Carlos Costa would never forget the summer day his grandmother first took him to the movies.

He was six years old when he first walked into a dark theater to watch “O Trapalhão nas Minas do Rei Salomão,” a 1977 Brazilian comedy that remains one of the country’s biggest box office hits.

In 2022, Costa opened Cine LT3, a 35-seat cinema in Sao Paulo.

Using his savings and credit card, he spent about 100,000 reais ($18,600) to renovate an old garage, buy vintage wooden seats — which he found in an old shuttered theater in the countryside — and transform the space into a movie theater.

The screening room now occupies what was once a studio — a space behind the garage of his small company that was left idle during the pandemic.

Costa, who worked as a TV producer, opened the studios in 2012 and rents them out for screening tests and commercials.

Where cars once stood, there are now tables and chairs where moviegoers can wait for their sessions, along with a small counter where he sells popcorn, snacks, soft drinks, and wine.

There’s also a small box office where Costa sells tickets to walk-ins.

To buy in advance, customers must send him a WhatsApp message to reserve directly.

"We managed to fulfill the dream, a lot of work, a lot of dedication, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The cinema is a street cinema, it holds 35 people, and it's just me. So I'm the one who makes the popcorn, I sell the tickets, I project the films, and that is a satisfaction," said Costa.

Cine LT3 has established itself as a small haven for film lovers, slowly building a loyal neighborhood community and drawing movie buffs with programming that stands apart from the city’s multiplexes.

Costa's independent cinema is also part of a resistance of venues surviving outside the mall circuit.

According to 2024 official data, there were only 423 screening rooms in small theaters like LT3 across the country. In contrast, nearly 90% of Brazil’s 3,542 cinema screens operate inside shopping malls.

Some of the country's most traditional stand-alone cinemas now rely on corporate sponsorships to stay open. Many others have shut down and been demolished. In Sao Paulo, where the buildings remain, the former screening rooms have often been repurposed into evangelical churches or adult movie theaters.

Even the venues that survived have faced the threat of closure in recent years. When that happens, local movie lovers often organize protests — and in some cases, they succeed. That was the case with Cine Belas Artes, located on one of the city’s most iconic corners, at the intersection of Avenida Paulista.

Costa curates the lineup himself, focusing on art-house titles from Brazil and abroad. When The Associated Press visited the theater on Thursday, the schedule included a restored screening of “Paris, Texas,” part of a citywide retrospective marking the 80th birthday of German director Wim Wenders.

Maída Alves, 63, a regular at LT3, had just left a screening of “Paris, Texas” when she spoke with the AP. For her, the venue holds deep emotional value.

"I come to this cinema a lot because I think a street cinema holds sentimental value for me. I come from a small town that had a street cinema. And mainly because I really like movies," said Alves.

Costa often hears people question his decisions, especially from a financial perspective. While he admits the work is challenging, he is happy doing what he loves. And he loves cinema, just like Toto, the protagonist of his favorite movie, “Cinema Paradiso,” whom he paid tribute to with a painting on the wall outside LT3.

The character bonds with a local cinema projectionist and, through that relationship, develops a lifelong devotion to movies.

Costa said he sees his own life in Toto’s story and believes movies have the power to transform people.

AP Video shot by Thiago Mostazo