National Arthouse Theater Day

David Gleeson’s 2026 Irish comedy “Once Upon a Time in a Cinema”, is tailor-made for Art House Theater Day because the film is fundamentally a celebration of moviegoing itself. The story centers on a small-town cinema in 1980s Ireland and the people who keep it alive through chaos, setbacks, and community spirit. It was inspired by Gleeson’s own upbringing in a family of cinema owners, giving it an authenticity that resonates strongly with independent theaters.

Synopsis ONCE UPON A TIME IN A CINEMA, a comedy-drama set in a small-town cinema during one eventful Friday night screening from hell. Over the course of one evening, the film follows the travails of beleaguered cinema owner Earl Clancy (Colin Morgan) as he faces a myriad of disasters, any one of which could sink him. Drawing from writer/director David Gleeson’s own experience growing up in a family of cinema owners where his father’s 78-year career marked the longest in the cinema business in Ireland, if not the world, ONCE UPON A TIME IN A CINEMA is a love letter to a peculiarly Irish cinema experience, which was as much about connecting with people as it was about the movie.