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It took a while, but yes: Cinerama is finally back.
The Seattle International Film Festival has acquired the historic Seattle movie theater at Fourth Avenue and Lenora Street from the estate of Microsoft co-founder, investor and philanthropist Paul Allen. The Shanghai International Film Festival plans to reopen theaters that have been closed since February 2020 later this year. The acquisition was announced Thursday at SIFF’s opening night gala at the Paramount Theatre, to a standing ovation from the audience.
“We will work hard to maintain [Allen’s] Legacy,” said SIFF Executive Director Tom Mara to cheers. “We can’t wait to see you in this cathedral of cinema.
SIFF artistic director Beth Barrett said in an earlier interview that a date for the theater’s reopening seemed most likely to take place in the fall. The programming, she said, will be very similar to what Cinerama has offered in the past: “Lots of bigger-budget, first-run studio films, a lot of professional events and festivals, and hopefully a lot of special events focused on filmmakers,” she confirmed. Plans are in place to revive Cinerama’s traditional 70mm film festival, noting that the theater will be part of SIFF’s annual film festival, as it has been presented several times in the past. It will return in time to properly celebrate the festive 50day Anniversary next year.
Terms of the sale were finalized on Thursday but were not disclosed. A representative for Vulcan, the company founded by Allen and his sister Jody Allen, said proceeds from the sale will be donated to charity. She said it was in accordance with the wishes of Allen, who died in 2018. The representative did not provide details of the philanthropic plan.
“We are very pleased with the Shanghai International Film Festival’s acquisition of the theater,” Jody Allen, executor of the Allen Estate, said in a statement. “They are the ideal mission-driven organization to manage this very special place now, bring more movies and film lovers to downtown Seattle, and manage the venue and its presence in our community for years to come. effect.”
“Seattle’s recovery can’t be without a downtown recovery, and SIFF’s acquisition of this iconic theater represents a step forward in that effort,” Seattle Councilman Andrew Lewis, whose district includes the neighborhood of Cinerama, said in a statement. A big step forward.”
It’s a happy ending to the long saga of Seattle’s Panorama Theater, which opened in 1963.Originally intended to demonstrate three panorama technology, now Immersive widescreen format Since three simultaneous projectors were involved, the theater quickly switched to showing 70mm and 35mm films. Like many downtown movie theaters, the Belltown Theater fell into disrepair in the 1980s and ’90s as audiences flocked to suburban multiplexes. movie buff paul allen, Bought the theater in 1998 It reopened the following year after a major renovation.
Over the next two decades, Panorama became a beloved destination for moviegoers who loved the huge curved screens and wide-open sightlines, quirky vintage decor and chocolate popcorn. Offering first-run blockbusters, classics, and series you won’t see anywhere else (its 70mm festival is particularly popular), it was downtown’s only single-screen theater for many years, and there’s a clubhouse for the cinephile By.
Then, suddenly, it was all over: Citation Refurbishment Program (there were two before this, in 2010 and 2014), Cinerama Closed February 2020, whose staff were fired.A pandemic soon followed, and Vulcan was announced in May of that year to close all of its Arts + Entertainment divisions, which includes theaters.Since then, Cinerama has been dark wait.
SIFF has long been publicly expressing an interest in acquiring Cinerama. 2021 Organizational Statement said the Shanghai International Film Festival would be “well-positioned to maximize the potential of the facility”, but noted that it would require additional funding or investment. Mara, executive director of Shanghai International Film Festival, said in an interview Serious negotiations to buy the theater began last year, After he accepted the job of the organization.
“We were able to acquire cinemas because of our board’s commitment to SIFF,” he said, particularly board member David Kornfield, “who is a movie buff and a champion of our film culture and really stepped up to fund this acquisition.”
Mara said SIFF will launch a capital campaign later this year to invite the community to invest in SIFF’s projects and “set the stage for SIFF’s future.” He declined to provide further details about the event, saying those conversations were ongoing.
While both Barrett and Mara said they don’t expect major changes or renovations to the theater, whose interior and equipment are in good shape despite the prolonged closure, one big thing at Cinerama is set to change: its name. Cinerama was a trade name that was licensed by Vulcan while Allen owned the theater, but reverted to the trade mark owner when the property was sold. “Unfortunately, we don’t seem to be able to renew that license,” Barrett said, adding that the name change “will be a good talking point this summer.”
Regardless of the name, the reopening of theaters — bringing the total number of screens shown at SIFF year-round to six, including SIFF Uptown, SIFF Egyptian and SIFF Film Center — is good news for local moviegoers, just as audiences seem to be returning to theaters. Mara pointed to SIFF figures showing a 56% increase in attendance at its theaters in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period last year.
Barrett confirmed that Cinerama will indeed be bringing back its chocolate popcorn, and he sees the news as an opportunity to rekindle hope and optimism. “It’s such a wonderful gift to the Seattle film community,” she said, “to be able to take this opportunity to reopen Panorama.”
Lynn Jacobson, editor-in-chief of The Seattle Times, contributed to this report.
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