About Us

Electric Shadows Bookshop is one of the oldest independent bookshops in Canberra. It opened in 1987 as an off shoot of Canberra’s longest running independent arthouse cinema of the same name (Electric Shadows Cinema 1979-2006) and as a consequence is still a specialist film, theatre and arts bookshop set amidst an eclectic and interesting selection of general subjects - from fiction to philosophy, from politics to poetry, from cooking to children’s books.

We also sell and rent a diverse range of world cinema DVDs – however you probably won’t find all the latest Hollywood blockbusters here, just as you wouldn’t come to us for a mass market paperback, but if you are interested in ideas and in the art and diversity of the rest of the world then you will feel right at home at ESB. The arthouse movie specialists. 

Please note that our DVD rental library is available only for Canberra residents.

We value your interest in and any feedback about this site and we are more than happy to answer any enquiries. Happy browsing!