Past Film Screenings & Events

The Sprocket Society presents occasional film screenings at venues in the Seattle area. Catalogued here are past screenings and series since our first one in 2008 — more than 250 shows to date.

Our programs center on a range of topics and genres: silent film, early sound, genre films, experimental and underground cinema, and more. Also, our annual Secret Matinee series recreates the classic weekend matinee experience, complete with weekly serial episodes. Actual film prints are always shown, never video. Learn more about us.

In many cases booklets of program notes were provided to the audience. Free PDFs of these can be downloaded in our program notes archive.

Upcoming Event Announcements

There are several ways to learn of upcoming Sprocket Society screenings and events.

  1. Search and Rescue: Sound Found
    March 4, 2008 | Northwest Film Forum
  2. Keep Warm, Burn Britain! An Evening of Films, Performance, and Live Music
    April 13, 2008 | The JewelBox Theater at The Rendezvous (Seattle)
  3. Georges Méliès: Impossible Voyager
    May 15, 2008 | Northwest Film Forum
  4. The Sunday Secret Matinees
    Weekly, August 31 - November 23, 2008 | Northwest Film Forum
  5. The Sunday Secret Matinees II
    Weekly, March 1 - May 24, 2009 | Northwest Film Forum
  6. Heavy Visuals '69: Electronic Cinema and Experimental Film
    September 23, 2009 | Northwest Film Forum
  7. Focal Points: Documentary Shorts from 1969
    October 14, 2009 | Northwest Film Forum
  8. Halloween Spook-Show Spectacular
    October 30, 2009 | Grand Illusion Cinema
  9. Sixties Synaesthetics
    April 14, 2010 | Northwest Film Forum
  10. Stan Brakhage's Dog Star Man (1961-1964)
    August 4, 2010 | Northwest Film Forum
    Co-presented with Third Eye Cinema
  11. First Words: The Birth of Sound Cinema, 1895-1929
    September 23, 2010 | Northwest Film Forum
  12. Mystery Theatre: Secret Cinema at the Grand Illusion
    September 27 - 30, 2010 | Grand Illusion Cinema
  13. Halloween Spook-Show Spectacular II: The To-Die Show
    October 31, 2010 | Grand Illusion Cinema
  14. Breakaway: Films by Bruce Conner 1958-2006
    November 11, 2010 | Northwest Film Forum
    Co-presented with Third Eye Cinema
  15. Sci-Fi Saturday Secret Matinees
    Weekly, January 8 - March 26, 2011 | Grand Illusion Cinema
  16. Michael Snow's Wavelength (1967)
    February 9, 2011 | Northwest Film Forum
    Co-presented with Third Eye Cinema
  17. The Heart of Life: Robert Enrico's trilogy of Ambrose Bierce Films
    May 8, 2011 | Grand Illusion Cinema
  18. Funny Stuff: Silent Comedies and Cartoons
    July 16, 2011 | Grand Illusion Cinema
  19. Visions: Animation and Abstraction. Experimental Masterpieces, 1908-1994
    August 10, 2011| Northwest Film Forum
    Co-presented with Third Eye Cinema
  20. D.W. Griffith's Intolerance (1916)
    October 25, 2011 | Northwest Film Forum
  21. Secret Halloween Classic Triple Feature
    October 30, 2011 | Grand Illusion Cinema
  22. First Light: The Birth of Cinema, 1894-1901
    November 16, 2011 | Northwest Film Forum
  23. Sci-Fi Saturday Secret Matinees II
    Weekly, January 7 - March 24, 2012 | Grand Illusion Cinema
  24. Experimental Memoria I: George Kuchar
    March 20, 2012 | Northwest Film Forum
  25. Experimental Memoria II: Robert Breer
    April 18, 2012 | Northwest Film Forum
  26. Impaired: Movies Under the Influence, 1908-1978
    April 27, 2012 | Grand Illusion Cinema
  27. Experimental Memoria III: Adolfas Mekas
    May 23, 2012 | Northwest Film Forum
  28. Fantastical Voyages and Incredible Journeys
    August 12, 2012 | Alamo Drafthouse Ritz (Austin, TX)
  29. Monster Mayhem
    October 14, 2012 | Alamo Drafthouse Ritz (Austin, TX)
  30. Secret Vault of Horrors
    October 31, 2012 | Grand Illusion Cinema
  31. AMIA Conference 2012
    Session: Collectors and Curators: Alternative Takes on Film Exhibition
    December 6, 2012 | Westin Hotel (Seattle)
  32. Saturday Secret Matinees (2013 edition)
    Weekly, January 5 - March 23, 2013 | Grand Illusion Cinema
  33. Pioneers of the Avant Garde
    January 24, 2013 | Grand Illusion Cinema
  34. The Lemon Grove Kids Meet the Monster (1965)
    February 3, 2013 | Alamo Drafthouse Ritz (Austin, TX)
  35. Funny Business: Silent Comedies and Cartoons
    May 14, 2013 | Grand Illusion Cinema
  36. Fifth Anniversalodeon
    June 5, 2013 | Northwest Film Forum
  37. Secret Sunday Matinees
    Weekly, August 4 – October 27, 2013 | Alamo Drafthouse Ritz (Austin, TX)
  38. Ray Harryhausen Memorial Secret Double Bill
    August 15, 2013 | Grand Illusion Cinema
  39. First Stories: Early Film Narratives, 1901-1912
    September 16, 2013 | Northwest Film Forum
  40. Silent Magic: Trick Films and Special Effects, 1895-1912
    October 20, 2013 | Alamo Drafthouse Ritz (Austin, TX)
  41. Witchcraft Through the Ages (1922/1968)
    October 31, 2013 | Grand Illusion Cinema
  42. Laurel & Hardy's Festival of Laffs
    December 14, 2013 | Alamo Drafthouse Ritz (Austin, TX)
  43. Saturday Secret Matinees series (2014 edition)
    Weekly, Jan. 11 – Mar. 29, 2014 | Grand Illusion Cinema
  44. Boop!
    February 27, 2014 | Grand Illusion Cinema
  45. Orson Welles' Citizen Kane (1941) and The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
    April 10 - 14, 2014 | Grand Illusion Cinema
  46. Silent Magic: Trick Films and Special Effects, 1895-1912
    (expanded edition) May 20, 2014 | Northwest Film Forum
  47. Roger Corman's The Little Shop of Horrors (1960)
    October 31, 2014 | Grand Illusion Cinema
  48. Cinema of the Bearded Heart: Film Dada
    December 10, 2014 | Northwest Film Forum
  49. Hans Richter's Dreams That Money Can Buy (1948)
    December 11, 2014 | Northwest Film Forum
  50. Saturday Secret Matinees series (2015 edition)
    Weekly, January 10 – March 28, 2015 | Grand Illusion Cinema
  51. Ken Russell's The Devils (1971)
    February 20, 21, 26 and 28, 2015 | Grand Illusion Cinema
  52. A-Bomb: 70 Years Since Hiroshima
    August 6, 2015 | Northwest Film Forum
  53. Green Slime (1968)
    October 9 & 10, 2015 | Grand Illusion Cinema
  54. Halloween Monster Mania
    October 31, 2015 | Grand Illusion Cinema
  55. Saturday Secret Matinees (2016 edition)
    Weekly, January 8 – March 26, 2016 | Grand Illusion Cinema
  56. '50s Drive-In Monster Double Feature
    October 26, 2016 | Grand Illusion Cinema
  57. Election Cavalcade: Democracy on 16mm, 1932-1927
    October 27, 2016 | Northwest Film Forum
  58. Saturday Secret Matinees (2017 edition)
    Weekly, January 7 – March 25, 2017 | Grand Illusion Cinema
  59. 16mm Smut Show
    March 28, 2017 | Grand Illusion Cinema
    Co-presented with the Seattle Erotic Cinema Society and Something Weird Video
  60. Damsels of Doom: Horror B-Movie Double Feature
    October 24, 2017 | Grand Illusion Cinema
  61. Saturday Secret Matinees (2018 edition – 10th Anniversary)
    Weekly, January 6 – March 24, 2018 | Grand Illusion Cinema
  62. Film Dada: Cinema of the Bearded Heart
    January 26, 2018 | Base: Experimental Arts + Space (Seattle)
    January 27, 2018 | The Church House (Bellingham, WA)
  63. Talking Pictures: Origins of Sound Cinema, 1913-1929
    August 21, 2018 | Grand Illusion Cinema
  64. An Invisible College: Illuminated Jewels by Elder Masters of Experimental Cinema, 1936-1978
    September 11, 2018 | Grand Illusion Cinema
    Co-presented with EXcinema (Seattle)
  65. Frankenstein's 200th Birthday Party
    October 31, 2018 | Grand Illusion Cinema
  66. Saturday Secret Matinees (2019 edition)
    Weekly, January 5 – March 30, 2019 | Grand Illusion Cinema
  67. Funny Fellows: Laurel & Hardy Comedy Shorts, 1924-1930
    February 12, 2019 | Grand Illusion Cinema
  68. Dick Miller Halloween Double Bill
    October 29, 2019 | Grand Illusion Cinema
  69. Saturday Secret Matinees (2020 edition)
    Weekly, January 11 – March 7 (orig. March 28), 2020 | Grand Illusion Cinema
  70. Visionaries: Pioneering Experimental Shorts
    January 29, 2020 | Northwest Film Forum
  71. Undead Halloween: Night of the Living Dead + Shorts on 16mm
    October 26, 2021 | Grand Illusion Cinema
  72. AMIA Archival Screening Night Roadshow Edition 2
    November 18, 2021 | Grand Illusion Cinema
    Seattle co-sponsor
  73. Saturday Secret Matinees (2022 edition: Escape from Lockdown!)
    Weekly, January 8 – March 26, 2022 | Grand Illusion Cinema
  74. Jon Behrens Memorial Screening
    October 9, 2022 | Northwest Film Forum
  75. Freaks 90th Anniversary Double Feature
    October 25, 2022 | Grand Illusion Cinema
  76. Saturday Secret Matinees (2023 edition)
    Weekly, January 7 – March 25, 2023 | Grand Illusion Cinema
  77. Through the Porthole: A Cinematic Cavalcade for Dennis Nyback
    January 10, 2023 | Grand Illusion Cinema
  78. Underground Comedy Shorts from the 1960s and '70s
    April 4, 2023 | Grand Illusion Cinema
  79. 4/20 Dank Double Bill: Marihuana: Assassin of Youth (shown with Up In Smoke)
    April 20, 2023 | Grand Illusion Cinema
  80. Danger!! Scare Films on 16mm
    October 10, 2023 | Grand Illusion Cinema
  81. Bert I. Gordon Memorial Double Bill: Earth vs. the Spider (1958) + Secret Second Feature
    October 24, 2023 | Grand Illusion Cinema
  82. 16mm Centennial Film Jam
    December 5, 2023 | Grand Illusion Cinema
  83. Saturday Secret Matinees (2024 edition)
    Weekly, January 6 – March 30, 2024 | Grand Illusion Cinema
  84. 4/20 Feature: Reefer Madness (1936) + stoned shorts
    April 20, 2024 | Grand Illusion Cinema
  85. Experimental Animation Film Night
    June 15, 2024 | The Grocery Studios
    Co-presented with Stefan Gruber
  86. Ambient Chamber
    September 10, 2024 | Common Area Maintenance - Annex
  87. The Corpse Grinders + Intestines From Space
    October 4, 2024 | Grand Illusion Cinema