The Secret Cinema | |
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Directed by | Paul Bartel |
Written by | Paul Bartel |
Produced by |
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Starring |
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Cinematography | Fred Wellington |
Edited by | Sam Moore |
Music by | The Rusty Nails |
Production company | Hacienda-Tropicana-Madness |
Distributed by | The Film-Makers' Cooperative |
Release date |
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Running time | 30 min. |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $5,000 |
The Secret Cinema is a short black-and-white film produced, written, and directed by Paul Bartel, and released in 1966, gaining somewhat wider distribution in 1968. [1] [2] The film is about a woman who is manipulated by people around her so a director can film her to screen the results in a theater. [3] The film is described as voyeuristic or surveillance film, though obviously staged.
Jane (Amy Vane) is a secretary whose daily activities are being secretly filmed, with the knowledge and assistance of those who are closest to her. She's sexually harassed by her corpulent boss, Mr. Troppogrosso (Gordon Felio), humiliated by her boyfriend, given the gaslight treatment by the people around her, etc. The film is then shown in theaters. She is starting to suspect that something isn't quite right.
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