Cinema Paradiso, a 72-seat art house movie theater in downtown Hollywood, will soon be owned and managed by the Hollywood Art and Culture Center.
“Adding Cinema Paradiso is a bridge to expand our reach and presence in South Florida as a 50-year-old cultural institution that showcases all visual and performing arts,” said Jennifer Homan, executive director of the Hollywood Art and Culture Center, in a statement released Monday.
Cinema Paradiso will be The Center’s “dedicated theater for screenings of first run, arthouse and independent films,” said Homan. The Center takes over in June.
“As an organization celebrating our golden anniversary and looking to the future, we will continue to evolve and reimagine all that we do,’’ said Tim Curtin, chair of the Hollywood Art and Culture Center’s board of directors. “It is part of our own cultural renaissance which will be a wonderful gift to the community with the ability to deliver diverse programming, classes and workshops.”
Cinema Paradiso was previously operated by The Broward County Film Society, which produces the popular Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, which Center officials said will continue to operate Savor Cinema in Fort Lauderdale.
“Over the past decade, we have been proud of the programming we have presented at Cinema Paradiso and are thrilled to pass the baton to the Hollywood Art and Culture Center as they celebrate their 50th anniversary, cultivating art and cultural engagements in downtown Hollywood,” said Lisa Grigorian, president/CEO of the Broward County Film Society, in a statement.
Center officials said it will continue to collaborate with the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival and others film groups.
Among its first films under new management will be the premiere of Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme, “a dark tale of espionage following a strained father-daughter relationship within a family business.”
The screening and premiere reception is scheduled for June 6.
The Hollywood Art and Culture Center was founded in 1975 and is a non-profit organization “dedicated to showcasing the arts for all ages.” It is based in Hollywood.