A miniature cinema, installed in the exterior wall of a San Francisco home, has become a unique neighborhood attraction. The theater, located at 536 Waller Street in the Lower Haight, plays silent films around the clock and is accessible through a peephole.
Sam Goldstein, who identifies himself as the "Official Unofficial Mayor of Waller Street," created the installation in 2024 as part of The SF Hunt, a citywide scavenger hunt he launched in 2014. Goldstein described drilling a hole into the wall and fitting a screen behind it. The peephole cinema initially served as a location for participants to find a riddle answer. It has since remained, screening his father's favorite silent films from the 1960s.
This is not the only such installation in the city. Peephole Cinema, located at 280 Orange Valley in the Mission District, was built in 2013 by artist Laurie O’Brien. While Goldstein's cinema shows full-length silent films, O'Brien's features short, silent works curated by local artists. Peephole Cinema was temporarily decommissioned during the COVID-19 pandemic but reopened in 2025.