Documentary lovers, here is a new room just for you

The Downtown Community Television Center (DCTV) is officially launching its own non-profit documentary cinema in New York City.

Starting September 23, Chinatown-based Firehouse: DCTV's Cinema for Documentary Film will offer a dedicated space for documentary films featuring first releases and curated programs, making it one of the few theaters centered around on documentaries in the world. DCTV was co-founded in 1972 by Jon Alpert ("Life of Crime: 1984 - 2020") and Academy Award-nominated and documentary stalwart Keiko Tsuno, who are both currently co-executive directors of the organization and who together have received 16 Emmy Awards.

"We used to show our documentaries on the corner of Canal Street from an old mail truck we bought for $5," Alpert and Tsuno said in a joint statement. “We had two black and white televisions and a sound system that looked like two tin cans and a piece of string. It took 50 years to build the DCTV Firehouse Cinema, this magnificent palace of documentary cinema. We want to thank everyone who helped us get here and we can't wait to show you around."

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The Firehouse Theater will feature a 67-seat single screen, 4K projection, 7.1 surround sound and interactive features to connect audiences around the world, with adjoining concessions and event space. Dara Messinger, the organization's longtime director of programming, will oversee the theater's first-run and curated programming.

Messinger shared, "I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to program for Firehouse and help build a new home for the documentary exhibit. I hope the theater becomes a go-to destination to celebrate, interact and reflect on all the non-fiction film has to offer."

DCTV's first public screenings and documentaries, often made by residents coming together to collectively film local issues, helped bring about crucial changes, including the ousting of corrupt school boards, securing community control about their local hospital and the fight for the rights of taxi drivers and sweatshop workers.

According to an official statement, the Firehouse Cinema will be an "extension of that philosophy" and mark an opportunity to help change a disempowering commercial culture where filmmakers and moviegoers can come together in appreciation and curiosity for the non-fiction film.

Original elements of the historic fire station building add a cinematic touch to the theater, including repurposed wood in the lobby from the original stable inside the fire station, as well as the use of a historic ALF fire truck cab donated by the City of Tazewell Fire Department, Tazewell, Virginia to be a concession stand. The wooden slats that adorn the theater wall are also donated by documentary filmmaker Hart Perry.

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