By Gus Saltonstall
The new owner of the long-shuttered Metro Theater on the Upper West Side might not be hosting movies within its building in the immediate future, but they will be hosting a film series that includes other venues in the neighborhood.
The UWS Cinema Center, the nonprofit that recently purchased the former Metro Theater on Broadway between West 99th and 100th streets, announced this week a ten-film spring and summer pop-up screening series that begins in May and will last through September.
Several of the films will be shown on the Upper West Side, including at Symphony Space, JCC Manhattan, and an outdoor screening at Amsterdam and West 110th Street.
“The series is a small sample of the type of programming we are planning to have once our theater is ready to open,” says UWS Cinema Center President and co-founder Ira Deutchman in a news release. “We want to thank them [the organizations and venues that will host the screenings] for the warm welcome we have received. We hope to continue to work with these and other organizations in the future, to present a wide range of cinema on the Upper West Side.”
The film series will also include screenings in Harlem and on the Upper East Side.
The movies shown will be an array of films, “from Hollywood classics to indie visions, from a variety of countries and cultures, and aimed at a variety of age groups.”
As of Thursday, there are not specifics on the ticket pricing outside of the first screening on May 8 in Harlem, which will cost $15 for general admission, along with $7 reduced-price tickets. It is unclear at this time who qualifies for the reduced-price tickets.
A portion of the money raised by the screenings will go toward the cost of renovating the old Metro Theater building.
After completing the $6.9 million deal earlier this month to purchase the property, the UWS Cinema Center now needs to raise an additional $15 to $25 million to fully construct a new interior for the building and restore the outer facade.
All of the screenings in the series will include an introduction or a question and answer segment with special guests.
You can find out more about the full list of films and the dates of each screening — HERE.
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Where in Harlem?
Maysles Documentary Center
Great fund raising idea for long awaited films in the neighborhood . Count me in!
AMAZING NEWS! Thanks Gus!
So exciting! I love their approach to this roll out. It will take a while to get the theatre ready but we can rally around the spirit of it as a community starting now!
Great!
Yay!! Thank heaven it’s a theater!!
It would be great if they could get permission from NYC Parks to have movie nights at different areas of Riverside and Central Park this summer. It would give them an opportunity to promote their organization
Right. Central Park Film Frstivsl in August
could use help in movievselection
Brilliant move! This is a great way to build excitement and name recognition among the potential audience Even more important, it keeps the idea of a UWS Cinema Center in the consciousness of prospective donors.
Yay! Great local reporting as usual Gus. Our guy with his eye on the UWSide. I will also say that I have donated to Symphony Space, a great local cultural venue.
Could there be the possibility for a future partnership with the New Plaza Cinema group? NPC could benefit from access to larger spaces. While it may take years for the UWSCC space to become useable, now might be a good time for UWSCC & NPC to begin chatting…..IMHO.