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.
- Subscribe to our email list. Inquire by contacting us at sprocketsociety [at] gmail [dot] com.
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow our official Facebook page.
- Visit our Coming Soon page or our homepage, where upcoming events are announced.
- Search and Rescue: Sound FoundMarch 4, 2008 | Northwest Film Forum
- Keep Warm, Burn Britain! An Evening of Films, Performance, and Live MusicApril 13, 2008 | The JewelBox Theater at The Rendezvous (Seattle)
- Georges Méliès: Impossible VoyagerMay 15, 2008 | Northwest Film Forum
- The Sunday Secret MatineesWeekly, August 31 - November 23, 2008 | Northwest Film Forum
- The Sunday Secret Matinees IIWeekly, March 1 - May 24, 2009 | Northwest Film Forum
- Heavy Visuals '69: Electronic Cinema and Experimental FilmSeptember 23, 2009 | Northwest Film Forum
- Focal Points: Documentary Shorts from 1969October 14, 2009 | Northwest Film Forum
- Halloween Spook-Show SpectacularOctober 30, 2009 | Grand Illusion Cinema
- Sixties SynaestheticsApril 14, 2010 | Northwest Film Forum
- Stan Brakhage's Dog Star Man (1961-1964)August 4, 2010 | Northwest Film Forum
Co-presented with Third Eye Cinema - First Words: The Birth of Sound Cinema, 1895-1929September 23, 2010 | Northwest Film Forum
- Mystery Theatre: Secret Cinema at the Grand IllusionSeptember 27 - 30, 2010 | Grand Illusion Cinema
- Halloween Spook-Show Spectacular II: The To-Die ShowOctober 31, 2010 | Grand Illusion Cinema
- Breakaway: Films by Bruce Conner 1958-2006November 11, 2010 | Northwest Film Forum
Co-presented with Third Eye Cinema - Sci-Fi Saturday Secret MatineesWeekly, January 8 - March 26, 2011 | Grand Illusion Cinema
- Michael Snow's Wavelength (1967)February 9, 2011 | Northwest Film Forum
Co-presented with Third Eye Cinema - The Heart of Life: Robert Enrico's trilogy of Ambrose Bierce FilmsMay 8, 2011 | Grand Illusion Cinema
- Funny Stuff: Silent Comedies and CartoonsJuly 16, 2011 | Grand Illusion Cinema
- Visions: Animation and Abstraction. Experimental Masterpieces, 1908-1994August 10, 2011| Northwest Film Forum
Co-presented with Third Eye Cinema - D.W. Griffith's Intolerance (1916)October 25, 2011 | Northwest Film Forum
- Secret Halloween Classic Triple FeatureOctober 30, 2011 | Grand Illusion Cinema
- First Light: The Birth of Cinema, 1894-1901November 16, 2011 | Northwest Film Forum
- Sci-Fi Saturday Secret Matinees IIWeekly, January 7 - March 24, 2012 | Grand Illusion Cinema
- Experimental Memoria I: George KucharMarch 20, 2012 | Northwest Film Forum
- Experimental Memoria II: Robert BreerApril 18, 2012 | Northwest Film Forum
- Impaired: Movies Under the Influence, 1908-1978April 27, 2012 | Grand Illusion Cinema
- Experimental Memoria III: Adolfas MekasMay 23, 2012 | Northwest Film Forum
- Fantastical Voyages and Incredible JourneysAugust 12, 2012 | Alamo Drafthouse Ritz (Austin, TX)
- Monster MayhemOctober 14, 2012 | Alamo Drafthouse Ritz (Austin, TX)
- Secret Vault of HorrorsOctober 31, 2012 | Grand Illusion Cinema
- AMIA Conference 2012Session: Collectors and Curators: Alternative Takes on Film Exhibition
December 6, 2012 | Westin Hotel (Seattle) - Saturday Secret Matinees (2013 edition)Weekly, January 5 - March 23, 2013 | Grand Illusion Cinema
- Pioneers of the Avant GardeJanuary 24, 2013 | Grand Illusion Cinema
- The Lemon Grove Kids Meet the Monster (1965)February 3, 2013 | Alamo Drafthouse Ritz (Austin, TX)
- Funny Business: Silent Comedies and CartoonsMay 14, 2013 | Grand Illusion Cinema
- Fifth AnniversalodeonJune 5, 2013 | Northwest Film Forum
- Secret Sunday MatineesWeekly, August 4 – October 27, 2013 | Alamo Drafthouse Ritz (Austin, TX)
- Ray Harryhausen Memorial Secret Double BillAugust 15, 2013 | Grand Illusion Cinema
- First Stories: Early Film Narratives, 1901-1912September 16, 2013 | Northwest Film Forum
- Silent Magic: Trick Films and Special Effects, 1895-1912October 20, 2013 | Alamo Drafthouse Ritz (Austin, TX)
- Witchcraft Through the Ages (1922/1968)October 31, 2013 | Grand Illusion Cinema
- Laurel & Hardy's Festival of LaffsDecember 14, 2013 | Alamo Drafthouse Ritz (Austin, TX)
- Saturday Secret Matinees series (2014 edition)Weekly, Jan. 11 – Mar. 29, 2014 | Grand Illusion Cinema
- Boop!February 27, 2014 | Grand Illusion Cinema
- Orson Welles' Citizen Kane (1941) and The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)April 10 - 14, 2014 | Grand Illusion Cinema
- Silent Magic: Trick Films and Special Effects, 1895-1912(expanded edition) May 20, 2014 | Northwest Film Forum
- Roger Corman's The Little Shop of Horrors (1960)October 31, 2014 | Grand Illusion Cinema
- Cinema of the Bearded Heart: Film DadaDecember 10, 2014 | Northwest Film Forum
- Hans Richter's Dreams That Money Can Buy (1948)December 11, 2014 | Northwest Film Forum
- Saturday Secret Matinees series (2015 edition)Weekly, January 10 – March 28, 2015 | Grand Illusion Cinema
- Ken Russell's The Devils (1971)February 20, 21, 26 and 28, 2015 | Grand Illusion Cinema
- A-Bomb: 70 Years Since HiroshimaAugust 6, 2015 | Northwest Film Forum
- Green Slime (1968)October 9 & 10, 2015 | Grand Illusion Cinema
- Halloween Monster ManiaOctober 31, 2015 | Grand Illusion Cinema
- Saturday Secret Matinees (2016 edition)Weekly, January 8 – March 26, 2016 | Grand Illusion Cinema
- '50s Drive-In Monster Double FeatureOctober 26, 2016 | Grand Illusion Cinema
- Election Cavalcade: Democracy on 16mm, 1932-1927October 27, 2016 | Northwest Film Forum
- Saturday Secret Matinees (2017 edition)Weekly, January 7 – March 25, 2017 | Grand Illusion Cinema
- 16mm Smut ShowMarch 28, 2017 | Grand Illusion Cinema
Co-presented with the Seattle Erotic Cinema Society and Something Weird Video - Damsels of Doom: Horror B-Movie Double FeatureOctober 24, 2017 | Grand Illusion Cinema
- Saturday Secret Matinees (2018 edition – 10th Anniversary)Weekly, January 6 – March 24, 2018 | Grand Illusion Cinema
- Film Dada: Cinema of the Bearded HeartJanuary 26, 2018 | Base: Experimental Arts + Space (Seattle)
January 27, 2018 | The Church House (Bellingham, WA) - Talking Pictures: Origins of Sound Cinema, 1913-1929August 21, 2018 | Grand Illusion Cinema
- An Invisible College: Illuminated Jewels by Elder Masters of Experimental Cinema, 1936-1978September 11, 2018 | Grand Illusion Cinema
Co-presented with EXcinema (Seattle) - Frankenstein's 200th Birthday PartyOctober 31, 2018 | Grand Illusion Cinema
- Saturday Secret Matinees (2019 edition)Weekly, January 5 – March 30, 2019 | Grand Illusion Cinema
- Funny Fellows: Laurel & Hardy Comedy Shorts, 1924-1930February 12, 2019 | Grand Illusion Cinema
- Dick Miller Halloween Double BillOctober 29, 2019 | Grand Illusion Cinema
- Saturday Secret Matinees (2020 edition)Weekly, January 11 – March 7 (orig. March 28), 2020 | Grand Illusion Cinema
- Visionaries: Pioneering Experimental ShortsJanuary 29, 2020 | Northwest Film Forum
- Undead Halloween: Night of the Living Dead + Shorts on 16mmOctober 26, 2021 | Grand Illusion Cinema
- AMIA Archival Screening Night Roadshow Edition 2November 18, 2021 | Grand Illusion Cinema
Seattle co-sponsor - Saturday Secret Matinees (2022 edition: Escape from Lockdown!)Weekly, January 8 – March 26, 2022 | Grand Illusion Cinema
- Jon Behrens Memorial ScreeningOctober 9, 2022 | Northwest Film Forum
- Freaks 90th Anniversary Double FeatureOctober 25, 2022 | Grand Illusion Cinema
- Saturday Secret Matinees (2023 edition)Weekly, January 7 – March 25, 2023 | Grand Illusion Cinema
- Through the Porthole: A Cinematic Cavalcade for Dennis NybackJanuary 10, 2023 | Grand Illusion Cinema
- Underground Comedy Shorts from the 1960s and '70sApril 4, 2023 | Grand Illusion Cinema
- 4/20 Dank Double Bill: Marihuana: Assassin of Youth (shown with Up In Smoke)April 20, 2023 | Grand Illusion Cinema
- Danger!! Scare Films on 16mmOctober 10, 2023 | Grand Illusion Cinema
- Bert I. Gordon Memorial Double Bill: Earth vs. the Spider (1958) + Secret Second FeatureOctober 24, 2023 | Grand Illusion Cinema
- 16mm Centennial Film JamDecember 5, 2023 | Grand Illusion Cinema
- Saturday Secret Matinees (2024 edition)Weekly, January 6 – March 30, 2024 | Grand Illusion Cinema
- 4/20 Feature: Reefer Madness (1936) + stoned shortsApril 20, 2024 | Grand Illusion Cinema
- Experimental Animation Film NightJune 15, 2024 | The Grocery Studios
Co-presented with Stefan Gruber - Ambient ChamberSeptember 10, 2024 | Common Area Maintenance - Annex
- The Corpse Grinders + Intestines From SpaceOctober 4, 2024 | Grand Illusion Cinema