It was a dark day that sent shockwaves across the more artistically inclined among my social circle. Indie cinema The Projector announced its closure with immediate effect on Tuesday (Aug 19). To call the announcement sudden would be like saying that the Causeway had “a bit of a queue” on National Day weekend.
If there were signs that The Projector were in dire straits, they certainly hid them well. As recently as last month, the cinema announced it would move screenings back to its original outlet in Golden Mile Tower, after spending a stint at Orchard Cineleisure. Their own Instagram page was still promoting events were lined up all the way until Sept 2025.
So when The Projector announced their immediate liquidation and closure, it was as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.
But to the average Singaporean, this entire episode is just the invisible hand of the free market working out, right? Simply put, if enough people spent their money there often enough, The Projector wouldn’t have to close down.
Projector closure shouldn’t have been a surprise
In hindsight, the closure shouldn’t be a surprise. Bigger cinema players had been falling left and right for a while now. Fellow indie cinema Filmgarde and WE Cinemas shuttered in 2024, while veteran Cathay Cineplexes’ well-documented troubles saw them close four outlets in the last two years.
The Projector was supposed to be different from those guys. They were supposed to be irreverent. Bulletproof. A wildcard amid the increasing corportisation in the world today. By carving out a niche for themselves, they were supposed to be the little engine that could.
Instead of chasing after the mass market, The Projector screened arthouse films, local and international. Auteurs like Wong Kar Wai were regularly celebrated with month-long marathons and introspectives. Local and regional films shunned by traditional cineplexes were welcomed. There was always a space for you, and you.
Perhaps that’s the true beauty of The Projector. Their seats were decades old and uncomfortable for anything more than a 5-minute laze. The tickets weren’t particularly cheap either, costing upwards of S$15 a pop. Even the movie snacks were zhuzhed up, featuring popcorn with a cinnamon dusting that we all knew existed just to pad up the profit margin.
More than just a cinema
And yet, The Projector was more than just a place than screened movies. I watched men and women clad in spandex wrestle themselves onto a thin mat in the middle of a dining area. Crowds cheered on the camera as it panned across a B-roll of the Golden Gate Bridge. Performers found a safe space which enthusiastically welcomed not only drag shows, but also drag workshops. The Projector truly lived up to its tagline of “not your average cinema.”
All that to say that Singapore isn’t just losing another cinema. We’re losing an experimental sandbox where anything is possible, which is why The Projector’s absence will be deeply felt.
But maybe that’s just the natural order of things. Maybe The Projector is the ideal we needed to show us, at least for 11 years, that there’s a place for the mavericks in staid, cookie-cutter Singapore. Maybe as a symbol, it could be everlasting.
Featured Image Credit: Michele Q via Yelp/ T Toki via Google Maps