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Portland’s Hollywood Theatre
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
QDoc
QDoc began screening films in 2007, and today is the only festival in the United States dedicated exclusively to showing documentaries from LGBTQ+ filmmakers. In 2021, QDoc collaborated with Pride Northwest to celebrate the fest’s 15th year with PRIDE PICS, screening new and classic films at The Lot at Zidell Yards.
Portland Black Film Festival
The Portland Black Film Festival showcases the work of Black actors and filmmakers who are overshadowed in the predominantly white film industry. With multicultural perspectives through a cinematic medium, Black stars and filmmakers can share the scope of Black experiences in America in the form of visual art. The 2022 festival featured art from Toni Morrison, classic films like Blade starring Wesley Snipes, and many more historical films documenting our country’s videographic evolution. 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.
The Movie Quiz
The perfect night out for trivia and cinema buffs is here! As the name might suggest, The Movie Quiz is an evening of movie trivia for dedicated cinephiles. During the quiz, teams of one to four people are asked to solve visual puzzles and identify audio clips and movie montages. No phones are allowed, so make sure you and your teammates brush up on your film history before you arrive.
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
Credit: Ashley Anderson
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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