Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs screens at the Orinda Theatre.
Walt Disney Studio Motion Pictures
For many cinephiles, a love of movies starts with Disney. Matías Bombal, who organized the film series of restored Disney-owned classics now showing in Orinda, was instantly drawn to the movie-going experience when he saw Fantasia at age 3.
“My parents took me to see it at the Elmwood Theatre in Berkeley,” he says. “I loved it, but I was so frightened by the ‘Night on Bald Mountain’ sequence that I turned and looked at the light coming out of the projection booth—I was drawn like a moth to that light.” Raised on foreign films at venues like the UC Theatre (his parents didn’t allow him to watch television), Bombal spent decades doing nearly every job possible in movie theaters, including programming repertory cinemas.
He recently brought his talents to the Orinda Theatre, where he curates several classic film series, including one featuring restored movies from the Disney vault, some of which haven’t been available theatrically for years. The Orinda also hosts a series of widescreen epics presented in the original roadshow style, with overture music and intermissions.
On June 6, audiences can enjoy Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, accompanied by a guest speaker discussing Disney’s restoration process. On July 4, the series continues with a screening of The Sword in the Stone. A highlight of the Wide Screen Roadshow Series is the Oscar-winning epic Ben-Hur, showing on June 14.
The Orinda will also screen Fantasia on December 28–31 as part of the theater’s 85th anniversary celebration. Says Bombal, “The Orinda is a beautiful cinema that was built for movies like these.” orindamovies.com.