Film to explore DM’s ‘Lost Cinemas’

posted by Michael Zoldessy on March 20, 2007 at 4:20 am

DES MOINES, IA — A local filmmaker is using computer technology to animate pictures of old theaters as the centerpiece of his new documentary.

Downtown Des Moines once glittered with showy movie houses and matinee lights: the Dreamland, the Radium, the Casino, the Garden, the Rocket.

Now, filmmaker Mark Heggen is bringing them back to life in a documentary called “Lost Cinemas of Greater Des Moines.”

Heggen began his research in the 1980s, collecting old photos and stories. Now, he’s animating those old photos in a documentary film, using software to turn on the lights in the old marquees and making black-and-white crowds come to life.

To read the full story, go to the Des Moines Register.