Did you know Halifax hasn’t had a dedicated independent cinema since 1998? This month, we’re celebrating 15 years of the scrappy, community-powered Carbon Arc Cinema—and supporting their ongoing campaign to bring a permanent, year-round indie cinema back to the city!
Founded in 2010 by local artist Siloën Daley, Carbon Arc Cinema began as a pop-up series in the Turret Room of the historic Khyber Building. Today, they’ve grown into a thriving non-profit with two staff and more than 50 dedicated volunteers, screening independent, international and documentary films four nights a week at the Museum of Natural History.
For a city that hasn’t had a brick-and-mortar indie cinema since the closure of Wormwood’s Dog and Monkey Theatre, Carbon Arc Cinema has become a vital hub for film culture. From spotlighting underground Canadian gems to launching the inaugural Nova Scotia Retro Film Festo, they’ve built a loyal audience and an ambitious program—all while serving what is widely acclaimed as Halifax’s best popcorn.
Carbon Arc Cinema’s community-first ethos means their volunteers are more than just support: they’re future programmers, presenters and projectionists. As they mark 15 years, the team is rallying for a year-round venue. Here at NICE, we are cheering them on and can’t wait to see what’s next.
Tell us about Carbon Arc Cinema:
We are an independent nonprofit cinema committed to cultivating and promoting film culture in Halifax. We have two staff, but we are largely volunteer-run, currently counting 50 active volunteers. We were founded in 2010 by local artist Siloën Daley, who ran the cinema out of the Turret Room in the historic Khyber Building for 2 years, before moving the cinema to the Museum of Natural History. Halifax hasn’t had a brick and mortar dedicated independent cinema venue since Wormwoods Dog and Monkey Theatre closed for good in Feb 1998.
What makes Carbon Arc Cinema unique?
With the help of volunteers we transform an otherwise neutral space into a community cinema four nights a week, every week. It’s a lot of carrying boxes and wheeling popcorn machines! Also, while there are other wonderful local exhibitors screening amazing films they mostly screen once a month, we are currently the only film group screening multiple times a week.
What sort of films do you show?
We show films that would not be screened in Halifax otherwise; we tend to champion Canadian, independent, international and documentary films. We also actively partner with groups to better bring all kinds of niche or underrepresented films to Halifax – eg: francophone gems, underground arthouse Canadian films, Ukrainian cinema and more.
What are Carbon Arc Cinema’s greatest challenges?
We have not been able to find an affordable permanent space.
What are your favourite compliments that Carbon Arc Cinema receives from your audience?
We are friendly and community-focussed, people say we have the best popcorn in town, and people love the programming. People also mention they appreciate opportunities we are able to offer volunteers where possible, volunteering is often a pathway to becoming a film programmer, présenter, projectionist or festival organizer!
What’s a memorable film screening or event you hosted?
There are many! This year we founded the inaugural Nova Scotia Retro Film Festo that brought back classic Nova Scotian titles to the big screen. This year we also screened No Other Land, which broke all records in our existence for the most attendances, with 9 sold out screenings.
Our 15th birthday screening just recently this year was memorable in that we hosted a panel discussion about the importance of indie cinemas in Halifax and paths toward establishing a permanent cinema in this city. We recorded it and will publish it soon if anyone is interested, and we feel positive that a dedicated indie cinema is on the horizon for Halifax!
What are your most popular concession items?
Popcorn!
What projects are you considering for the future?
Finding a permanent and dedicated cinema venue.
Tell us about yourselves; how did you get your start in film exhibition?
Alice got her start as General Manager running the Deckchair Cinema and Darwin International Film Festival in Darwin, Australia from 2015-2018.
Kenny started as a Projectionist at Wormwoods Dog and Monkey Cinema, Halifax’s last independent cinema, operating their ancient carbon arc 35mm projectors.
