Nightlight Cinema prepares to celebrate 10th anniversary by adding second screen

What started as a community formed around cinema will celebrate its 10th anniversary this summer.

The Nightlight Cinema, the city’s home for lovers of films – independent and otherwise – is adding a second screen and doubling the seating capacity.

“We will have the access to the space soon where it's going to go. And we're hoping to begin construction in July is my goal. Fingers crossed that we can begin construction," said Jenn Kidd, the theater’s executive director. “Our 10th anniversary is the weekend of June 29th, so we're doing June 29th, June 30th and July 1st.”

That second screen will serve as a place for pop-up screenings for a film community that’s shown a thirst over the years for productions that may not necessarily be considered mainstream.

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Kidd mentioned showings of four recently restored short films by French filmmaker Man Ray with newly scored music from Akron native Jim Jarmusch, his collaborator Carter Logan and their band SQURL as potential programming.

The new screening room will add 57 seats to the 44 existing at the Nightlight. Construction will come in two phases, with the first concentrating on getting the new screen up and running. The second phase includes a bar, along with a furnished film library for socializing.

“The Nightlight started as a film festival, grew into a physical space and we've had record attendance, record memberships, but really just there's a lot of opportunities,” Kidd said. “A lot of films that we haven't been able to show because we only have one screen, and we are ready to have just more options.”

Those choices will allow the theater to expand its audience.

In Kidd’s mind, attending a film at the Nightlight has always been more about the overall experience. It’s one that’s made an impact beyond Akron.

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“We have a lot of members in Cleveland, Lakewood. We have people from out of state who come here. We have a really big audience and it is just a different experience... We very carefully curate the films," she said. "We're very selective about what we choose. We have a lot of conversations about it. We make a drink special for each film. We come out and introduce each film. It's just a different experience.”

Which, perhaps, accounts for the success its had and that will be celebrated on its anniversary weekend with screenings of the classic “Cinema Paradiso,” which won the Oscar for best foreign language film in 1990 for its romanticizing of movies.

And, in an exclusive, the theater will screen the 4K restoration of eight-time Oscar-winner “Amadeus.” They will be the only theater outside of The Academy Museum of Motion Picture in Los Angeles to show it.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Nightlight Cinema in Akron plans summer expansion for 10th anniversary