CANARSIE — Eileen Baptistin Level is working to bring back an experience she says her community deserves: sitting in the dark, surrounded by strangers, sharing the wonder of cinema.
Level is the founder of PaleFO Cinema, Canarsie’s first “cinema mural.” Level led a project to paint a massive, colorful painting on the side of the historic Jerry building in the heart of Canarsie. In the center of the mural, there is a large, silver rectangle where films can be screened.
Eileen Baptistin Level. Photo courtesy of Eileen Baptistin Level
Remembering Canarsie Theater on Avenue L and AMC Loews Kings Plaza 6
Growing up in Canarsie, Level frequented Canarsie Theater on Avenue L, a small independent theater that served as a community hub. She remembers its heyday in the 1990s, when families headed there or to the nearby Kings Plaza Mall to catch the latest releases. In 2004, the Canarsie Theater closed, followed by AMC Loews Kings Plaza 6 which shuttered in 2010.
Since then, Level says the neighborhood has become a “cinema desert.”
Community members painting the mural on the side of the Jerry Building on Rockaway Parkway. Photo courtesy of Eileen Baptistin Level
“It shouldn’t be that you’re replacing a movie theater with something else,” Level said. “It should be that we’re finding other spaces for more recreational activities. Never should it be that a movie theater is less important than any other recreational activity.”
Level was disappointed with the decline of theaters during the pandemic as streaming services became a more dominant way to watch films. She argues that streaming cannot replace the social and cultural value of gathering in a theater.
“Streaming cannot house the level of community that happens in movie theaters,” Level said. “Social engagement and coming together are very important to humanity and our health.”
Community members painting the mural on the side of the Jerry Building on Rockaway Parkway. Photo courtesy of Eileen Baptistin Level
Level couldn’t reopen the old Avenue L Theater. “The real estate agent told me, ‘Come back when you have a million dollars,’” she said, but Level developed another solution.
While studying public engagement in cinema at The New School, Level developed the idea of the community-centered PaleFO Cinema.
Level is part Haitian, and she said “pale fo” is a phrase her mother used to tell her, translating to “speak loudly.” The phrase inspired her in the creation of the cinema mural.
May Bukowski, muralist, painting the wall. Photo courtesy of Eileen Baptistin Level
“It means that we will not stop fighting for what’s important. We will not stop being seen. We’re not invisible people,” Level said.
PaleFO Cinema’s mural in Canarsie includes hibiscus flowers, which are the national flower of Haiti.
According to the latest figures from Data USA, Haiti is the second-most common birthplace — after Jamaica — for foreign born residents in Community District 18, which includes Canarsie and Flatlands. Haitian Creole is also the most common non-English language spoken by households there.
May Bukowski, muralist, painting the wall. Photo courtesy of Eileen Baptistin Level
Initially, Level earned a Safe in the City grant from the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice to show movies on an inflatable screen in the summer. Level had aspirations for something more permanent.
After years of negotiating with community organizations, real estate agents, building owners and New York City Department of Transportation officials, and with the help of dozens of community members, Level saw her vision come to fruition.
The mural in progress earlier in 2025. Photo courtesy of Eileen Baptistin Level
Bringing the magic of cinema back to Canarsie
Through PaleFO, Level hopes her community’s voice will be heard — this time, in the glow of the silver screen. Artist May Bukowski created the mural. The flowers on the mural are inspired by Level’s mother, Marie Ange Baptistin.
“I’ve tried to think about a space in this world where you are comfortable enough to share all the emotions within you next to a stranger in the dark,” Level said. “When you even say it, it sounds weird. In the dark? I am going to sit next to somebody, and I am going to feel okay to let out my very quirky laugh, to let out my tears and snot — I can’t think of a place where you can do all those things, and it’s amazing. It’s majestic.”
Mockup of the wall before it was painted. Photo courtesy of Eileen Baptistin Level
For communities of color, Level said access to that majesty is especially crucial. Representation in film doesn’t end with production; it must also extend to where films are shown. “If we’re making films that represent people of color, then people of color should also have spaces to watch and celebrate them,” she said.
For Level, PaleFO Cinema is more than just showing movies; it’s about creating safe, vibrant spaces for Canarsie’s youth and seniors, groups that are often overlooked, according to Level.
Community members pose with the mural. Photo courtesy of Eileen Baptistin Level
“You have to give people something to do,” she said. “I started becoming more involved in community board meetings, and no one was talking about recreational activities. I could only do what I do best, and that is my love for cinema.”
PaleFO’s community collaborators are Canarsie Community Development Inc., Canarsie Merchants Association, The Flossy Org and Bintu International Inc. The Citizens Committee for New York City, the Brooklyn Arts Council and The New School funded the wall.
Community members pose with the mural. Photo courtesy of Eileen Baptistin Level
The new cinema’s grand opening is on Sunday, Oct. 19, from 6 to 7 p.m.
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