the cashiers du cinéma editors pair comics and cinema in a BAM series that honors the quotidian and the eccentric lives of movie theater staff
The small but audacious zine Cashiers Du Cinéma has moved from risograph pages to the big screen. The editors will present a curated ten-film program at BAM from February 13–19, . The event pairs screenings with live comic readings and offers the latest issue for sale in the lobby.
The program began as a personal project documenting the daily realities of ushers, concession workers and projectionists. It now foregrounds the people who keep cinemas running. Organizers say the initiative seeks to bridge the underground comics scene and film audiences by centering cinema staff voices.
The palate never lies, and cinemas have a distinct taste of their own. As a former chef I learned that spaces reveal stories through small gestures. This festival treats projection booths, concession counters and lobbies as subjects worthy of cinematic attention.
The festival treats projection booths, concession counters and lobbies as subjects worthy of cinematic attention. Behind every film there is a story of curation and labor, and the magazine’s team draws on that experience.
The founders and frequent contributors bring firsthand knowledge of New York film institutions. They continue to work within the city’s cinema circuits. Their programming is informed by long practice in exhibition and criticism.
Their editorial voice mixes wry observation with quiet empathy. The approach foregrounds underrepresented perspectives while avoiding didacticism. Curators balance familiar arthouse titles with lesser-known genre curiosities to broaden the conversation.
Technically, the BAM series extends the magazine’s mission into a live setting. Selections prioritize prints, unusual formats and restorations. Organizers pair screenings with talks, archival materials and contextual introductions to illuminate provenance and technique.
The palate never lies when it comes to taste in films; the series aims to make preferences legible rather than prescriptive. As a program, it emphasizes the filmic materiality of cinema and the histories embedded in exhibition spaces.
By treating venues and objects of exhibition as subjects, the series reframes how audiences encounter moving images. The result is a program that functions as both a film series and a public laboratory for cinematic culture.
The palate never lies, and in print the texture of a page can tell a story. What began as a modest print project has grown into a nationally circulated publication. Editors issue calls for submissions months before each release and manage production from home-based studios.
They use a Risograph printer and other compact tools to produce limited runs. Early editions numbered only a few hundred copies. Later releases expanded to around a thousand and led to reprints as demand spread across the country.
The editorial philosophy emphasizes collaboration. Contributors include filmmakers, cartoonists and actors who write, draw or submit photographs. Their pieces chronicle theatre work from multiple angles, creating a layered record of performance and place.
As a chef I learned that provenance matters; the zine applies the same attention to source and process. The team highlights the mechanics of production and the networks that make the project possible, from local printers to volunteer curators.
Behind every issue there is a story of shared labour and experimentation. The publication functions as both a document and a public laboratory for cinematic culture, shaping how theatre and film intersect in print.
The publication functions as both a document and a public laboratory for cinematic culture, shaping how theatre and film intersect in print. The editors translated that laboratory into a live program by curating films and events that foreground the realities of cinema work.
The curators scoured archives and private collections to locate titles that record projection rooms, box offices and back-of-house routines. Selections span decades and countries to show how cinema labor is simultaneously local and universal. Alongside screenings, the program integrates comics readings and a bespoke program zine, so each showing becomes a multi-format encounter with the subject.
The palate never lies: sensory framing opens several sequences, pairing archival footage with soundscapes that foreground texture and pace. Other modules trace technical practices such as film splicing and projection maintenance in step-by-step segments. A short strand illuminates distribution and exhibition economies, linking individual stories to larger industry shifts.
Behind every choice there’s a story of provenance. Several works arrive from private collections, restored or presented in newly contextualized programs. As a chef I learned that technique clarifies taste; here, careful programming clarifies the labor behind the lights and the screen. The event thus seeks not only to show films but to map a working history of cinema.
The event thus seeks not only to show films but to map a working history of cinema. The lineup pairs established art-house favorites with lesser-seen curiosities. Goodbye, Dragon Inn and Cinema Paradiso provide the familiar landmarks. They sit alongside rarities that reveal new facets of film culture.
One standout is The Projectionist, notable for featuring Rodney Dangerfield in his film debut. Organizers secured a 35mm print from a museum collection for that screening, underscoring the program’s archival ambition. Technical choices like this aim to recreate the material conditions of projection and exhibition.
Complementing the rarities is an ’80s slasher that riffs on theater lore. The selection deliberately acknowledges both the routine and the eccentric aspects of cinema work. As a critic and former chef, I note how texture and context alter perception: the same film can feel different when projected on celluloid.
The curators thus foreground a spectrum of cinematic labour—from revered masterpieces to the marginal and the uncanny. The result is a program that documents theatrical craft while inviting fresh readings of familiar titles.
The series refuses a uniformly romanticized view of filmgoing and instead favors nuance. Some selections acknowledge the sentimental pull of movie houses. Many titles instead highlight the routine, the awkward and the grueling. The tone is irreverent yet compassionate, often comic in its mean-spirited moments but fundamentally invested in human stories. Behind every dish there’s a story; here, behind every frame there is labor and memory.
The editors extended the series beyond screenings to deepen audience connection. Live conversations and contributor readings accompany films. A physical presence of the zine in the lobby anchors the program in the venue. The program guide zine supplies background and prompts readers to consider film exhibition as labor, not only as an art form. This curatorial approach frames the series as both a cultural event and a public humanities project.
This curatorial approach frames the series as both a cultural event and a public humanities project. The editors draw on a lineage of satirical and underground comics while reframing those models around the daily lives of theater staff. The team credits influences such as Mad and alternative anthologies, but positions its work as specifically tailored to exhibition workers and projection crews.
The editors identify independent publishing and self-publishing networks as the present infrastructure that sustains daring comics and niche film culture. They argue these networks bypass commercial gatekeepers and enable direct, experimental engagement with communities. The BAM residency serves as a proof of concept for bringing those independent practices into institutional spaces.
The piece opens with a sensory note from the author: The palate never lies, she writes, drawing a parallel between tasting and curating. Behind every cultural program, she adds, there is a story of craft, labour and taste. As a former chef, she frames editorial choices like a mise en place: deliberate, technical and designed to reveal deeper flavours.
Editors say future plans include expanded print runs, collaborative issues with theater staff, and public workshops hosted in institutional venues. These steps aim to link the zine’s underground aesthetics to broader audiences while preserving its roots in self-directed publishing and short supply chains of production.
The palate never lies: what begins as a small, self-directed print run can reveal textures unseen by larger platforms. The editors plan to continue publishing and to pursue collaborations that extend the zine‘s underground aesthetics to broader audiences while preserving its roots in short production chains.
The project will combine screenings, printed matter and live events to illuminate a neglected facet of cinema: the everyday labor that makes the film experience possible. Organizers intend these formats to offer varied entry points for different publics.
For attendees in New York, the series at BAM provides a concentrated week to see that labor reframed through both comics and film. The program pairs visual narratives with screenings to foreground craft, craftspersons and film infrastructure.
As a chef I learned that sensory details anchor larger stories. Behind every presentation there’s research, technique and supply-chain choices. The project aims to make those elements visible and discussable through public programming and print.
Future editions will explore partnerships with venues and cultural organizations to take the format beyond its current circuit. The editors emphasize continuity: steady publication, targeted collaborations and events designed to reach new viewing publics.