Nights of Cabiria

Celebrate Art House Theater Day 2025 with the dazzling 4K restoration of one of cinema’s most poignant masterpieces: Nights of Cabiria, directed by the legendary Federico Fellini and starring the incomparable Giulietta Masina.

Masina delivers a career-defining performance as Cabiria, a spirited and big-hearted sex worker navigating the streets of Rome in search of love, dignity, and meaning. With each disappointment, Cabiria’s resilience and vulnerability shine brighter — a testament to the human capacity for hope in the face of heartbreak.

Winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Nights of Cabiria is a cornerstone of Italian neorealism infused with Fellini’s signature surrealist lyricism. This stunning new 4K restoration brings back the richness of its Roman nights, the expressive faces of its characters, and the unforgettable finale — one of the most quietly triumphant endings in film history.

Celebrate Art House Theater Day 2025 with the dazzling 4K restoration of one of cinema’s most poignant masterpieces: Nights of Cabiria, directed by the legendary Federico Fellini and starring the incomparable Giulietta Masina.
Masina delivers a career-defining performance as Cabiria, a spirited and big-hearted sex worker navigating the streets of Rome in search of love, dignity, and meaning. With each disappointment, Cabiria’s resilience and vulnerability shine brighter — a testament to the human capacity for hope in the face of heartbreak.
Winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Nights of Cabiria is a cornerstone of Italian neorealism infused with Fellini’s signature surrealist lyricism. This stunning new 4K restoration brings back the richness of its Roman nights, the expressive faces of its characters, and the unforgettable finale — one of the most quietly triumphant endings in film history.

  1. 12:30 pm
  2. 3:15 pm

Tomboy

Join us in celebrating Art House Theater Day 2025 with a special screening of Céline Sciamma’s powerful coming-of-age film Tomboy–a landmark work in contemporary queer and arthouse cinema.

A luminous exploration of gender identity and childhood, Tomboy follows 10-year-old Laure, who introduces himself as Mickäel after moving to a new neighborhood during summer break. As friendships blossom and playtime gives way to self-discovery, Laure navigates a world of freedom and tension that arises from living between gender expressions in a society still learning how to respond.

On this day dedicated to the power of independent and artist-driven film, Tomboy reminds us why arthouse theaters matter: they make space for stories that are deeply human.

Join us in celebrating Art House Theater Day 2025 with a special screening of Céline Sciamma’s powerful coming-of-age film Tomboy–a landmark work in contemporary queer and arthouse cinema.
A luminous exploration of gender identity and childhood, Tomboy follows 10-year-old Laure, who introduces himself as Mickäel after moving to a new neighborhood during summer break. As friendships blossom and playtime gives way to self-discovery, Laure navigates a world of freedom and tension that arises from living between gender expressions in a society still learning how to respond.
On this day dedicated to the power of independent and artist-driven film, Tomboy reminds us why arthouse theaters matter: they make space for stories that are deeply human.

  1. 1:00 pm
  2. 5:45 pm

Tangerine

Ten years ago, a wildly original, and unapologetically raw movie exploded onto the indie film scene–shot entirely on an iPhone and changing the rules of what independent cinema could look and feel like. This Art House Theater Day, we celebrate the 10th anniversary of Sean Baker’s Tangerine, a landmark in queer and DIY filmmaking. More details are to be announced, but the screening will also include exclusive content with Arthouse Theater Day Ambassador Sean Baker himself!

Set against the sun-soaked, neon-drenched streets of Los Angeles on Christmas Eve, Tangerine follows Sin-Dee and Alexandra–two Black trans sex workers and best friends–as they embark on a chaotic and deeply heartfelt odyssey through Hollywood in search of a little revenge. Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor give breakout performances that forever redefined representation and visibility on screen.

More than just a technical marvel or an underdog success story, Tangerine remains a vital portrait of friendship and life lived loud on the margins. On its 10th anniversary, it still feels as urgent as ever.

Ten years ago, a wildly original, and unapologetically raw movie exploded onto the indie film scene–shot entirely on an iPhone and changing the rules of what independent cinema could look and feel like. This Art House Theater Day, we celebrate the 10th anniversary of Sean Baker’s Tangerine, a landmark in queer and DIY filmmaking. More details are to be announced, but the screening will also include exclusive content with Arthouse Theater Day Ambassador Sean Baker himself!
Set against the sun-soaked, neon-drenched streets of Los Angeles on Christmas Eve, Tangerine follows Sin-Dee and Alexandra–two Black trans sex workers and best friends–as they embark on a chaotic and deeply heartfelt odyssey through Hollywood in search of a little revenge. Kitana Kiki Rodriguez and Mya Taylor give breakout performances that forever redefined representation and visibility on screen.
More than just a technical marvel or an underdog success story, Tangerine remains a vital portrait of friendship and life lived loud on the margins. On its 10th anniversary, it still feels as urgent as ever.

  1. 3:00 pm
  2. 8:00 pm

Pee-wee's Big Adventure

Pee-wee’s Big Adventure is turning 40, and you better believe we’re playing it!

Before the Large Marge nightmares, before the Alamo letdowns, before you learned what a “Pet-O-Rama” even was… there was the bike. And for Pee-wee Herman, the bike meant everything. Released in 1985 and directed by a then-unknown Tim Burton, Pee-wee’s Big Adventure is the movie that launched a thousand catchphrases, made breakfast machines cool again, and turned a gray-suited man-child with a red bowtie into a pop icon.

Co-written by Paul Reubens and the legendary Phil Hartman, the film is a candy-colored cross-country odyssey filled with ex-cons, cowboys, biker gangs, dinosaurs, and one very memorable basementless Alamo. As surreal as it is sincere, Big Adventure is a perfect mix of Burton’s gothic whimsy and Reubens’ manic, offbeat charm—an outsider comedy that became a generation’s inside joke.

Pee-wee’s Big Adventure is turning 40, and you better believe we’re playing it!
Before the Large Marge nightmares, before the Alamo letdowns, before you learned what a “Pet-O-Rama” even was… there was the bike. And for Pee-wee Herman, the bike meant everything. Released in 1985 and directed by a then-unknown Tim Burton, Pee-wee’s Big Adventure is the movie that launched a thousand catchphrases, made breakfast machines cool again, and turned a gray-suited man-child with a red bowtie into a pop icon.
Co-written by Paul Reubens and the legendary Phil Hartman, the film is a candy-colored cross-country odyssey filled with ex-cons, cowboys, biker gangs, dinosaurs, and one very memorable basementless Alamo. As surreal as it is sincere, Big Adventure is a perfect mix of Burton’s gothic whimsy and Reubens’ manic, offbeat charm—an outsider comedy that became a generation’s inside joke.

  1. 6:00 pm

Hard Eight

Long before the tracking shots and 70mm epics, Paul Thomas Anderson burst onto the scene with Hard Eight—a sleek, slow-burn neo-noir about lost souls who take us in…and the secrets they bring with them.

The legendary Philip Baker Hall stars as Sydney, a professional gambler with ice in his veins and a soft spot for the desperate. When he meets down-on-his-luck John (John C. Reilly), he offers him more than just a hand up—he offers him a future. But when a cocktail waitress (Gwyneth Paltrow) and a reckless criminal (Samuel L. Jackson) enter the mix, things unravel fast—and quiet dignity turns to blood-soaked reckoning.

Shot with precision and restraint, and humming with tension beneath every word, Hard Eight is a masterclass in economy, tone, and atmosphere. It’s PTA at his most subtle—and still unmistakably him.

Long before the tracking shots and 70mm epics, Paul Thomas Anderson burst onto the scene with Hard Eight—a sleek, slow-burn neo-noir about lost souls who take us in…and the secrets they bring with them.
The legendary Philip Baker Hall stars as Sydney, a professional gambler with ice in his veins and a soft spot for the desperate. When he meets down-on-his-luck John (John C. Reilly), he offers him more than just a hand up—he offers him a future. But when a cocktail waitress (Gwyneth Paltrow) and a reckless criminal (Samuel L. Jackson) enter the mix, things unravel fast—and quiet dignity turns to blood-soaked reckoning.
Shot with precision and restraint, and humming with tension beneath every word, Hard Eight is a masterclass in economy, tone, and atmosphere. It’s PTA at his most subtle—and still unmistakably him.

  1. 8:30 pm

CURRENT & UPCOMING SERIES

See All

SUPPORT THE FRIDA CINEMA

We are OC’s year-round film festival
COPYRIGHT ©THE FRIDA CINEMA 2025
TAX ID 27-0950151

SUBSCRIBE TO GET OUR NEWSLETTER

Sign up

(714) 285-9422
305 E. 4th Street Suite 100
Santa Ana, CA 92701