THE MOVIE MAN introduces us to colorful entrepreneur Keith Stata owning and operating an idiosyncratic 5 cinema multiplex cinema/movie museum in a forest of northern Ontario in a town of 200 people. Stata opened Highlands Cinemas during the summer of 1979. He has toiled against the odds to build his cinema into a magical place where people come from far and wide to experience a unique movie going experience. In a good year the cinemas host over 50,000 patrons! Despite his steadfast passion, we follow Keith as he is beaten down with health issues and with no family and just a few friends around to help, Keith is confronted with insurmountable challenges of keeping his unlikely cinema open for another season. After 40 years in business, the future of his quixotic cinema becomes more and more uncertain as the film unfolds.
“A kind of Canadian Cinema Paradiso.” - Deadline
World Premiere at Santa Barbara International Film Festival 2024.
RECENT PRESS