The Sprocket Society seeks to cultivate the love of the mechanical cinema, its arts and sciences, and to encourage film preservation by bringing film and its history to the public through screenings, educational activities, and our own archival efforts.
Founded in 2007, we have produced film screenings in Seattle since 2008, with programs ranging from silent film to documentaries, experimental cinema to the Secret Matinee series (complete with weekly serial episodes), and more.
Learn more about our previous screenings, or read program notes from them.
To receive announcements of upcoming events subscribe to our email list by inquiring at sprocketsociety [at] gmail [dot] com. We also have an official Facebook page.
Past programs by The Sprocket Society have included:
- Secret Matinee Series — An annual series with weekly serial episodes and secret classic features.
- Film Dada: Cinema of the Bearded Heart — Groundbreaking experimental shorts with live accompaniment.
- Silent Magic: Trick Films and Special Effects, 1895-1912 — Pioneering special effects epics from around the world.
- Experimental Memoria — A screening series honoring the passing of three giants of experimental cinema in 2012.
- First Light: The Birth of Cinema 1895-1901 — Pioneering films from France, Britain, Russia, and the USA. Plus short documentaries about magic lanterns and the Library of Congress paper print collection.
- Breakaway: Films by Bruce Conner, 1958-2004 — Brilliant and influential experimental works made primarily with found footage.
- The Heart of Life — Robert Enrico's stunning trilogy of award-winning films based on Ambrose Bierce short stories.
- First Words: The Birth of Sound Cinema, 1895-1929 — Rare short films tracing the evolution of sound cinema, plus live re-enactments of Lyman Howe's pioneering Victrola accompaniments.