AKRON, Ohio - In Downtown Akron’s historic Arts District sits an unassuming storefront at that houses a not-so-hidden gem that has become a staple of the Rubber City’s arts scene. The Nightlight Cinema at 30 N. High St, is currently a cozy 42-person single-screen movie arthouse that shows an impressive and carefully curated array of highfalutin’ arthouse films, future Oscar nominees and film festival winners, along with the occasional fun retro flick to tickle moviegoers’ nostalgia bones.
The Nightlight was born from a small group of cinema-loving University of Akron students who started the Akron Film Festival and then the non-profit Akron Film+Pixel. The group staged interesting events such as screening classic silent films with soundtracks provided by several local musicians and premiering films by area filmmakers in downtown spaces, including Summit Art Space, The Akron Art Museum and even the Akron Public Library.
The organization realized it needed a permanent space of its own and with help from a Knight Foundation grant, the group transformed a storefront into an arthouse cinema with high-quality popcorn, a well-stocked bar that serves themed co*cktails for each film, cozy seats and a pre-screening introduction for each film to give moviegoers some context for the film they are about to watch.
The theater’s audience has grown and diversified considerably over the years, according to Jenn Kidd, executive director and curator of films at The Nightlight, which is a part of its mission.
“I think there’s a wonderful balance and I think we’re able to speak to a lot of different audiences,” Kidd said, sitting in a chair in The Nightlights lobby.
“Our audiences grew last year and we hit record attendance. This year, we had 6,000 People come here just in January, February and, March, alone,” she said proudly.
In July, the non-profit movie house will celebrate its unlikely 10th anniversary and, if all continues to go well, will shortly thereafter debut its second screen, allowing it to widen its offerings and showtimes, provide better wheelchair access, and more space to host community events.
“There’s a lot of limitations with one screen. It’s actually harder to program with one screen because sometimes these movies are on the screen for two weeks, and we have to turn away a lot of stuff,” Kidd said.
“So there’s odd decisions that keep me up at night, like, which of these two movies do I choose? But with a second screen. It’s doubling capacity. It’s doubling our ability to show films, and we’re able to keep newer movies for longer,” she said.
The cinema has done steady and successful fundraising, including a Kickstarter campaign which surpassed its original goal of $50,000 by more than $15,000 and included donations from as far as The United Kingdom, Columbia and Poland.
Earlier in May, The Nightlight was awarded a $15,000 grant from the National Endowment of the Arts that will “support a series of curated film screenings and associated public programming presented by The Nightlight.”
Across its decade-long history, The Nightlight has screened more than 1,000 films and hosted more than 115,000 movie-goers. It has a membership club that is more than 400 strong and offers annual and monthly memberships at different price points and perks.
“Our mission is fostering community connection through cinema,” Kidd said.
“It started as bringing movies that wouldn’t otherwise be shown in Akron. Giving people here, a chance to experience something on the big screen. But really, it’s about connecting people and having conversations,” she said.
The community connection part of the mission includes fun activities such outdoor screenings in the nearby spacious parking lot, which began during the pandemic and have proven popular with movie fans and any folks who just want to watch “Dazed and Confused” or “Purple Rain” outside with a drink and some friends.
Kidd, an Akron resident, said the Rubber City’s arts and culture scene is underrated by many in the region.
“I think there’s so much cool stuff. I think there’s so much art that happens here that people don’t realize. I think there’s a lot of secret famous people who make art here that people don’t realize are from here,” she said.
“People talk about hidden gems and I don’t know if we’re as much of a hidden gem anymore, but there’s still a lot of people who haven’t found us yet that I welcome. You know what I tell people is, ‘You don’t have to be an expert. You don’t have to know somebody’s filmography, literally just come with an open mind, have a drink and enjoy something different to do,’” Kidd said.
In addition to its in-house screenings, throughout the summer, The Nightlight will be hosting “Throwback Thursday” movie nights at Downtown Akron’s Lock 3 Park amphitheater, and its “Cinema In The City” outdoor series will return with a new slate of films. The 2023 “Cinema in the City” series included screenings of “The Wiz,” “Twilight,” and Baz Luhrman’s Romeo + Juliet.” For more information about The Nightlight’s schedule and announcements, go to nightlightcinema.com.
Here are some of the films and events The Nightlight has planned throughout the summer:
Thursday, May 30: Science on Screen at The Nightlight featuring “The Stanford Prison Experiment” with guest speaker Jennifer Bazar, assistant director of the Cummings Center for the History of Psychology at the University of Akron.
Friday, May 31- “I Saw the TV Glow”: Teenager Owen is just trying to make it through life in the suburbs when his classmate introduces him to a mysterious late-night TV show — a vision of a supernatural world beneath their own. In the pale glow of the television, Owen’s view of reality begins to crack.
Friday, June 7: “Run Lola Run” 25th Anniversary - The beloved 1998 experimental thriller returns to the big screen.
Friday, June 14: 2024 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour -The 2024 Sundance Film Festival Short Film Tour is a 110-minute theatrical program of seven short films curated from the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, including three Festival Award-winning titles.
Friday, June 21: “Thelma” - When 93-year-old Thelma Post gets duped by a phone scammer pretending to be her grandson, she sets out on a treacherous quest across the city to reclaim what was taken from her.
June 29-30 and July 1: The Nightlight 10-Year Anniversary Celebration featuring ”Cinema Paradiso”, “Man Ray: Return to Reason”, and other surprises
July 3: “Kinds of Kindness” - Director Yorgos Lanthimos’ follow-up to “Poor Things,” also starring Oscar winner Emma Stone
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