Monarch Documentary Wins 14 Festival Awards

Without being able to properly respond to each individual message this week, let me just say thank you one last time to everyone who made this experience unforgettable. Thank you to the cast and crew, to all the audiences and supporters, to the producing team, festival organizers, promoters, and on and on and on. I'm incredibly proud of what we all achieved.

With the international film festival tour for my documentary Your Cinema Needs You concluding this month it's finally hitting just how much happened this year. More here.

A special shout out to the Monarch Theatre and to everyone in Medicine Hat, Alberta too. If we weren't already feeling the hometown love throughout all of this, the documentary was once again a front page story this week. It's been an ending right out of a Christmas special.

New irons are in the fire for 2025. Stay tuned.

International Film Festival Tour Concludes

It's finally over! After 10 months, the international film festival tour for my feature documentary, "Your Cinema Needs You" has finally come to an end! So, how'd we do? 

Over the course of this year the story of Canada's oldest, surviving, purpose-built cinema (the Monarch Theatre located in Medicine Hat, Alberta) was officially selected and screened at film festivals in more than 30 cities in 12 countries. 

The icing on the cake is that during this time we also picked up 25 festival nominations and 14 wins (including 8 in categories for best documentary)! 

I can't say thank you enough to all of the cast and crew who made this possible. Also, thank you to everyone in Medicine Hat who came out to one of the 16 premiere shows at the Monarch Theatre earlier this year. Without that initial reception I never would've pursued such an ambitious (and long) festival run. 

Details about what's next and where you can finally see the documentary are soon to come. I just wanted to say thank you again! A project like this wouldn't have been possible without the support you've shown. Original post here.

Next Steps, Milestones, and the Documentary

In the process of working on an update for tomorrow, it hit me that it was exactly one year ago that we finalized plans for the premiere screenings of "Your Cinema Needs You" and set the gears in motion to finally reopen the Monarch Theatre. 

This was meant to mark the end of the documentary. It wasn't. 

Who knew it would kick off a new series of side quests that (incredibly) would last another year. The 3 night premiere, which felt ambitious at the time, turned into a 16 show run with thousands turning out to see the debut (the encore of the encore of the encore). 

Not bad start for an indie doc.

And then the film festival run began. 

More news tomorrow about what's next.

Your Cinema Needs You in Australia

Your Cinema Needs You has picked up its final film festival selection and is off to Australia! This selection marks the 12th country the documentary has traveled to this year and will conclude the limited release / international film festival tour that kicked off in February 2024.

International Film Festival Tour Expands to 25+ Cities

"Hey, what's been happening with the Monarch Theatre documentary and when can we see it?" I've probably been asked this question more than any other this year. With the last festival schedules now being finalized, here's a brief (and overdue) update about the international film festival tour for "Your Cinema Needs You" directed by Luke Fandrich.

Needless to say, there have been no shortage of surprises throughout this entire experience. Since the premiere run ended back in February 2024, "Your Cinema Needs You" has been on an ambitious international film festival tour which quickly surpassed expectations for what this release would look like.

In the last 8 months, the indie doc about Canada's oldest cinema has gone on to screen in over 25 cities across 11 countries. From Los Angeles to Montreal to Berlin to Istanbul to Tokyo, the movie continued to pick up official selections in new venues that further pushed the release down the road as we built momentum.

These were all really good problems to have.

Where are we now? The notifications about final festival selections for 2024 are expected in the next few weeks. Regardless of the outcomes, this will see the festival run conclude this December and should fast-track public viewing options soon after. This means the long-teased wide release is finally on the horizon.

I'll get into more of the behind the scenes about this entire chapter in a future post.

Once again, thank you for the continued interest, patience, and support through all of this. I wouldn't have even pursued this detour had all the premiere shows in the Monarch Theatre not been such a huge success. It's been a life-changing ride.

More details to come.

I Funko'd Myself in Hollywood (Again)

My strict rules for purchasing any Funko Pops aside, I took the bait at the Hollywood Boulevard store in in Los Angeles, California and created myself in miniature vinyl form once more.

As was the issue last year, a blonde dude in a hoodie doesn't look personalized. Then I saw the popcorn and trophy accessories and it clicked. In keeping with this year's over-extended theme I made the Monarch Theatre premiere / film festival version of myself to compliment last year's mini-me Funko travel photographer. 

In short, this became another brilliantly kitschy souvenir from the latest Hollywood travel shoots ... and, let's be honest, one more opportunity to name-drop "Your Cinema Needs You" as the international festival tour rolls on through 2024. 

Another Best Documentary Win For the Monarch Movie

This crazy ride continues to exceed expectations.

I'm once again humbled to share that my documentary, Your Cinema Needs You has picked up a few more selections and awards on its ongoing international film festival tour this summer.

Last month the feature-length film was awarded Best Documentary in the feature-length category at the 2024 Edinburgh Film Awards, it made its way to Istanbul, Turkey for a selected screening, and just this week received its 12th Best Documentary nomination after being selected at the Detroit Independent Film Festival.

Amid this good news, I was reminded that it was exactly one year ago that we formally announced the completion of the film. I never imagined that I'd still be talking about this documentary a year later with the wide release not having happened yet, but here we are.

The long-delayed and surprise success of the premiere shows at the Monarch, followed by the (now) 7-month film festival tour, essentially turned this run into an entirely new project for 2024. It really has been an incredible journey to see this story spread, and I can't express how thrilled I am that so many others have latched onto this doc in recognition of the grassroots power of indie cinema, and quite literally in this case, the importance of indie cinemas like the Monarch Theatre.

Thank you all so much for all the support over this last year.

Your Cinema Needs You: RIFFA Nomination

This feels like a full-circle moment. 

Last week the official selections for the 2024 Regina International Film Festival & Awards in Regina, Saskatchewan were announced and there was something particularly special in seeing the notifications about Your Cinema Needs You popping up in my inbox this time.

 

Since February 2024, the feature-length documentary about Canada's oldest, surviving, purpose-built movie theatre has been selected and screened at over 20 international film festivals in 11 countries. In what will likely be one of the last festivals of this tour at the end of August, the reason this selection hits differently is because not so long ago I was an ambitious, but clueless film student at the University of Regina. In fact, I launched "Editing Luke" while living in the dorms on campus at College West. 

If that bit of poetry and nostalgia isn't enough though, it also doesn't hurt that Your Cinema Needs You has picked up a nomination in the Best Documentary (Canadian long form) category at this year's festival - not that I needed much of an excuse for a reunion, but it's a great reason to celebrate all the same! I'd also like to shout out all of my film profs - "See? I wasn't sleeping in class, I was brainstorming for future moments like this!"

Hometown Series & Documentary on CKUA Radio

This morning my interview with Grant Stovel on Alberta Morning went live on CKUA Radio. 

We had a great chat about my Hometown Series currently on display in the Tumbleweed Project Space at the Esplanade in downtown Medicine Hat, and about my documentary on the Monarch Theatre, Your Cinema Needs You. You can listen to the interview embedded below. My thanks again to Grant Stovel and CKUA for reaching out and highlighting these projects.   

 

CKUA Radio · Luke Fandrich on Alberta Morning

Best Documentary Winner: Your Cinema Needs You

After the official selection and subsequent nomination last month, I received some amazing news this week. Your Cinema Needs You has gone on to win Best Documentary at the 2024 Hong Kong Indie Film Festival in the feature-length category. 

Naturally, I'm so proud of what we've all been able to achieve with this movie, but it's also all icing on the cake at this point. A year ago I wasn't even sure if my premiere in the Monarch was going to be feasible. So, to now have all of these festival stories from the last 4 months, it's broadened the scope of this entire experience.

I've been very hesitant about recapping the film festival experience for Your Cinema Needs You so far, mostly because I'm still very much in the middle of it. But yes, aside from trying to not be too overbearing about it, it's been amazing to see this movie go to so many incredible places.

Most commonly, I've been asked why I think this film has been picked up at so many international festivals and resonated with so many 'seemingly' different audiences over these months. I think it's actually really simple. It's like if I had made a movie about video stores and released it in 2005. People are aware change is on the horizon, but it's not gone yet. There's this communal desire to save something, and everyone's wondering what this experience that the documentary is about might look like in just the next 10 years. 

The Monarch is currently a rare success story in a sea of downsizing, closures, and adaptation. That uncertainty has played into the emotional component of all of this and it's actually a feel good story. I think that positive twist has made all the difference.

Your Cinema Needs You in Scotland

This month, Your Cinema Needs You is in Edinburgh, Scotland for the Edinburgh Film Awards where it's been nominated in the Best Documentary category. It's been incredible to see this film travel around the world and pick up so many official selections on this ambitious tour. Obviously, I was optimistic when casting such a wide net with my festival submissions for this documentary, but it's truly exceeded all expectations at this point. June will see the continuation of this festival run as details for the Canadian release are still being finalized.  

Gone Hollywood: Monarch Documentary

Straight from the final screening at the Monarch Theatre on Sunday, Your Cinema Needs You is back in Los Angeles this week at the 2024 Hollywood International Golden Age Film Festival where it's currently a semi-finalist in the Best Documentary category. 

Leave it to an L.A. film festival jury to appreciate a story about saving old cinemas. This international film festival tour for the Monarch documentary still has a handful of undecided submissions due to be reviewed this month, but the tour is set to continue all summer long.

Our Last Picture Show at the Monarch

That's it! That's all! That's a wrap! No really, the screenings of Your Cinema Needs You at the Monarch Theatre in Medicine Hat, Alberta have officially come to an end! 

Yesterday's matinee marked the 16th screening of the documentary at the historic Monarch Theatre, and frankly, after spacing out these shows over 5 months and with more than 5,100 tickets sold - I'm confident that we reached 99% of the local audience who was interested in seeing this in the movie theatre. 

I think it's easy to gloss over just what a big turnout this actually was because we're so rarely in packed movie theatres these days. But, the attendance for these 16 shows at the Monarch Theatre was the equivalent of selling out every seat in all 10 theatres of Medicine Hat's Cineplex Galaxy 3 times over, and then still having 700 people waiting outside to get in.

And let me say it again, this was for an indie documentary! Not exactly the genre known for blockbuster turnouts. You absolutely exceeded all expectations, Medicine Hat!

Thank you to everyone who came out to one of the shows. Thank you to the incredible cast and crew who made this movie possible. And to the staff and volunteers at the Monarch 1911 Society who could not have been more enthusiastic collaborators in running these screenings.

The last thing I did before leaving the theatre yesterday was I had everyone hold up all of the random ticket variations that I handed out at the door before each of the 16 shows. My only hope is that someone finds one of these tucked away in an album 50 years from now and goes on a hunt to figure out what it was. What an incredible ride this turned out to be - thank you all!

One Last Run At The Monarch Theatre

As this multi-year production is finally beginning to wind down, it only felt right to cap off this experience in the place where it all started. My thanks to the Medicine Hat News for this latest article about the last chance to see the documentary at the Monarch Theatre. 

Your Cinema Needs You, the story of the Monarch Theatre's journey to becoming Canada's oldest, surviving, purpose-built movie theatre, is returning for its final run of local shows in Medicine Hat this Thursday to Sunday (May 30 to June 2). 

You can buy advance tickets online or purchase tickets at the door for $15 (cash only) at any of the 5 screenings. After this many shows there are plenty of seats available so you don't have to worry about getting stuck in the front row anymore. We are only about 50 tickets away from hitting a new attendance milestone though, so think about it lol.

Documentary Teaser: Finale Screenings

With the final shows of Your Cinema Needs You returning to the Monarch Theatre later this month, I decided to cut a new trailer for the documentary using some previously deleted scenes. You can purchase movie tickets for these screenings from May 30 to June 2 here.

New York Film & Cinematography Nomination

In what can only be described as exceeding expectations at this point, Your Cinema Needs You picked up another official selection and film festival nomination last week. This nod comes from the New York Film & Cinematography Awards and feels particularly special after I made a point of searching out the oldest cinema in NYC while on a new series of travel shoots last month.

This is just one more piece of good news as promotions are ramping up again in anticipation of the finale screenings of the documentary back in Medicine Hat's historic Monarch Theatre. As we reach the tail end of this incredible ride, I'm already blown away by how many updates and achievements I'll have to look back on from this single project and this ambitious film festival tour that took the documentary around the world.  

 

Experience Medicine Hat: Monarch Documentary

Hey girl, I'm not just a good time, I'm a full page in this year's "experience Medicine Hat" travel guide lol (see the original post on @editingluke). My thanks to the team at Tourism Medicine Hat for the feature and interview about my documentary, Your Cinema Needs You in the 2024 issue of the new Medicine Hat guide out this long weekend. 

I know what you're thinking, "Luke, you've barely talked about this documentary - it's about time!" I couldn't agree more lol. Seriously though, it was fun to share a small part of this story and to help further promote the Monarch Theatre. The next time you're in Medicine Hat, Alberta come and see Canada's oldest, surviving, purpose-built movie theatre for yourself.

 

Front Page News: Your Cinema Needs You

Yesterday I got a text from my mom, and she goes, "I saw you on the front page of today's paper. You really are a big deal." Just totally glossing over the fact that I've been telling her what a big deal I am since at least 2002. 

In all seriousness, I did a quick interview over the phone earlier this week about the final shows of "Your Cinema Needs You" and had no idea it would be front page news. It's as good a time as any to say thank you again to all of the local journalists who have covered the progress of this documentary from the first days of the production to the premiere shows to this festival run. Not only is it fun to share the excitement, but it's played a huge roll in getting this story to spread outside of Medicine Hat, which was always the intended goal. 

We've been fortunate to see a few of these stories about the doc get picked up nationally over the last 3 years, but to be honest, having the movie make the front page locally just seems so undeniably wholesome. You can read the full story here.

If I haven't said it enough, thank you for all of the support! 

You can grab movie tickets for the finale screenings of Your Cinema Needs You at the Monarch Theatre from May 30 to June 2 here.

International Film Festival Tour in Hong Kong

Your Cinema Needs You, my documentary about Medicine Hat's Monarch Theatre, has made it to the Hong Kong Indie Film Festival as part of its ongoing international festival tour. This marks the 15th official selection that the documentary has picked up to date, and the 9th country that the film has screened in since the premiere wrapped back in mid-February.

In addition to the selection, Your Cinema Needs You has progressed into awards contention with the news that it has been chosen as a semi-finalist. While much of this festival run has been surprising, this news from the Hong Kong Indie Film Festival was particularly unexpected. It's amazing how this story has continued to resonate with audiences overseas. 

 

Finale Screenings of the Monarch Documentary

CLICK HERE to purchase movie tickets for "Your Cinema Needs You" at the Monarch Theatre playing May 30th through June 2nd. Evening and matinee shows now available!

After more than 2 years in production, a sold out premiere run, and an ongoing international film festival tour through 2024, the feature-length documentary about one of Canada's most underrated cinematic landmarks is returning to the cinema at the heart of this story, the Monarch Theatre in Medicine Hat, Alberta. 

The finale screenings will mark the conclusion of this multi-year project, and are an exclusive opportunity to return to the Monarch Theatre, experience the largely untold history of one of Canada's last surviving cinemas of the silent era from within its auditorium, and be among the first audiences to see "Your Cinema Needs You" while it's still only available in select theatres as part of its international film festival tour. 

Directed by Luke Fandrich, the 2 hour and 15 minute documentary traces the origins of the Monarch Theatre, the rise and fall of its direct competitors, and the cinema's evolution over 112+ years since it first opened its doors on December 21, 1911. "Your Cinema Needs You" features newly uncovered images, artifacts, and exclusive interviews from individuals spanning the Monarch's history, including former usherettes, managers, projectionists, moviegoers, and more! 

Book your tickets now to experience the start of the Monarch Theatre's next chapter.