Brian Mcilroy paints a complex picture of early 1990s Vancouver and its cinematic culture. Mcilroy centers the development of this culture on The Blinding Light!! Cinema in Vancouver. As a microcinema, The Blinding Light!! offered an alternative theatre space to view experimental and often unprofitable films, which became a catalyst for future radical cinema. Mcilroy delineates how the founder of The Blinding Light!!, Alex MacKenzie, started this venue and its growth affected the city of Vancouver. The Blinding Light!! screened wide varieties of films, including cult classics, conceptual films, home movies and sexually explicit works. Its programming engaged with local festivals and provided a shared social space for film lovers to develop new ideas.