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, Facebook, or Bluesky
- Visit our Coming Soon page or our homepage, where upcoming events are announced.
Search and Rescue: Sound Found
March 4, 2008 | Northwest Film ForumKeep Warm, Burn Britain! An Evening of Films, Performance, and Live Music
April 13, 2008 | The JewelBox Theater at The Rendezvous (Seattle)Georges Méliès: Impossible Voyager
May 15, 2008 | Northwest Film ForumThe Sunday Secret Matinees
Weekly, August 31 - November 23, 2008 | Northwest Film ForumThe Sunday Secret Matinees II
Weekly, March 1 - May 24, 2009 | Northwest Film ForumHeavy Visuals '69: Electronic Cinema and Experimental Film
September 23, 2009 | Northwest Film ForumFocal Points: Documentary Shorts from 1969
October 14, 2009 | Northwest Film ForumHalloween Spook-Show Spectacular
October 30, 2009 | Grand Illusion CinemaSixties Synaesthetics
April 14, 2010 | Northwest Film ForumStan Brakhage's Dog Star Man (1961-1964)
August 4, 2010 | Northwest Film Forum
Co-presented with Third Eye CinemaFirst Words: The Birth of Sound Cinema, 1895-1929
September 23, 2010 | Northwest Film ForumMystery Theatre: Secret Cinema at the Grand Illusion
September 27 - 30, 2010 | Grand Illusion CinemaHalloween Spook-Show Spectacular II: The To-Die Show
October 31, 2010 | Grand Illusion CinemaBreakaway: Films by Bruce Conner 1958-2006
November 11, 2010 | Northwest Film Forum
Co-presented with Third Eye CinemaSci-Fi Saturday Secret Matinees
Weekly, January 8 - March 26, 2011 | Grand Illusion CinemaMichael Snow's Wavelength (1967)
February 9, 2011 | Northwest Film Forum
Co-presented with Third Eye CinemaThe Heart of Life: Robert Enrico's trilogy of Ambrose Bierce Films
May 8, 2011 | Grand Illusion CinemaFunny Stuff: Silent Comedies and Cartoons
July 16, 2011 | Grand Illusion CinemaVisions: Animation and Abstraction. Experimental Masterpieces, 1908-1994
August 10, 2011| Northwest Film Forum
Co-presented with Third Eye CinemaD.W. Griffith's Intolerance (1916)
October 25, 2011 | Northwest Film ForumSecret Halloween Classic Triple Feature
October 30, 2011 | Grand Illusion CinemaFirst Light: The Birth of Cinema, 1894-1901
November 16, 2011 | Northwest Film ForumSci-Fi Saturday Secret Matinees II
Weekly, January 7 - March 24, 2012 | Grand Illusion CinemaExperimental Memoria I: George Kuchar
March 20, 2012 | Northwest Film ForumExperimental Memoria II: Robert Breer
April 18, 2012 | Northwest Film ForumImpaired: Movies Under the Influence, 1908-1978
April 27, 2012 | Grand Illusion CinemaExperimental Memoria III: Adolfas Mekas
May 23, 2012 | Northwest Film ForumFantastical Voyages and Incredible Journeys
August 12, 2012 | Alamo Drafthouse Ritz (Austin, TX)Monster Mayhem
October 14, 2012 | Alamo Drafthouse Ritz (Austin, TX)Secret Vault of Horrors
October 31, 2012 | Grand Illusion CinemaAMIA Conference 2012
Session: 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 CinemaPioneers of the Avant Garde
January 24, 2013 | Grand Illusion CinemaThe Lemon Grove Kids Meet the Monster (1965)
February 3, 2013 | Alamo Drafthouse Ritz (Austin, TX)Funny Business: Silent Comedies and Cartoons
May 14, 2013 | Grand Illusion CinemaFifth Anniversalodeon
June 5, 2013 | Northwest Film ForumSecret Sunday Matinees
Weekly, August 4 – October 27, 2013 | Alamo Drafthouse Ritz (Austin, TX)Ray Harryhausen Memorial Secret Double Bill
August 15, 2013 | Grand Illusion CinemaFirst Stories: Early Film Narratives, 1901-1912
September 16, 2013 | Northwest Film ForumSilent Magic: Trick Films and Special Effects, 1895-1912
October 20, 2013 | Alamo Drafthouse Ritz (Austin, TX)Witchcraft Through the Ages (1922/1968)
October 31, 2013 | Grand Illusion CinemaLaurel & Hardy's Festival of Laffs
December 14, 2013 | Alamo Drafthouse Ritz (Austin, TX)Saturday Secret Matinees series (2014 edition)
Weekly, Jan. 11 – Mar. 29, 2014 | Grand Illusion CinemaBoop!
February 27, 2014 | Grand Illusion CinemaOrson Welles' Citizen Kane (1941) and The Magnificent Ambersons (1942)
April 10 - 14, 2014 | Grand Illusion CinemaSilent Magic: Trick Films and Special Effects, 1895-1912
(expanded edition) May 20, 2014 | Northwest Film ForumRoger Corman's The Little Shop of Horrors (1960)
October 31, 2014 | Grand Illusion CinemaCinema of the Bearded Heart: Film Dada
December 10, 2014 | Northwest Film ForumHans Richter's Dreams That Money Can Buy (1948)
December 11, 2014 | Northwest Film ForumSaturday Secret Matinees series (2015 edition)
Weekly, January 10 – March 28, 2015 | Grand Illusion CinemaKen Russell's The Devils (1971)
February 20, 21, 26 and 28, 2015 | Grand Illusion CinemaA-Bomb: 70 Years Since Hiroshima
August 6, 2015 | Northwest Film ForumGreen Slime (1968)
October 9 & 10, 2015 | Grand Illusion CinemaHalloween Monster Mania
October 31, 2015 | Grand Illusion CinemaSaturday Secret Matinees (2016 edition)
Weekly, January 8 – March 26, 2016 | Grand Illusion Cinema'50s Drive-In Monster Double Feature
October 26, 2016 | Grand Illusion CinemaElection Cavalcade: Democracy on 16mm, 1932-1927
October 27, 2016 | Northwest Film ForumSaturday Secret Matinees (2017 edition)
Weekly, January 7 – March 25, 2017 | Grand Illusion Cinema16mm Smut Show
March 28, 2017 | Grand Illusion Cinema
Co-presented with the Seattle Erotic Cinema Society and Something Weird VideoDamsels of Doom: Horror B-Movie Double Feature
October 24, 2017 | Grand Illusion CinemaSaturday Secret Matinees (2018 edition – 10th Anniversary)
Weekly, January 6 – March 24, 2018 | Grand Illusion CinemaFilm Dada: Cinema of the Bearded Heart
January 26, 2018 | Base: Experimental Arts + Space (Seattle)
January 27, 2018 | The Church House (Bellingham, WA)Talking Pictures: Origins of Sound Cinema, 1913-1929
August 21, 2018 | Grand Illusion CinemaAn Invisible College: Illuminated Jewels by Elder Masters of Experimental Cinema, 1936-1978
September 11, 2018 | Grand Illusion Cinema
Co-presented with EXcinema (Seattle)Frankenstein's 200th Birthday Party
October 31, 2018 | Grand Illusion CinemaSaturday Secret Matinees (2019 edition)
Weekly, January 5 – March 30, 2019 | Grand Illusion CinemaFunny Fellows: Laurel & Hardy Comedy Shorts, 1924-1930
February 12, 2019 | Grand Illusion CinemaDick Miller Halloween Double Bill
October 29, 2019 | Grand Illusion CinemaSaturday Secret Matinees (2020 edition)
Weekly, January 11 – March 7 (orig. March 28), 2020 | Grand Illusion CinemaVisionaries: Pioneering Experimental Shorts
January 29, 2020 | Northwest Film ForumUndead Halloween: Night of the Living Dead + Shorts on 16mm
October 26, 2021 | Grand Illusion CinemaAMIA Archival Screening Night Roadshow Edition 2
November 18, 2021 | Grand Illusion Cinema
Seattle co-sponsorSaturday Secret Matinees (2022 edition: Escape from Lockdown!)
Weekly, January 8 – March 26, 2022 | Grand Illusion CinemaJon Behrens Memorial Screening
October 9, 2022 | Northwest Film ForumFreaks 90th Anniversary Double Feature
October 25, 2022 | Grand Illusion CinemaSaturday Secret Matinees (2023 edition)
Weekly, January 7 – March 25, 2023 | Grand Illusion CinemaThrough the Porthole: A Cinematic Cavalcade for Dennis Nyback
January 10, 2023 | Grand Illusion CinemaUnderground Comedy Shorts from the 1960s and '70s
April 4, 2023 | Grand Illusion Cinema4/20 Dank Double Bill: Marihuana: Assassin of Youth (shown with Up In Smoke)
April 20, 2023 | Grand Illusion CinemaDanger!! Scare Films on 16mm
October 10, 2023 | Grand Illusion CinemaBert I. Gordon Memorial Double Bill: Earth vs. the Spider (1958) + Secret Second Feature
October 24, 2023 | Grand Illusion Cinema16mm Centennial Film Jam
December 5, 2023 | Grand Illusion CinemaSaturday Secret Matinees (2024 edition)
Weekly, January 6 – March 30, 2024 | Grand Illusion Cinema4/20 Feature: Reefer Madness (1936) + stoned shorts
April 20, 2024 | Grand Illusion CinemaExperimental Animation Film Night
June 15, 2024 | The Grocery Studios
Co-presented with Stefan GruberAmbient Chamber
September 10, 2024 | Common Area Maintenance - AnnexThe Corpse Grinders + Intestines From Space
October 4, 2024 | Grand Illusion CinemaSecret Vault of Terror
October 29, 2024 | Grand Illusion CinemaThe Speakeasy Show
December 12, 2024 | Grand Illusion Cinema
Co-presented with Astral ProjectionsLiving Pictures: The Birth of Cinema
December 28, 2024 | Grand Illusion CinemaSaturday Secret Matinees (2025 edition)
Weekly January 4-25, 2025 | Grand Illusion CinemaVampyr (1932) with original live score by Lori Goldston
January 10 & 13, 2025 | Grand Illusion CinemaSeconds (1966)
January 14 & 15, 2025 | Grand Illusion Cinema