“It’s all George Lucas’ fault,” says Peter Grendle, the Screen’s cinematheque manager, dispensing news of the world’s steady conversion of film projection to digital projection. According to Grendle, when director George Lucas filmed the last of his famous Star Wars episodes from 2002-2005, he loathed the idea of his precious turn-of-the-century movies going up on what Grendle calls the “shitty mall theaters” (whose projectionists pay little attention to presentation). Determined to get the best possible picture, Lucas shot Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith in 100 percent high definition and premiered them in select theaters using digital projectors. Even if the mall theaters failed Lucus, at least the final prequels were forever in high definition. Since then, filmmakers have followed George Lucas, the “father of digital cinema,” into the inevitable future of digital. Hence, the annihilation of film! That’s a bit dramatic. Hence, movie company’s slow change from film to affordable new age cinema. And, for better or worse, the Screen, part of the 10 percent of theaters still capable of 35mm film projection, has finally gotten the boot: its 35mm projectors are retiring. A digital cinema package (DCP) will take their place.  “We’ve been essentially an all blue ray theater for the past year,” Grendle says, “we do as many 35mm [films] as possible…but we have to [install] digital if we actually want to play movies. Otherwise the theater is just a place with, you know, great seats and a white wall.”  Expert projectionist Barbara Grassia believes that the Screen’s transition is a positive change because “digital’s visual quality has been improving.” Grassia has participated in Film Festivals such as Sundance, Tribeca, Traverse City, Bermuda, the Dominican Republic, Telluride, Turner Classics, and Durango Independent Film Festival. “While the quality of 35mm presentation has been steadily declining,” Grassia says, “many multiplexes have allowed 35mm equipment to deteriorate to the point that presentation is seriously compromised.” Center for Contemporary Arts (CCA) Director Jason Silverman, who recently converted CCA’s primary film projection theater to digital, also points out that “DCP is pristine start to finish. Audio and picture quality are easily adhered to the filmmaker’s and studio’s intentions and we’re finding lots of interesting DCP content to show.” The creator and curator of the Screen, Brent Kliewer, agrees that “the benefits [of digital] will far outweigh anything negative.” He adds, “digital is where the industry is headed and to keep up we (meaning all independent theaters) must move forward.” It’s been a long time coming for the Screen, Grendle explains. Three years ago he received a letter from Fox, the high budget movie company whose films the Screen doesn’t play anyway, informing theaters that the company will no longer make 35mm prints. From there, Grendle was badgered by numerous companies to switch earlier rather than later. What was the final blow? The big companies gave in. The Regal Cinemas, a major branch of movie theaters, upgraded last year and according to Grendle, once the “big guys” convert, it means everyone else will follow. For a while, however, the 15 percent of film geeks, or independent filmmakers and theater owners, protested the digital conversion and treaded the pool of their financial difficult for the sake of saving film. “All the indies are exactly the same,” Grendle says, “They’re pushing out these small weird art movies for a small weird art crowd in small weird art theaters.” He explains that the Screen, like the CCA and newly opened Jean Cocteau in Santa Fe, was founded on “a love for film.” Furthermore, Brent Kliewer, original founder of all three respected cinematheques, is himself a “film junky,” a believer in projection and acoustic perfection. The Screen, for example, was built on an  old soundstage and the 35mm projector bulbs burn so bright that they’re moved away from the body of the projectors so the film doesn’t burn. Regarding the art of film projection verses digital, Grendle...