Zeitgeist Films

BORN: September 2007

AFFILIATION: Operated by Plimoth Plantation, a national, not-for-profit, bi-cultural, living history museum in Plymouth, MA. Films are shown in the Plantation’s Visitor Center’s 220 seat Linn Theater.

SPECIAL SKILLS: Beer and wine on Saturday nights, fresh organic popcorn with real butter(!), showcasing of Native American films

DCP ?: Digital projection (but not DCP). However, the theater has invested in major system upgrades that will be DCP compatible.  

FIRST ZEITGEIST FILM: Fados 

When the Pilgrims first hopped off the Mayflower and scuttled across Plymouth Rock, their first thought was probably not, “good lord, where is the nearest movie theater,” but it should’ve been. Because subsequently, from 1620 until 2007, there simply wasn’t a place to catch an independent or foreign film on the south coast of Massachusetts. If you were hankering to see an off-beat doc or read subtitles, you had to drive out onto Cape Cod, or into Boston.

Ed and Charlotte Russell were tired to making these treks. Both were volunteers at Plimoth Plantation, a living history museum which strives to tell the story and uphold the legacy of the original Plymouth Colony. They knew the museum’s theater was empty at night, and asked if they might try to run a cinema in it during off-hours. The museum gave them eight weeks to try to make this idea work. It  was almost immediately a success, with a dedicated and delighted audience flocking to the Plimoth. This core audience still fuels the theater, which now does two shows a day, and will be showing Elena starting this weekend. 

As if the setting of Plimoth Plantation weren’t cool enough, the theater has developed appealing quirks of its own, deepening its distinction. You can enjoy a beer or glass of wine with your movie on Saturdays, and organic popcorn with real butter is served all week long. In keeping with the “bi-cultural” mission of The Plantation, the theater also showcases Native American films and filmmakers. And if you feel the need to leave the dark oasis of the movie theater (we’re not sure why you would, but to each his own),  you can catch Shakespeare plays in the summertime, done as they would’ve been in the 17th Century. All told, The Plimoth is a truly one-of-a-kind movie theater experience.