Balagan is an acclaimed screening series that takes place every other Tuesday at the historic Brattle Theatre in Harvard Square, Cambridge. It was started in 2000 by Jeff Silva and Alla Kovgan to make up for the absence of experimental programming in Boston. Since then, the series has showcased hundreds of works from unconventional artists working on the fringes of cinema. Some of the qualities that make Balagan unique are 1) a commitment to showing work in the intended format whenever possible, 2) efforts to bring artists in person, making for a more exciting interaction between artist and audience, 3) treating each screening as a celebration, with an hour-long DJ set before the show and an after-party at a local bar after, and 4) one-of-a-kind, screen-printed posters that we commission from local designers for each show.

About our venue:

“It is a funky, improbable piece of architecture – a stout, barnlike structure wedged in between a contemporary department store and the 727 William Brattle House. It doesn’t look like the unofficial landmark for cultural aficionados that it is. But that it lacks in architectural elegance it makes up in character. The Brattle Theatre at historic Brattle Hall inspires a kind of nostalgia verging on worship. For anyone who has browsed through the building’s subterranean retail shops, or been introduced to Federico Fellini, Ingmar Bergman, Francois Truffaut, or Jean-Luc Godard in its 250-seat theatre, that is the sine qua non of the structure, the Brattle is full of memories, part of our collective unconscious.” - John Engstrom

The Brattle Theatre utilizes rear-projection and is set up for 35mm, 16mm and video projection. It is located in the heart of Harvard Square, at 40 Brattle Street.