari. “All of the pieces that go into not just creating the film, but then also licensing, and then getting it in front of actual viewers and an audience, and then the community that’s built through it afterwards.”
For Adhikari and Johnston, every screening is a chance to learn something new about film, about projection, and about the audience they are trying to reach through Emery Cinema. And Ast hopes that same sense of discovery extends to everyone who walks through the doors of the Palace.
“This is an attempt to try to get people back into the community,” said Ast. “When we do screenings here, we like to hang out beforehand and after and talk about the film, talk about other films, just like get the conversation rolling.”
For Johnston and Adhikari, that conversation is just getting started — and they hope to keep it going with more screenings and eventually a dedicated film series.