
Still from Nosferatu (2024)
IU Cinema Director Dr. Alicia Kozma reveals the Cinema’s connection to Robert Eggers’s latest hit.
We all know that IU Cinema is the best place to see a film on the big screen — our projection technology, rigorous quality control, and theatrical experience standards are well known on campus and in our broader community. But it’s not just our physical infrastructure that makes this possible; it’s the dedicated staff — our technological experts — who make our screenings come to life. We’ve all been the beneficiaries of the collective knowledge and care of Elena, Seth, Ryan, Grayson, and Monisha, and now thousands of others across the country are also the recipients of the IU Cinema standard, as our reputation for theatrical excellence has spread far and wide.
This past summer Elena Grassia, our director of cinema technology, was tapped by Focus Features/Universal to be the cinematic expert responsible for preparing, inspecting, and managing the 35mm celluloid prints for Robert Eggers’s critically and audience acclaimed film Nosferatu. In the fall, Elena spent multiple days in Los Angeles doing exactly that: prepping eleven 35mm prints of the film for exhibition across the country. During her time, she inspected 130,680 feet of film and liaised with venues in Brooklyn, San Francisco, Texas, Nashville, Boston, Portland, Chicago, greater Los Angeles, and Hollywood on receiving their prints and presentation specifications, bringing the IU Cinema screening standard to show after show of enraptured audiences.


Reflecting on her experience, Elena shared that the best part of this process was interfacing with lead projectionists at all the different theaters. As she said, “My counterparts in the venues across the U.S. where the prints premiered each had their own specific film handling practices. Working with them proved that there are still venues like IU Cinema that pride themselves on giving their audiences the best film presentation possible.” But the process had its challenges. “The most difficult part was resisting the unrelenting temptation to stop as I inspected each of the prints so I could view individual frames,” Elena said. “The last frame of reel one made me want to stop and look at it close-up through the Lupe every time!”
It’s no surprise Elena was the studio’s choice for this project. In addition to her work at IU Cinema, she has had over 40 years of film presentation experience at film festivals in the United States and abroad — including Telluride, TCM, Traverse City, Tribeca, Sundance, and more — and she was the presentation supervisor in Hollywood and Southern California for Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight 70mm roadshow.
As expected, she did a terrific job with the project; to date, Nosferatu has made more than $21 million at the box office, and we know a key part of that was the fantastic experience audiences had with Elena’s prints. But she maybe did her job too well: the limited number of 35mm prints have proved so popular that their runs have been extended over and over, and we can’t get our hands on one! Not to worry, we’ll still be showing the film in its digital version on January 24th with our usual presentation precision. It’s one night only, so be sure not to miss out and join Bloomington in succumbing to the best way to see a movie: on the big screen.
Nosferatu will be screened at IU Cinema on January 24 at 7pm. For more Nosferatu goodness, come back to the Cinema on March 4 for Nosferatu with Radiohead: A Silents Synced Film, which pairs the original 1922 film with two of Radiohead’s iconic albums.

Dr. Alicia Kozma is the director of Indiana University Cinema. She researches, writes about, and teaches film. Learn more at www.aliciakozma.com.