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The historic Hollywood Theatre lends its name to this Northeast Portland neighborhood and is the city’s only nonprofit independent movie theater.
Credit: Ashley Anderson
Portland’s most famous movie theater hosts a wide array of festivals, events, trivia nights and more.
The historic Hollywood Theatre first opened its doors in 1926 as a 1,500-seat movie house and remains one of Portland’s most revered landmarks. However, with its wide variety of screenings, talks, festivals and game nights, it can be easy to miss out on some of the theater’s best entertainment if you aren’t following along. We’ve got you covered with a list of special events and cinema projects for this historic theater.
Festivals at Hollywood Theatre
Portland Latin American Film Festival
The Portland Latin American Film Festival showcases perspectives of Latin American culture through an annual exploration of Latin film and increases the visibility of Latin American cinema locally. These films have universal appeal and can be enjoyed by native Spanish, Portuguese, and English speakers and other lovers of Latin culture. To stay current on what films are currently screening, visit Hollywood Theatre’s website and social media.
Credit: Stuart Mullenberg
Events at Hollywood Theatre
B-Movie Bingo
If you love a low-budget action flick, this is the night for you. Every first Tuesday of the month at 7:30 p.m., Hollywood Theatre hosts B-Movie Bingo, a lively evening where participants compete for prizes by playing bingo to well-known movie plot clichés like “teamed up with rookie or animal.” Featured films include B flicks like Samurai Cop (1989) and The Killing Zone (1991).
Kung Fu Theater
Straight from the personal collection of Hollywood Theatre’s head programmer, Dan Halsted, Kung Fu Theater features rare 35 mm prints of Hong Kong cult classics from the 1970s and ’80s. Snake Deadly Act and Bloody Monkey Master are just a couple of titles you might see at a Kung Fu Theater screening.
Hollywood Theatre Outposts
Movie Madness
Most diehard Portland movie fans are familiar with the city’s iconic video store and mini film prop museum, Movie Madness. Founded in 1991 by Mike Clark, this Portland institution was purchased by Hollywood Theatre’s head programmer, Dan Halsted, and fellow film lover and former Movie Madness team member Chantell Halsted. After a successful Kickstarter campaign raising over $300,000, the Hollywood Theatre gained ownership of the historic Portland movie store. Boasting over 80,000 titles, Movie Madness has earned a reputation for its vast and in-depth film selection.
Hollywood Theatre at PDX
One of Hollywood Theatre’s most recent projects is a free, 17-seat micro-cinema at Portland International Airport (PDX). Passengers waiting to catch their flights can pop into the theater free of charge to check out one of the featured shorts by Oregon filmmakers.
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