On the quiet, residential corner of Leonard Street and Meserole Avenue, an independent cinema is bringing darkness to light. Film Noir is at once: a 54-seat independent theater hellbent on the hardboiled, a treasure trove of underground and hard-to-find films and the lifelong passion project of its founder Will Malitek. 

A resident of Greenpoint for 33 years, Will has been at the helm of Film Noir for 20, since its genesis on Bedford Ave in 2005 as a rental shop catering to arthouse, foreign and rare media. Some locals and patrons may already be familiar with its triumphant legend: Film Noir not only survived the advent of on-demand streaming but continued to thrive as one of the last remaining places of its kind as rental stores everywhere shuttered their window…

Read the rest of Janna Shaftan’s latest story, linked here.