Syracuse Cinephile Society ends after six decades of classic film screenings

A final showing of Singin’ in the Rain closed the curtain on the Syracuse Cinephile Society’s six-decade run, as members gathered May 3 at the Palace Theatre in Syracuse’s Eastwood neighborhood for one last classic film night. The screening marked the end of a volunteer-built institution that had long brought neighbors together not just for movies, but for a shared ritual of laughter, recognition and conversation in a theater filled with other people.

The society’s roots go back to the 1960s, when founder Phil Serling began screening films in his basement. His history page describes him as a former boxer, community theater actor, deputy sheriff and film collector, the kind of local figure whose personal obsession became a civic institution. Early weekly screenings were held in a dark basement under a road-house restaurant on the city line, a modest setting that grew into one of Syracuse’s more durable film traditions.

By the time longtime organizer Gerry Orlando was helping keep the club going, the Cinephile Society had already become a known part of local movie culture. A 2015 profile said the organization had about 100 members and drew roughly 70 moviegoers on a typical Monday night. That same account said the club had already adapted once, moving from 16mm prints to digital projection in spring 2015 because quality film prints had become harder to find. It relied on licensed titles through distributors including Swank and Criterion, along with studio catalogs from MGM, Universal and Paramount.

That adaptability eventually ran into harder limits. The club’s go-to venue shut down, and the work of securing licenses became too difficult to manage. What ended on May 3 was more than a screening schedule. It was the disappearance of a gathering place that helped define routines, friendships and the feeling of belonging that can grow around a recurring Monday night tradition.

The loss lands differently in Syracuse because the city still has film culture, just not the same kind of institution. Emery Cinema, launched in January 2026 by Syracuse natives Sam Johnston and Pranathi Adhikari, has begun screening analog formats such as 35mm and 8mm, with its first show at Megaton Games on March 28. But the Cinephile Society belonged to another era of community life, one built by volunteers, sustained by habit and now gone. In Onondaga County, that leaves a familiar question: when a place that held people together for generations disappears, what takes its place?