The Southeast Asia Movie Theater Project: "The Architecture of Dreams"

When French illustrator Philippe Doro completed his around-the-world journey in 1990, he returned to his Parisian abode with a vast photographic record of stand-alone movie theaters. Of particular interest to this archive, two of his stopovers happened to be in Southeast Asian countries - namely Malaysia and Thailand.

A few weeks ago, Mr. Doro reached out to the Southeast Asia Movie Theater Project with an offer to share his Southeast Asian cinema photos. What he forwarded along is nothing short of an ocular gold mine. A few dozen vivid shots of elegant mid and early 20th century movie theaters just before their fall from grace.

To be sure, a good number of the Thai theaters in his collection are no longer in existence. There's little reason to doubt that the same isn't true for the Malaysian ones. Future expeditions by the SEAMTP will, hopefully, be able to answer that question.

In the mean time, feast your eyes on good Philippe's collection of Malaysian movie theaters c. 1990. And check out his blog on the architecture of Brussels when you're finished.

The Cinemas of Malaysia

Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia