For $10, movie goers could set themselves up to watch a screening of the 1997 Paul Verhoeven classic Starship Troopers at the old Anglican Church in Quyon.

This is the second film screened by Cinema Cimetiere this summer, with the first being . . .

Casino Royal on May 28. They also ran a few movies last summer.

The old film projector used to show the movies came from the Ottawa Family Cinema, which was a non-profit movie theatre that ran out of the old Notre Dame High school in Ottawa, according to Paul Gordon, who helps run the operation.

“Movie theatres would have projectors like this going back to the 1950s,” said Gordon about the projector.

The 35mm projector used to show the movie is all mechanical, meaning that it is actually surprisingly easy to maintain.

“The actual mechanism is just it’s just gears, you know, and as long as it’s oiled, you’re pretty good,” said Markus Lemm, the projectionist for the evening.

This projector is similar to what would have been used in every movie theatre until 2010 when they switched over to digital.

Overall a little under 20 people showed up to watch the movie.

“This isn’t a business, this is something that Mike wanted to do for the community,” said Lemm, referring to Mike Dubue, the co-owner of the venue.

The 35mm film reels the projector runs are hard to come by these days and all held by private collectors, according to Gordon. The Starship Troopers reel was loaned to them by a collector in Montreal.

The film was played on the 25th anniversary of the release of Starship Troopers which is a satirical sci-fi film depicting a dystopian future where a fascist world government fights an alien race of giant bugs for control of the universe. The film’s social commentary went over many people’s heads when first released and many just viewed it as a straightforward sci-fi movie, according to Gordon.

The next film to be screened will be Die Hard on July 22. For a list of all the movies they will be playing over the summer and fall you visit their website: cinemacimetiere.ca.

Evan Fraser, Paul Gordon, Markus Lemm, Stephen Speer and Mike Dubue during the testing of the 35mm projector before the screening.

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