The future has arrived for New England’s small-town movie theaters. Unfortunately, it’s consigning some of them to the past.

Last September, Elaine Riendeau of Gorham, N.H., had to close the Casablanca Cinema 4, the movie house she has run in Bethel, Maine, since 2000. The choice wasn’t really hers: With the national film exhibition industry rapidly converting exclusively to digital projection, she couldn’t afford to upgrade the Casablanca from the 35mm film platter system that had served it well for 12 years.