Lana Wachowski Gives Emotional Speech at 'Matrix Resurrections' Premiere: 'Theaters Have Sustained Me'

Lana Wachowski is reflecting on her career.

During the San Francisco premiere of her new film The Matrix Resurrections on Saturday (December 18), the director explained why it was important to her to hold the event at the historic Castro Theater and delivered a heartfelt speech about the importance of movie theaters.

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I love San Francisco. I love this theater,” the director told The Hollywood Reporter.“I’ve seen so many important films here, and 27 years ago, when I was unsure about whether or not I was going to be able to be a filmmaker in my life, the Castro was where we had a premiere of Bound for the LGBTQ film festival Frameline. It was such an extraordinary experience, and that was a touchstone moment in my life. I thought it would be nice to come back here, give something back to the city, give some energy to the city and say thank you to the city. This theater seemed like the perfect place.”

After taking to the Castro stage alongside Matrix star Keanu Reeves, Lana added: “My whole life, movie theaters have sustained me. When I was in high school and I was struggling with my identity, I would run to the movies for popcorn, sticky floors and a kung fu movie, and everything seemed like it was going to be OK.”

She continued, “It’s been hard to be without movie theaters and have them cut off from us and have them closed down. It’s been hard because the collective dreaming that happens in these spaces is how we imagine different futures, different lives, different possibilities, different kinds of hope and different kinds of love. In my own life, I didn’t always believe in this world. I didn’t believe that I could be a Hollywood director. I didn’t believe I could be an out trans woman Hollywood director.”

“That act of imagining a different kind of outcome for that kind of movie allowed me to imagine a different outcome for my life,” she concluded. “I’m hoping that one day we can get back into movies like this, like tonight, and we can sit shoulder to shoulder again, and we can collectively imagine a different future than maybe the one we’re in right now. Maybe that starts tonight.”

The Matrix Resurrections will be in theaters nationwide and on HBO Max via the Ad-Free plan on December 22, and the movie will only be on HBO Max for 31 days.

Find out what critics have been saying about the film!