Canonization as praxis : a study of film programming

Film programmers serve as the vital educators in art house cinema spaces. Programmers translate academic, critical, and historical narratives and texts into film programs to engage and educate their audiences. Alamo Drafthouse Cinema and Austin Film Society Cinema, both based in Austin, Texas, serve as case studies to explore how film programming occurs in both a for-profit company as well as in a non-profit organization. The film programming practices in both of these spaces challenge traditionally held beliefs about cinematic canons. By leveraging canons as marketing tools as well as educational tools, in these cinemas, film programmers utilize their positionality to expand and complicate understandings of cinema.