Now Playing & Coming Soon

Certified Frida Favorite Jane Schoenbrun (We're All Going To The World's Fair, I Saw The TV Glow) is back with their latest mindf**k, Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma, starring the supernova duo of Hannah Einbender and Gillian Anderson! After years of slapdash sequels and waning fandom, the Camp Miasma slasher franchise is handed over to an enthusiastic young director for resurrection. But when she visits the original's star, a now-reclusive actress shrouded in mystery, the two women fall into a blood-soaked world of desire, fear, and delirium. Premiering at the Cannes Film Festival in 2026, the early reviews for Camp Miasma were passionate, promising a wildly entertaining exploration of the slasher film, erotic pleasure, and everything in between. The words "gonzo" and "pop art" were also being thrown around, which you know we love! Enhanced Accessibility: this film has Closed Captioning and Audio Description capability!

Some wrong turns last forever. We're getting lost with a one week run of the buzzy new horror-mystery film It Ends! A group of recent grads head out on a late night drive for grub, hoping to enjoy one final hangout before their paths diverge. Instead, they accidentally turn onto a never-ending, two-lane hellscape surrounded by untold horrors and cosmic forces beyond their understanding. Cramped together inside a Jeep Cherokee and with the miles stretching infinitely ahead, they face a choice: embrace their new existence or fight to escape it. Premiering at SXSW all the way in Spring of 2025, It Ends announced an exciting new voice in horror with its young director, Alexander Ullom. If you're a fan of the new trend of liminal horror films, this is right up your alley. This movie has Closed Captioning, Assisted Listening, and/or Audio Description!

Our four film retrospective on the films of Hungarian auteur Béla Tarr kicks off with a new restoration of his 2001 masterpiece Werckmeister Harmonies. One of the major achievements of twenty-first-century cinema thus far, this mesmeric parable of societal collapse is an enigma of transcendent visual, philosophical, and mystical resonance. Adapted from a novel by the celebrated writer and frequent Tarr collaborator László Krasznahorkai, Werckmeister Harmonies unfolds in an unknown era in an unnamed village, where, one day, a mysterious circus, complete with an enormous stuffed whale and a shadowy, demagogue-like figure known as the Prince, arrives and appears to awaken a kind of madness in the citizens, which builds inexorably toward violence and destruction. In thirty-nine of his signature long takes, engraved in ghostly black and white, Tarr conjures an apocalyptic vision of dreamlike dread and fathomless beauty.

An Ordinary Man Forced to Become An Extraordinary Hero. Join us at The Frida Cinema on September 9th as Nostalgic Nebula presents a 35th anniversary screening of The Rocketeer! Set against the backdrop of 1938 Los Angeles, the film follows stunt pilot Cliff Secord, whose life is turned upside down after he discovers a mysterious rocket pack that allows him to take to the skies. But with the FBI, mobsters, and Nazi spies all racing to claim the incredible invention, Cliff must become an unlikely hero to protect both the woman he loves and the future of aviation itself. Be sure to show up early for behind-the-scenes clips and answer trivia questions about The Rocketeer and your other favorite retro-futuristc movies!

It's Buddy time, folks! Remember Buddy? The bright orange unicorn and star of that classic childrens' television show who brought joy and life lessons into your living room? Inside the colorful world of "It's Buddy!", a group of children spend their days singing, dancing, and helping Buddy spread happiness. But when one child refuses to play along, Buddy is not pleased...he's not pleased at all.  From Casper Kelly, the creator of Too Many Cooks, comes this new hilarious, creepy, and downright disturbing descent into pop culture madness. It's Buddy! 

A family on the verge of a breakdown. Little Miss Sunshine, one of the biggest breakout indie hits of all time, is coming back to The Frida Cinema in a brand new 4K restoration! A family loaded with quirky, colorful characters piles into an old van and road trips to California for little Olive to compete in a beauty pageant. Featuring the all-star cast of Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Greg Kinnear, Alan Arkin, Paul Dano, and Abigail Breslin, Little Miss Sunshine is the kind of movie that makes you laugh until your sides hurt, then quietly punches you right in the heart. Don't miss it back on the big screen for its 20th anniversary!

A world-famous orchestra conductor discovers the brother he never knew he had: a school cafeteria worker who plays trombone in a local marching band. Detecting his brother's exceptional musical talent, he takes it upon himself to rectify the injustice of fate. This is The Marching Band, coming to The Frida Cinema starting on September 11th, 2026.  The film premiered at Cannes Film Festival and became a French box office sensation. Starring Benjamin Lavernhe (My Donkey, My Lover & I) and Pierre Lottin (The Stranger), the film is an equally dramatic and comedic crowd-pleaser!

Ngozi Onwurah’s radically ahead-of-its-time Afrofuturist vision Welcome II The Terrordome made history as the first theatrically distributed British feature directed by a Black woman, and thirty years later, it's coming back to the big screen in a brand new 4K restoration thanks to Janus Films. Largely dismissed upon its release by critics unable to see the urgency in its evocation of a gritty dystopia in which Black people have been relegated to living in a slum called the Terrordome, where simmering racial tension threatens to boil over in the wake of a young boy’s death. Onwurah’s fusion of political commentary and genre spectacle looks extremely prescient now, and her ability to build an entire cosmology that connects the history of slavery to present-day police brutality is nothing less than visionary.

Our Spielberg Summer series flies to Neverland with Hook, the once-maligned fantasy film that time has steadily re-appraised as one of Spielberg’s most heartfelt flights of imagination!!! When grown-up lawyer Peter Banning (the former Peter Pan) returns to Neverland after Captain Hook kidnaps his children, he must rediscover the boy he forgot in order to lead the Lost Boys and face his old enemy. Along the way, he’s guided by Tinker Bell (Julia Roberts), challenged by Captain Hook (Dustin Hoffman), and slowly drawn back into a world of belief. Initially met with mixed reception and criticized for its tone and excess, Hook has since been embraced by many as a deeply personal story about adulthood’s erosion of wonder and the struggle to reclaim it. Beneath the spectacle and whimsy is a film about imagination and the cost of forgetting how to play, revealing Spielberg’s enduring belief that growing up doesn’t have to mean letting go.

Cinematic Void is returning to The Frida Cinema to present Sofia Coppola’s haunting feature debut, The Virgin Suicides! When the five beautiful Lisbon sisters are raised under the watchful eye of their strict, overprotective parents, their mysterious lives become an object of fascination for the neighborhood boys. But after the youngest sister takes her own life, the family retreats further from the outside world, leaving the boys to piece together the tragedy unfolding behind the walls of the Lisbon home. Adapted from Jeffrey Eugenides’ acclaimed novel, The Virgin Suicides announced Coppola as a singular cinematic voice. Beneath its dreamy surface lies a deeply unsettling film about the impossibility of ever truly understanding someone else. 25 years later, it continues to entrance viewers worldwide. 

Our award-winning resident performance troupe K.A.O.S. returns for their celebrated all-costumed, all-choreographed, all-leg-kicking live shadowcast presentation of 1975 cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show, performed on stage in front of the film! Director Jim (Don’t squeeze the…) Sharman’s cult classic stars Barry Bostwick and Susan Sarandon as Brad and Janet, two virginal small-town lovers whose car breaks down in the shadows of a creepy old castle, where they encounter an odd collective of “unconventional conventionalists” gathered to witness transvestite scientist’s Dr. Frank-N-Furter’s latest creation – a muscular man named Rocky. As their innocence is lost, Brad and Janet meet a houseful of wild characters, including tap-dancing Columbia, rocking biker Eddie, and of course, the castle’s “Sweet Transvestite” himself, Frank-N-Furter! Adapted from the 1973 stage musical by Richard O’Brien, this glam cult classic is a cinematic experience unlike any other. Sing-along (and shout-along!) to The Rocky Horror Picture Show, a classic that still packs houses 50 years after its initial release! Get your tickets now before it sells out! Doors open at 11:00pm  Official K.A.O.S. preshow starts at 11:30pm!  Movie at midnight! SENSORY WARNING: Flashing Lights and Fog effects may be used during the event. This program is a venue rental engagement. The views and opinions expressed in this program do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of The Frida Cinema or its staff. Member discounts and Frida Cinema comp passes not valid. Enhanced Accessibility: this film has Closed Captioning and Audio Description capability!

The Frida Zinema, in partnership with Corazón for Cuba, present their second Fundraiser for the People of Cuba! As the United States’ economic embargo continues to tighten to maximum pressure and the case for military intervention on the island nation is unjustly made, the people of Cuba are left to fend for themselves. As of July 2026, Cuba has experienced three nation-wide blackouts, leaving its people in the dark with no access to essential medical facilities and supplies. Corazón for Cuba’s mission is to deliver critical medicine and humanitarian aid to the people who need it most. Where systems have failed and where hope feels distant, they act. Join us for a fundraiser and documentary screening at The Frida Cinema on Saturday, September 12th at 1:30 PM! After the screening, President and co-founder of Corazón for Cuba, Dennis Cudd, will be joining us for an in-person discussion on the situation and how his organization helps the Cuban people. All proceeds, including auction and ticket sales, will go to Corazón for Cuba and bringing essential aid into Cuba! More info on Corazón for Cuba This program is a venue rental engagement. The views and opinions expressed in this program do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of The Frida Cinema or its staff. Frida Cinema member discounts and comp passes do not apply.

You see them on the street. You watch them on TV. You might even vote for one this fall. You think they're people just like you. You're wrong. Dead wrong. John Carpenter's They Live is back at The Frida Cinema. When a down-on-his-luck drifter (wrestling legend Roddy Piper) finds a pair of sunglasses that reveal the hidden reality beneath our worlds, he decides it’s time to fight back. What follows is one of the most fun genre-blasting satire films of all time. The ultimate Reagan-era gut punch, They Live is a sci-fi cult classic that hides anti-capitalist fury beneath its B-movie surface. Oh, and it also features one of the greatest fight scenes ever committed to celluloid! 

Calling all Warriors, Furies, and Rogues out to play in the city of Santa Ana for a FanMail Cinema Club screening event of The Warriors (1979) on Sunday, September 13th! Doors: 5:30pm, cosplay contest and film at 7:00pm! The film follows members of a street gang known as The Warriors must fight their way from the Bronx to their home turf on Coney Island when they are falsely accused of assassinating a respected gang leader. Dress up like your favorite posse from the film for our The Warriors-inspired photo-op and a chance to win the cosplay contest! Themed vendors will be set-up by 5:30pm and after the film! Snag your $15 ticket before a rival snags your seat from under you! Can you dig it?

Twin Peaks: The Return, Part 15 Original Air Date: August 20, 2017 Several long-simmering threads take darker and more emotional turns as Nadine, Ed, Norma, Steven, and others reach moments of painful recognition or change. Mr. C continues pursuing his goals with frightening determination, while the ominous phrase “the dreamer” begins to resonate more strongly throughout the narrative. The episode is full of endings, thresholds, and the uneasy sense that something irreversible is approaching. Twin Peaks: The Return, Part 16 Original Air Date: August 27, 2017 A series of major turns reshapes the story’s direction as Janey-E, Sonny Jim, the Mitchum Brothers, and the FBI all find themselves pulled into events they could not have anticipated. Mr. C’s trajectory grows more perilous, and long-awaited movement in Cooper’s story brings a surge of emotion and momentum. After so much delay, uncertainty, and displacement, the episode feels electrifyingly alive. Twin Peaks: The Complete Series, our presentation of all three seasons of David Lynch’s acclaimed television show, continues with episodes screening every Sunday night through September 20th, 2026.

The Hustler isn't what he used to be. But he has the next best thing. A kid who is. The Color of Money, Martin Scorsese's electrifying sequel to The Hustler, is coming back to The Frida Cinema in a brand new 4K restoration to celebrate its 40th anniversary! Paul Newman (who won his long-awaited Oscar for this film) returns as “Fast” Eddie Felson, now a veteran pool player who spots raw talent in cocky young hustler Vincent, played by Tom Cruise, and decides to take him under his wing. Boasting Scorsese's kinetic direction and one of the coolest soundtracks of the '80s, The Color of Money is a swaggering portrait of mentorship and the thrill of the game.

The experimental new music-driven documentary, This Is Buzz, is coming to The Frida Cinema! And stick around afterwards as we are joined for a special in-person Q&A with director Mark Pellington (The Mothman Prophecies, I Melt With You). The film illustrates the tale of the seismically influential, yet somehow forgotten, MTV slice of life docuseries BUZZ, which only ran for 13 episodes in 1990. The show took an experimental approach to uncovering often undiscussed corners of global life. With fast-paced edits giving the show an avant-garde feel, the series would tackle specific subjects with each entry. This dream-like almost subliminal feel pre-dated the media oversaturation we feel today as we are drawn to a constant conveyor belt of content on platforms like TikTok and Instagram which act to familiarize us with cultures around the world. And on top of it all, RuPaul was the show’s host!

Paris Is Burning is coming back to The Frida Cinema as part of our Nu-Classics series, hosted by Maggie Mae Fish! And this month, her guest is Kat Blaque! Stick around after the film for a conversation between the two of them!  Where does voguing come from, and what, exactly, is throwing shade? This landmark documentary provides a vibrant snapshot of the 1980s through the eyes of New York City’s African American and Latinx Harlem drag ball scene. Made over seven years, Paris Is Burning offers an intimate portrait of rival fashion “houses,” from fierce contests for trophies, to house mothers offering sustenance in a world rampant with homophobia and transphobia, racism, AIDS, and poverty. Featuring legendary voguers, drag queens, and trans women, including Willi Ninja, Pepper LaBeija, Dorian Corey, and Venus Xtravaganza, Paris Is Burning brings it, celebrating the joy of movement, the force of eloquence, and the draw of community.

Just added: legendary LA Times columnist Gustavo Arellano will be joining us in person to introduce the screening on Wednesday, September 16th @ 7:30PM! Mexico’s most iconic concert comes to U.S. theaters on September 15th and 16th, celebrating Mexican Independence Day and commemorating the 10th anniversary of Juan Gabriel’s passing. It's Juan Gabriel: Mi Primer Bellas Artes! Experience his legendary first performance at Mexico City’s “Palacio de Bellas Artes” in 1990—a landmark event that forever transformed Mexican music. More than three decades later, this historic concert returns in a special theatrical release with newly restored picture and sound, plus an exclusive new opening featuring never-before-seen rehearsal footage from Juan Gabriel’s personal archive that offers a unique glimpse into the making of this unforgettable night. Every song, every standing ovation, and every iconic moment has been revitalized, allowing longtime fans and new audiences to experience this extraordinary performance like never before. Celebrate the timeless legacy of Juan Gabriel on the big screen in this once-in-a-generation cinematic event.

It's a million dollars worth of adventure! Our Classic Movie Nights series sets sail with the swashbuckling Errol Flynn classic Captain Blood! Peter Blood, a wrongfully convicted Irish physician, is sentenced to slavery in the Caribbean after being accused of treason. But when he is purchased by the beautiful Arabella Bishop, Blood escapes captivity, takes command of a pirate ship, and sets out on a life of adventure on the high seas. Captain Blood is the film that transformed Errol Flynn into an international movie star, launching one of the great screen careers of Hollywood's Golden Age. Directed by Michael Curtiz (Casablanca, White Christmas), this rousing 1935 adventure is a landmark of the classic Hollywood swashbuckler. Sword fights, romance, pirates...it's got it all!  Please make sure to get to this showtime early, as our beloved Marketing Director, Bekah, will be doing a pre-screening presentation on the film! 

An adventure 65 million years in the making. Our Spielberg Summer series is taking a trip to Jurassic Park, the groundbreaking blockbuster that made audiences believe...and then run for their lives. When a billionaire philanthropist unveils a revolutionary theme park filled with genetically resurrected dinosaurs, a small group of experts is invited to preview the island before opening day. But when the park’s security systems fail, paleontologists Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern), along with mathematician Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), are forced to survive a prehistoric nightmare unleashed by the follies of human ambition. A landmark in visual effects and suspense filmmaking, Jurassic Park remains one of cinema’s great “how did they do that?” experiences. Spielberg blends awe and terror in perfect balance, expanding his horizons to new themes that he would explore even more more in the second half of his career.

See It On 16mm is back at The Frida to unspool the 1933 adventure classic King Kong! Adventurous filmmaker Carl Denham sets out to produce a motion picture unlike anything the world has seen before. Alongside his leading lady Ann Darrow and his first mate Jack Driscoll, they arrive on an island and discover a legendary creature said to be neither beast nor man. Denham captures the monster to be displayed on Broadway as King Kong, the eighth wonder of the world. Over 80 years later, King Kong has been remade and ripped off a hundred times over, but nothing can ever compare to the original! See it where it deserves to be seen: on the big screen!

There are no clean getaways. Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive is back at The Frida to celebrate its 15th anniversary with some very special In Remembrance screenings for Kavinsky, whose iconic song “Nightcall” helped define the film’s unforgettable neon-noir atmosphere. Ryan Gosling stars as The Driver, a quiet Hollywood stuntman who moonlights as a getaway driver and finds himself pulled into a dangerous world of criminals and forbidden romance. Directed by Nicolas Winding Refn and featuring Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, Albert Brooks, Oscar Isaac, Christina Hendricks, and Ron Perlman, Drive has been electrifying audiences at The Frida Cinema for over a decade since we first played it. And most of that can be attributed to the film's brilliant soundtrack, which is a synth-soaked masterpiece featuring artists like Kavinsky, Chromatics, Desire, College & Electric Youth, and Cliff Martinez.

Hope, the wild new sci-fi epic from The Wailing director Na Hong-jin, is coming to The Frida Cinema! In the remote South Korean village of Hope Harbor, police chief Bum-seok and officer Sung-ae are called to investigate a mysterious creature wreaking havoc on the community. But all is not as it seems, and perceptions can be misleading. What begins as ignorance plants the seed of disaster, escalating through human conflict into a tragedy of cosmic proportions. Starring Hwang Jung-min, Zo In-sung, Hoyeon, Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, and Taylor Russell, Hope is a sprawling, genre-bending monster movie that mixes Korean thriller intensity with wild sci-fi spectacle. The film premiered in Competition at Cannes, where it received a six-minute standing ovation, and has already been hailed for its ferocious action and audacious filmmaking.

Join us Film Fest 255: Presented by Santa Ana College, a night of short films by local student filmmakers! The lineup includes the short films: Repertory, Room Tone, Vanishing Moonlight, The Search, Sunnyville, and The Breakthrough! Tickets to this event are $15. Frida Cinema member discounts and comp passes do not apply. This program is a venue rental engagement. The views and opinions expressed in this program do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of The Frida Cinema or its staff.

Some legends really bite. Ken Russell season continues at The Frida, as we are presenting a late night 0ne-off of The Lair of the White Worm on September 18th!  This deliriously unhinged adaptation of Bram Stoker's final novel follows a young archaeologist who uncovers the skull of a mythical serpent. Of course, it awakens an ancient evil and its seductive priestess, Lady Sylvia Marsh. That old story!  Starring Amanda Donohoe, Hugh Grant, Peter Capaldi, Catherine Oxenberg, and Sammi Davis, The Lair of the White Worm is Ken Russell at his most gloriously deranged, and that's really saying something! British folk horror, pagan mythology, sexual decadence, surrealist imagery, pitch-black comedy...it's the perfect Friday night flick! 

On Saturday, September 19th, starting at 2PM and going allllll the way to midnight, The Frida Cinema is proud to partner with local film fanatic Matthias Avina to present Matthias Fest, a five film marathon made completely free to the community thanks to the fest's namesake!  Doors open at 1:30PM, and the first film begins at 2:00PM! You can get a free ticket for the entire marathon (titled Full Marathon Pass at checkout) or just grab a single ticket to just one free screening! The lineup and schedule is as follows: 2:00PM - Dog Man (89 min) 4:00PM - Muppets From Space (87 min) 6:00PM - Who Framed Roger Rabbit (104 min) 8:00PM - Pee-Wee's Big Adventure (91 min) 10:00PM - Seed of Chucky (87 min) Each film will begin right on time, with allotted breaks between. Don't miss this eclectic lineup on the big screen, totally for free!

We're presenting the brand new 4K restoration of Letty Lynton, starring the incomparable Joan Crawford, on September 19th! And joining us for a special pre-screening introduction for the film will be Kim Luperi, the co-author of the TCM/Running Press book Pre-Code Essentials: Must-See Cinema from Hollywood’s Untamed Era, 1930-1934!  Socialite Letty Lynton is returning to New York, abandoning one-time lover Emile Renaul in South America, when she strikes up a shipboard romance with Jerry Darrow. Renault is waiting for her in New York and will not leave her alone, so she poisons him. When detectives take her to the D.A.'s office, Jerry cooks up an alibi. After a 1936 copyright lawsuit found that MGM had plagiarized the play Dishonored Lady, the studio was barred from distributing the film. Unlike most "lost" films, Letty Lynton survived physically, but it was effectively unavailable legally for about 90 years. That long absence turned it into a holy grail for classic film fans. Join us in celebration!

Every man fights his own war. Frida Cinema Film Club members are invited to very exclusive screenings of a new 4K restoration of Terrence Malick's 1998 wartime masterpiece The Thin Red Line! The story of a group of men, an Army Rifle company called C-for-Charlie, who change, suffer, and ultimately make essential discoveries about themselves during the fierce World War II battle of Guadalcanal. It follows their journey, from the surprise of an unopposed landing, through the bloody and exhausting battles that follow, to the ultimate departure of those who survived. Featuring Sean Penn, Jim Caviezel, Adrien Brody, Nick Nolte, Ben Chaplin, George Clooney, John Cusack, Woody Harrelson, John C. Reilly, Elias Koteas, and John Travolta, The Thin Red Line is an incredible mix of visceral combat photography and Malick's signature eye for nature. Hans Zimmer's haunting score tops everything off, making it a transcendent meditation on humanity and violence that goes way beyond the "war movie" genre. 

Twin Peaks: The Return, Part 17
Original Air Date: September 3, 2017

As the series heads into its endgame, Cooper, the sheriff’s department, and the Blue Rose team all converge around long-hidden truths and immediate threats. Familiar faces from across the saga reappear as the story reaches toward resolution, and the line between supernatural conflict and personal reckoning grows increasingly thin. (Can you tell we've tried to be as spoiler-free as possible with all of our episode synopses?)

Twin Peaks: The Return, Part 18
Original Air Date: September 3, 2017

All good things come to an end, and the same can be said for one of the greatest television shows ever. The final chapter follows Cooper and a surprise companion into a haunting, uncertain space where identity, memory, and reality itself become unstable. Old places return in altered form, familiar questions take on new weight, and the series abandons any expectation of a tidy farewell. Rather than fully closing the book on Twin Peaks, Part 18 leaves it echoing with mystery befitting the vision and style of its celebrated director.

This year's Art House 101 series is concentrating on Global Queer Cinema, and where better to start than the 4K restoration of Wong Kar Wai’s emotionally raw, lushly stylized portrait of a relationship in breakdown: Happy Together. Hong Kong superstars Tony Leung and Leslie Cheung star as a couple traveling through Argentina that are locked in a turbulent cycle of infatuation and destructive jealousy. They break up, make up, and fall apart again and again. Setting out to depict the dynamics of a queer relationship with empathy and complexity on the cusp of the 1997 handover of Hong Kong, when the country’s LGBT community suddenly faced an uncertain future, Wong crafts a feverish look at the life cycle of a love affair that’s by turns devastating and deliriously romantic. Shot by legendary cinematographer Christopher Doyle in both luminous monochrome and luscious saturated color, Happy Together is a beautiful exploration of displacement and desire.

An entire civilization must confront its destiny in alternative-animation pioneer René Laloux’s final feature, Gandahar, a cult classic of mind-bending science fiction that has been restored in 4K thanks to fine folks at Janus Films!  In a distant world, a merciless army of automata attacks Gandahar, turning its peace-loving people to stone. Hoping to discover the source of these Men of Metal, a council of matriarchs enlists the brave yet inexperienced warrior Sylvain (Pierre-Marie Escourro), who, while journeying through his planet’s outer regions, teams up with the Deformed, a race cast out from Gandahar after failed science experiments rendered them mutants. Soon, Sylvain learns that a gargantuan brain called Metamorphis (Georges Wilson) is responsible for his utopian society’s strife, and together with the beautiful Airelle (Catherine Chevallier), travels through time to defeat him, in the process risking their lives and Gandahar’s very existence. Featuring stunningly surreal creatures and wondrously bizarre environments designed by renowned comic-book artist Caza, Gandahar is a visceral, visionary head-trip in which animation opens a gateway to the furthest reaches of the imagination.

Our first Volunteer of the Month pick for September comes from Sophia T, who has chosen the 1963 musical Bye Bye Birdie! Based on the beloved Broadway musical, this '60s classic follows rock 'n' roll heartthrob Conrad Birdie as he heads to a small Ohio town for one last televised kiss before being drafted into the Army, throwing the entire town into a frenzy of teenage rock 'n' roll mayhem. Starring Ann-Margret, Dick Van Dyke, Janet Leigh, Bobby Rydell, Paul Lynde, and Maureen Stapleton, Bye Bye Birdie is a colorful, energetic blast of early-'60s pop culture packed with unforgettable songs!

Come celebrate the new movement of young filmmakers devouring the medium with their intense, cinematic visions with this double feature of two bold, boundary pushing, & incendiary debut feature films that compliment each-other: the hot-boiled angst of the timely ABRAXAS (Written, Directed, Edited, & Starring Charles Tyler Kinder) & the synthetic, neon-drenched, liminal nightmare fuel that schizoids out of the screen into your senses with FaceTape (Written, Directed, Edited, Shot, Sound Designed by Manny Liotta). Made in unison with each other with a blend of cast members between the two films, this is a double feature that you won't walk away from feeling the same as when you entered the theater!  ABRAXAS (85 min): Struggling to complete his college thesis, a frustrated environmentalist starts to receive “divine inspiration” which liberates him from writer’s block. However, as his ideas intensify, he spirals into a dangerous fixation, crafting an enraged manifesto against techno-industrial civilization. Watch the trailer for it here!  FaceTape (84 min): A junkie decides to come clean from abusing an analog VR drug called FaceTape only to find his life outside of his addiction is far from stable. Watch the trailer here! There will be a 10 minute intermission between each film and an introduction by the filmmakers! 

How many times does it take to steal the same diamond? Our Hallucinations series is getting heisty as we present the 1972 classic The Hot Rock!  Robert Redford stars as John Dortmunder, a professional thief who assembles a motley crew to steal a priceless diamond from the Brooklyn Museum...only for the heist to go spectacularly, hilariously wrong. Based on Donald E. Westlake's novel and scripted by William Goldman, this caper is classic '70s New York fun. In peak '70s heartthrob mode, Robert Redford is the real hot rock here, putting yet another effortlessly cool performance onto his resume. Also starring George Segal, Ron Leibman, Paul Sand, Moses Gunn, and Zero Mostel, it's wildly entertaining caper from director Peter Yates (Bullitt) with a screenplay by the legendary William Goldman. What else could you possibly want!?

You want. He wants. She wants. But nobody wants what I want. Our second Volunteer of the Month pick for September 2026 comes courtesy of Amrut, who has chosen Todd Solondz's hilarious and deeply uncomfortably 1998 film Happiness, which we are presenting in a brand new 4K restoration thanks to Universal Pictures! The story follows three sisters and the increasingly troubled people orbiting their lives, leading to a brutally funny look at the desperate search for connection in suburban America. The less plot explained about this one...the better! Featuring Jane Adams, Dylan Baker, Lara Flynn Boyle, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Cynthia Stevenson, Happiness is a fearless portrait of how disturbing things can get when you're searching for the purpose of life.

Our fuzzy overlords return to the big screen with CatVideoFest 2026! What's CatVideoFest? Well...it's a compilation of the latest and best cat videos culled from countless hours of unique submissions and sourced animations, music videos, and classic internet powerhouses. Each year, across the country, local theaters partner with nearby cat-focused charities, animal welfare associations and shelters alike, donating a portion of ticket proceeds from every show goes directly to local cats in need.  This year, The Frida Cinema is partnering with local org Smitten With The Kittens, who will receive 20% of all tickets sold, plus will be taking additional donations in our lobby! 

Portal to Hell, the new indie horror gem, is coming to The Frida Cinema! And stick around the screening for a Q&A with writer/director Woody Bess and producer Lucas Ford! After a debt-collector finds a portal to hell in a washing machine at his local laundromat, he’s propositioned into feeding it sinners to save his neighbor’s soul, maybe even at the expense of his own. Check out the trailer below and come see it on the big screen!

From critically acclaimed filmmaker Andrew de Burgh (The Bestowal, The Twisted Doll) comes a love story inspired by Hollywood classics like Notting Hill, Casablanca, and La La Land! The Jazz Club tells the story of Jimmy, a jazz club owner, and Sarah, an advertising executive, who meet on the eve of their one year anniversary with opposing intentions. Starring Cayman Cardiff (National Lampoon's Alpha Academy) and Marie Elizabeth DeWitt (The Dreamer Cinderella), the film also features makeup design by Brittany Jamison-Lackey (Bridgerton) and sound design by Steve Campagna (Stranger Things).  This program is a venue rental engagement. The views and opinions expressed in this program do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of The Frida Cinema or its staff. Frida Cinema member discounts and comp passes do not apply.

Get ready to relive one of the most iconic moments in dance and pop-culture history as Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo returns to the big screen for a special 42nd Anniversary Celebration at The Frida Cinema on Thursday, September 24! Join us for a celebration of the film, the culture, the music, and the legendary performers who helped bring breaking and street dance into the global spotlight. The evening will feature a rare and exciting live appearance by director Sam Firstenberg, alongside legendary co-star Michael “Boogaloo Shrimp” Chambers, one of the most recognizable dancers to emerge from the golden era of breaking and street dance. The special event will be hosted by Vashawn Quinones, the son of the late co-star Alfonso “Shabadoo” Quinones, bringing together fans, dancers, filmmakers, and longtime supporters of the culture for an unforgettable night. Audiences will have the opportunity to experience Breakin’ 2: Electric Boogaloo exactly where it belongs: on the big screen, surrounded by people who understand its cultural impact. From its unforgettable dance sequences and larger-than-life characters to its infectious soundtrack and unmistakable 1980s energy, the film remains a beloved piece of dance-film history more than four decades after its original release. Following the screening, attendees will be treated to a live Q&A with Sam Firstenberg and Michael “Boogaloo Shrimp” Chambers, offering a unique opportunity to hear firsthand stories from the people who were there when this landmark film was created. Event Schedule: 5:30 PM — Doors Open 6:00 PM — Showtime & Frida Cinema Staff Opening Message 7:35 PM — Live Q&A with Sam Firstenberg & Michael “Boogaloo Shrimp” Chambers Whether you grew up watching Breakin’ 2, discovered it through the breaking community, or simply love the films that helped define an era, this 42nd Anniversary Celebration is an opportunity to experience the Electric Boogaloo phenomenon all over again, with two of the people who helped make it happen!

PULP: What Do You Do For An Encore? captures PULP during their 2025 tour, combining footage from their ingenious live show with four decades of never-before-seen archival material.  Directed by longtime collaborator Garth Jennings and narrated by frontman Jarvis Cocker, the film traces the band’s circuitous journey from Sheffield outsiders to unlikely cultural icons. One night only. Tickets are $15. Show starts at 9:00PM. 

Based on the beloved fantasy novel by Peter S. Beagle, 1982’s The Last Unicorn is a beautiful - and beautifully strange - animated fantasy. The film follows a solitary unicorn (Mia Farrow) who learns that she may be the last of her kind. Setting out to find other surviving unicorns, she encounters bumbling magician Schmendrick (Alan Arkin) and spirited Molly Grue (Tammy Grimes), who join her on a journey that leads to the castle of the sinister King Haggard (Christopher Lee). Featuring iconic storybook animation by Rankin/Bass, The Last Unicorn has endured as a singular cult classic, equally beloved as a cherished family favorite and a genuinely strange piece of 1980s fantasy. Part of our Unsung 80's Soundtracks series, The Last Unicorn's is built around an unlikely collaboration between composer Jimmy Webb and the the harmony-rich folk-rock of America, who perform the film’s songs. Webb wrote the score as well as the songs, including the haunting title track, “The Last Unicorn,” which became one of America’s most enduring songs from the film. America also performs “Now That I’m a Woman,” “In the Sea,” and “That’s All I’ve Got to Say,” while Webb’s orchestral score gives the film much of its wistful, dreamlike quality. A ’70s soft-rock trio scoring an animated medieval fantasy may seem like an unlikely pairing, but somehow, it works perfectly.

Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Gilda Radner, Victor Garber, Paul Shaffer, and other entertainment icons got their start in a 1972 Toronto production of the musical Godspell. You Had to Be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution...is the documentary that lived to tell the tale!  Featuring interviews with the surviving cast members, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mike Myers, and more, the film recounts a pivotal moment in comedy history, in hilarious, moving, and inspiring detail. 

Join us for the Orange County premiere of Skweezy Jibbs Makes a Movie with the man himself, Skweezy Jibbs, live in person! Be among the first people to see the movie, and stay after for an exclusive Q&A with Skweezy himself as he keeps going on his US tour. One night only! Get your tickets before they're gone! Oddball internet legend Skweezy Jibbs is making the movie of his dreams. Unfortunately for him, he's got no money, no experience, no skill, and no filmmaking talent. When his controlling mother gets involved, Skweezy is forced to confront the very essence of who he is. GA Doors open at 7:00PM and the show starts at 7:30PM! Tickets are $20 to this event. Frida Cinema comp passes and member discounts do not apply.

We are paying our respects to horror legend Reggie Bannister with a one night only screening of Don Coscarelli's horror classic Phantasm! Like The Shining and Dawn of the Dead, Phantasm is a cerebral nightmare that we never want to end. Written, produced, directed, shot, and edited by Don Coscarelli when he was only 23-years-old, the movie follows a group of small-town friends as they battle the "Tall Man"—a mysterious force of cosmic horror who wields flying silver murderballs. This Lovecraftian vortex deftly combines gothic horror, surrealism, and a killer prog rock score into a concoction that horror fans have never stopped worshipping. Thanks to a stunning restoration and 5.1 surround sound mix produced by J.J. Abrams's Bad Robot and Coscarelli, Phantasm has never looked or sounded better.

Welcome back to the movies. The infamous Yakirama returns for its third installment, and this year's destined to be the biggest one yet! What is Yakirama? It's a four-movie marathon hosted by your friends at Super Yaki, the internet's third-favorite movie merch shop. Join us for four different crowd pleasers projected on the big screen like god intended. You'll laugh. You'll cry. You'll scream. Prepare yourselves for an experience no one should miss. This is the super Yakirama! The lineup is a mystery, for now, so get your early bird secret marathon passes for $20 before the price goes up! VIP passes are also discounted before the lineup is revealed, and include 30 minutes of early access to get your favorite seat plus a special goodie bag of Super Yaki swag! Tickets to this event are $20 and get you access to all four films. Member discounts and Frida Cinema comp passes not valid. VIP doors open at 11:00AM. GA doors opens at 11:30AM. There will be a 15 minute intermission between each film.

Join us for the Side B Film Showcase, featuring a collection of short films created by Side B, an emerging independent film team based in Southern California. Side B is an independent film team pushing for new ideas in an anti-original landscape, with the goal of creating stories that move people and encourage creativity for all ages and generations to come. The lineup of shorts includes Ain’t Found a Way to Kill us Yet, Pink & Blue, The Line Between, (R)elapse, Never Take us Alive, and more! These short films were created over the past two years with the help and support of many friends, family members, and collaborators who have been an important part of Side B’s journey. We are incredibly grateful to everyone who has supported us along the way and are excited to share these films with our community. We hope you enjoy the showcase! Doors open: 3 pm Show starts: 4 pm Tickets: $8. Frida Cinema member discounts and comp passes do not apply. This program is a venue rental engagement. The views and opinions expressed in this program do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of The Frida Cinema or its staff.

Something has survived. Our Spielberg Summer series ventures to The Lost World: Jurassic World, the oft-maligned sequel to the 1993 classic. When mathematician Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) is pulled back into the dinosaur project after a second island is discovered, he joins a rescue expedition that quickly becomes a fight for survival as corporate greed and apex predators collide. What begins as a mission of observation spirals into full-scale chaos when dinosaurs prove, once again, who is higher on the food chain. Darker and much more unruly than its predecessor, The Lost World: Jurassic Park explores the consequences of trying to manage wonder once it’s been unleashed. Spielberg leans into scale and spectacle, building some of the best set pieces of his career, each more intense than the last.

One...last...plan. Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie is back for yet another late night party screening at The Frida Cinema! As the long-gestating feature expansion of the cult Canadian series Nirvanna the Band the Show, created by and starring Matt Johnson and Jay McCarrol, the film continues the misadventures of the two best friends. As relentlessly delusional Toronto musicians, their main goal in life is to “play a show at the Rivoli.” When their plan goes horribly wrong, Matt and Jay accidentally travel back to the year 2008. Like the series, the movie blurs fiction and reality, staging elaborate public pranks with unsuspecting bystanders while escalating the characters’ schemes to increasingly absurd and self-destructive extremes. If you love comedy that feels like it might collapse at any second, or perhaps maybe even get its creators thrown in jail, boy do we have a movie for you and your friends to come see!

Fall in love all over again with Anora, the Palme d'Or and Oscar-winning film from writer/director Sean Baker (Tangerine, The Florida Project, Red Rocket). On Oscar night in 2025, Anora shook up the entire movie world as it took home fiveAcademy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress In A Leading Role, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Editing!  Anora, a young sex worker from Brooklyn, gets her chance at a Cinderella story when she meets and impulsively marries the son of an oligarch. Once the news reaches Russia, her fairytale is threatened as the parents set out for New York to get the marriage annulled. This pick comes via our Box Office Manager, Oldboy, who has chosen it as his Staff Pick for the month of September 2026! Come join us and re-visit this new-age classic on the big screen! 

Join us for unique film festival that showcases themes of mental health, created and curated by a practicing therapist! Film is a force that can unite people, especially those struggling with mental health issues and those who seek to better understand these issues. "Film gives a voice to those who might not otherwise be heard" Our film festival showcases and celebrates films that address topics of mental illness and/or are written, directed, or produced by champions who struggle with mental illness. We are honored to screen these brave stories. This program is a venue rental engagement. The views and opinions expressed in this program do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of The Frida Cinema or its staff. Frida Cinema member discounts and passes do not apply.

Our Sunday Scaries series, presented by Play It By Fear, has joined our September calendar with a fun new idea. Pay $5, show up, and we'll play you a super Secret $5 Movie! And make sure to stick around after the film and get tickets to another super Secret $5 movie!  Take a chance on something spooky! The movies are at 3:00PM and 5:00PM, and ticketed separately.

Board the submarine Nautilus and plunge into a strange undersea world of spellbinding adventure as we kick off our Walt Disney Studies series with 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea! This evening's event will be hosted by Jeff Kurtti with a post-screening presentation by Disney Historian Kevin Kidney! Kirk Douglas, Paul Lukas, and Peter Lorre star as shipwrecked survivors taken captive by the mysterious Captain Nemo, brilliantly portrayed by James Mason. Wavering between genius and madness, Nemo has launched a deadly crusade across the seven seas. But can the captive crew expose his evil plan before he destroys the world? Disney's brilliant Academy Award®-winning (Best Art Direction and Best Special Effects) adaptation of Jules Verne's gripping tale makes 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea a truly mesmerizing masterpiece, his first feature in the widescreen CinemaScope process!

The second feature directed by Todd Haynes,the Oscar-nominated filmmaker of Far from Heaven and Carol, Poison is the next film up in our Art House 101: Global Queer Cinema series. This groundbreaking American Indie was the most fervently debated film of the early 1990s and a trailblazing landmark of queer cinema. A work of immense visual invention, Haynes’ spectacular follow-up to his legendary Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story is audacious, disturbing and thrillingly cinematic. Inspired by the writings of Jean Genet, Poison deftly interweaves trio of transgressive tales-“Hero,” “Horror” and “Homo”-that build toward a devastating climax. “Hero,” shot in mock TV-documentary style, tells a bizarre story of suburban patricide and a miraculous flight from justice; “Horror,” filmed like a delirious ’50s B-movie melodrama, is a gothic tale of a mad sex experiment which unleashes a disfiguring plague; while “Homo” explores the obsessive sexual relationship between two prison inmates. A runaway hit which made national headlines when it was attacked by right-wing figures including Dick Armey, Ralph Reed and minister Donald Wildmon, Poison is unsettling, unforgettable and thoroughly entertaining.

A mid-career masterwork by legendary Hungarian art house auteur Béla Tarr and the first of his internationally acclaimed trilogy of films written in collaboration with author László Krasznahorkai (including the legendary Sátántangó), Damnation is the second film in our Béla Tarr Retrospective. The film chronicles the doomed affair between bar Titanik regular Karrer (Sátántangó’s Miklós B. Székely) and the cruel cabaret singer (Vali Kerekes) he pines for while scheming to displace her brutish husband (György Cserhalmi). A poignant Communism allegory that solidified Tarr’s unique aesthetic, Damnation is photographed in an exquisitely black & white palette underscored by the mesmerizing long takes that would come to be his trademark.  Damnation has been restored in 4K from the original 35mm camera negative by the Hungarian National Film Institute Film Archive under the supervision of Béla Tarr himself.

Get ready for a Guillermo del Toro comic book double feature featuring Blade II and Hellboy II: The Golden Army, hosted by our buddy Jordan Morris!  First up, Wesley Snipes goes full vampire-hunting badass as Blade, forced to team up with his sworn enemies to battle a terrifying new breed of vampire. Then, after a ten minute intermission, Ron Perlman's beloved Hellboy returns alongside Liz and Abe Sapien to stop an ancient prince from unleashing an unstoppable army of supernatural creatures. Both films were directed by del Toro, showcasing the monster-loving imagination that would go on to define one of cinema's most distinctive auteurs. Two comic-book classics. Two armies of monsters. Two awesome movies. Don't miss these bad boys on the big screen!

KCTV AV Club is sponsoring a very special 30th anniversary of director Tom Hanks' That Thing You Do!  A Pennsylvania band scores a hit in 1964 and rides the star-making machinery as long as it can, with lots of help from its manager. But behind the scenes, the group’s sudden fame tests their strength, their maturity and responsibility, and their ability to resist the temptations that money and notoriety always make possible. That Thing You Do! has evolved the last three decades from a modest box office disappointment to beloved, wholesome cult classic that's best enjoyed on the big screen with fellow fans of the film! Don't miss it! This will be the Theatrical Cut of the film that runs 108 minutes.

They came. They Shopped. They saved the world! See It On 16mm is back at The Frida to unspool the 1984 sci-fi horror cult classic Night of the Comet! When a mysterious comet passes close to Earth, nearly everyone on the planet is reduced to piles of red dust...or transformed into bloodthirsty zombies! Among the few survivors are Valley Girl sisters Regina and Samantha, who emerge from their steel-lined shelters to find Los Angeles completely deserted.  Zombies, machine guns, deserted malls, killer ’80s fashion, and a killer soundtrack...what else do you want from a movie!?

Come one, come all to an evening of voodoo, vampires, revenge, and bloody burlesque as The Frida Cinema is teaming up with Peepshow Menagerie and Anastasia & Richard Elfman to present a ghoulish double feature extravaganza of 1990's Frankenhooker and 2024's Bloody Bridget!  Frankenhooker: A grief stricken med student builds the perfect woman from dead prostitutes...then discovers his resurrected bride has a killer mind of her own. Bloody Bridget: Richard Elflman’s wild, soon to be released, vampire burlesque horror/comedy. “Sucking blood only whets her appetite, she must eat their beating hearts!" Make sure to get there early for the first feature, as we have the Peepshow Menagerie pre-show, a burlesque performance from Pinky Petite as Frankenhooker, AND as an introduction for the film by Fangoria writer Pat Jankiewicz! And then, after Frankenhooker and a brief intermission, there will be live music by Richard Elfman and his band as well as a very special burlesque act by Anastasia Elfman! And finally, after both films, there will be a very special Q&A with Anastasia & Richard Elfman!

The Frida Cinema welcomes back Richard Elfman's unforgettable midnight movie Forbidden Zone! When a suburban family discovers a portal beneath their home, they're swept into a surreal underground world packed with musical numbers, bizarre royalty, outrageous comedy, and unforgettable creatures in one of the most audacious cult films ever put on screen. Get there early, as there will be a special pre-show dance number by the incredible Anastasia Elfman as well as some other special surprises TBA! 

Calling all blondes!  Join us for Julien Temple's gloriously goofy 1988 sci-fi musical Earth Girls Are Easy - a true essential in our Unsung 80's Soundtracks series! Geena Davis stars as Valerie, a manicurist whose boring life takes an unexpected turn when a a trio of extraterrestrials crash-lands in her San Fernando Valley swimming pool.  Played by Jeff Goldblum, Jim Carrey, and Damon Wayans, the three furry E.T.'s are soon given a makeover by Valerie and her ultra-bubbly best friend Candy (Julie Brown, who also served as co-screenwriter), and given the new names of Mac, Wiploc, and Zeebo. Valerie takes them out into the strange world of late-’80s Los Angeles, where they quickly discover the pleasures of Earth life, from dancing to romance to surfing to - why not? - even a couple of musical numbers. Loaded with some of the era’s most recognizable alternative and new-wave sounds by British punk provocateur and music-video director Temple, Earth Girls Are Easy feels like a two-hour mixtape from the end of the 1980s.  The soundtrack features the B-52’s, The Vandals, The Cramps, Devo, The Go-Go’s, and The Tubes, along with original songs performed by the film’s cast. The soundtrack was released as a companion album in 1988, and has become a sonic time capsule of the late-’80s neon, campy, "far out" alternative scene.

Our Walt Disney Studies series is headed down the rabbit hole as present a brand new 4K restoration of the original 1951 classic Alice in Wonderland! And make sure to get their early as our host for the evening, Jeff Kurtti, will be giving a very special presentation before the film! In this beloved and oft-filmed story, bored young schoolgirl Alice falls down a rabbit hole and lands in a strange world where nonsense rules. She encounters “curiouser and curiouser” characters as she travels through Wonderland, trying to learn the logic of the place and find her way out. Made under the supervision of Walt Disney himself, Alice in Wonderland and its animation are often regarded as some of the finest work in Disney Studio history, despite the lackluster, even hostile, reviews it originally received, though it did receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Score! In the presentation “Walt in Wonderland”, Jeff Kurtti tells the story of Walt Disney’s lifelong affection for the Lewis Carroll heroine, and how the stories wove a pathway through a lifetime of Disney projects, from the 1923 Disney “Alice in Cartoonland” shorts to coming to life in Disneyland.

Our Hong Kong Action Essentials series is  growing larger, darker, and more operatic with each and every chapter. There's no better example of this with our special double feature of A Better Tomorrow II + A Better Tomorrow III! Directed by John Woo, A Better Tomorrow II picks up in the aftermath of betrayal and loss, following survivors pulled back into a violent underworld they can’t escape. As old wounds reopen and new alliances form, the film pushes themes of brotherhood and sacrifice to even more operatic extremes, all building toward action staged on a mythic scale. And then after a quick 10 minute intermission...Tsui Hark’s A Better Tomorrow III rewinds the clock, re-centering the saga around the rise of its most iconic figure amid political upheaval and shifting power structures. Steeped in romantic fatalism, this prequel is less about crime than about identity and the cost of survival. There will be a ten minute intermission between each film. One ticket gets you access to both movies! Our Hong Kong Action Essentials series explores the time from the mid-’80s through the early ’90s, where Hong Kong filmmakers rewrote the grammar of action cinema forever. Directors like John Woo, Tsui Hark, Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Ringo Lam, and Lau Kar-Leung fused balletic gunplay, risky stunts, martial arts virtuosity, and raw emotional intensity into a new cinematic language that would be oft-imitated but never replicated. (sorry, The Matrix, we love you too!) Join us every month in 2026 as we explore this golden age where style and emotion collided to change movies forever.

Our Art House 101: Global Queer Cinema series is continuing its journey around the world with a landmark of contemporary African cinema: Rafiki. When Kena and Ziki, the daughters of two rival politicians in Nairobi, meet and fall for each other, their friendship quickly blossoms into something deeper. But in a country where homosexuality remains criminalized and deeply stigmatized, their romance threatens to upend not only their families’ political ambitions, but their own lives. As the two young women attempt to carve out a space for themselves, they’re forced to confront a world that refuses to accept their love. Directed by Wanuri Kahiu, Rafiki is a defiantly joyful story of young queer love. Bursting with an undeniable sense of youthful possibility, Kahiu’s film finds beauty and resilience in the simple act of falling in love.

DancinDan Productions and Daryl Roth announce the premiere of Bea Arthur: The Documentary - "I've Done Everything Except Porn", a new documentary offering an intimate look at the life and career of Emmy and Tony Award-winning performer Bea Arthur. And stick around after the film for a Q&A with director/producer Dan Watt!   The film is built around a never‑before‑seen interview with Arthur, paired with new conversations from colleagues and friends who worked alongside her throughout her remarkable career. From her early days at The New School, to her groundbreaking work in off‑Broadway, Broadway, cabaret, and television, the documentary traces Arthur’s evolution into one of entertainment’s most distinctive voices.   Audiences will revisit her iconic roles as Maude and Dorothy Zbornak on The Golden Girls, her Tony‑winning turn as Vera Charles in Mame, and her decades‑long advocacy for the LGBTQ+ community. The film reveals the Bea Arthur few ever saw: sharp, compassionate, fiercely intelligent, and deeply committed to the causes she championed.   Produced by 2024 Emmy Award–winner Dan Watt and Tony & Pulitzer Prize-winner Daryl Roth, the documentary celebrates a woman whose career defied expectations and whose influence continues to resonate across generations.

Our Art House 101: Global Queer Cinema series continues with two groundbreaking films that explore queer identity through radically different perspectives: Ma Vie en Rose + Je Tu Il Elle. First, Ma Vie en Rose follows Ludovic, a young child who knows from an early age that she wants to live as a girl. As Ludovic begins expressing her identity more openly, her family and suburban community struggle to understand, and ultimately accept, the person she knows herself to be. Director Alain Berliner approaches Ludovic’s story wutg  a child’s-eye sense of wonder, creating a tender portrait of gender identity that refuses to treat its protagonist as anything less than fully herself. Then, Frida Faorite Chantal Akerman’s Je tu il elle offers a starkly different vision of queer desire. Akerman stars as a young woman who retreats into isolation following a breakup, spending her days alone before embarking on a journey that brings her into encounters with a truck driver and, ultimately, her former lover. Deeply intimate, the film turns sexual identity into an intensely physical cinematic experience. Together, these two movies offer two radically different visions of queer self-discovery but are ultimately united by their belief in the power of seeing and accepting oneself on your own terms. There will be a 10 minute intermission between the movies. One ticket gets you access to both films.

Our Classic Movie Nights series is entering the halls of Hill House with the terrifying 1963 version of The Haunting! Dr. John Markway assembles a small group of guests to investigate the notoriously haunted Hill House, a sprawling mansion with a dark history of death and tragedy. Among them is Eleanor Vance, a shy and emotionally fragile woman who soon finds herself increasingly convinced that the house has chosen her as its next victim. Directed by Robert Wise, The Haunting is widely regarded as one of the greatest haunted house films ever made, creating terror almost entirely through suggestion and atmosphere rather than explicit horror. With its disorienting camera work and unsettling sound design, the movie has survived as one of the most genuinely spooky movies ever made! Please make sure to get to this showtime early, as our beloved Marketing Director, Bekah, will be doing a pre-screening presentation on the film! 

Gather 'round the campfire for a night full of shrieks and creeks as our annual all-night horror movie marathon Camp Frida returns for its 10th and BEST year yet on Oct 17th with a packed, top-secret lineup that we've dubbed Camp Frida X!  While the movies are a secret, we can reveal that this year will truly be a Graveyard Bash, complete with themed goodies/drinks, exclusive merch, vendors, photo ops, and many more surprises in store! GA Tickets: $40 (full access to our all-night marathon with GA doors opening at 3:30PM!) VIP Tickets: $60 (full access to our all-night marathon with VIP early access doors opening at 3:00PM, free coffee, and a special Camp Frida goodie bag!) Tickets go on sale August 26th @ 11:00AM and will sell out fast! Frida Cinema member discounts and comp passes do not apply. 

It'll come as no surprise to any Jonathan Demme fan to find one of his films in our Unsung 80's Soundtracks series. From the filmmaker who gave us Q Lazzarus’ “Goodbye Horses,” Bruce Springsteen’s Oscar-winning “Streets of Philadelphia,” and, of course, the electrifying sounds of Talking Heads in Stop Making Sense, comes 1986's Something Wild, a quirky romantic comedy that gradually turns into...well, something quite wild. Jeff Daniels stars as Manhattan businessman Charles Driggs, a relatively square individual whose uneventful life is upended when he meets the mysterious and free-spirited Lulu (Melanie Griffith). After she impulsively “kidnaps” him from a restaurant, the two head out on a road trip that becomes increasingly unpredictable adventure when they cross paths with Lulu’s dangerous ex-husband, Ray Sinclair (Ray Liotta). Funny, sexy, strange, and surprisingly unsettling, Something Wild is one of the great genre-shifting movies of the 1980s, and an early showcase for the late, great Liotta. Demme fills his film with a remarkably eclectic mix of ’80s new wave, punk, rock, and pop, featuring Talking Heads, New Order, The Feelies, The Pretenders, and others. The music doesn't simply serve as background decoration; it helps chart the film’s transformation from playful road movie to something darker. The soundtrack was released as a compilation alongside the film, and like so much of Demme’s work, it reflects a director with an unusually sharp ear for music, and a knack for finding exactly the right song for the moment.

Funeral Parade Of Roses is the next film in our Art House 101: Global Queer Cinema series! In the neon-lit underworld of 1960s Tokyo, Funeral Parade of Roses follows Eddie (played by gender-nonconforming pop icon Pîtâ), a young transgender nightclub performer navigating love, identity, and rivalry in the city's queer nightlife scene. As Eddie rises in popularity at a gay bar called Genet, she becomes entangled in a love triangle with Gonda, the bar’s manager, and Leda, her older rival and Gonda’s lover. An electrifying and groundbreaking brew of French New Wave, underground documentary, and psychedelic experimentalism, Funeral Parade Of Roses has always been a favorite for audiences at The Frida Cinema! 

After a decade of silence...the buzz came back. HorrorBuzz is slicing up our October lineup with a 40th anniversary party of unhinged insanity: Tobe Hooper’s gloriously deranged sequel The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2! When late-night DJ Stretch accidentally records a pair of murders committed by the Sawyer clan, she teams up with the unhinged Lieutenant “Lefty” Enright (a chainsaw-wielding Dennis Hopper in one of the wildest performances of his career). Their mission: descend into the Sawyer family’s subterranean lair of meat, madness, and twinkling Christmas lights to put an end to the carnage once and for all. Horror Movie Night takes filmgoing to another level with a full night of entertainment, including a themed HMN Video Pres-how, Trivia, Games, Prizes, and another outstanding horror short from HorrorBuzz’s The Screaming Room Film Festival at Midsummer Scream. Doors open and video pre-show video begins promptly at 7:30 pm. Games, prizes, and short film begin at 8:00PM. Feature starts at 8:30PM. This program is a venue rental engagement. The views and opinions expressed in this program do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of The Frida Cinema or its staff.

Up next in our Walt Disney Studies series is a pair of remarkable documentaries from renowned director Leslie Iwerks that tell the story of Disneyland in two directions: the influence of film design professionals on the building of Disneyland, and how Disneyland has in turn impacted and influenced film professionals over seven decades. And during the interval between the features, there will a discussion moderated by Disney Historian Jeff Kurtti. Disneyland Handcrafted documents the exhilarating year that gave rise to The Happiest Place on Earth. Assembled entirely from rare archival footage and original audio recordings, this film reveals the extraordinary artistry, grit and pressure it took hundreds of craftspeople to build Walt Disney's impossible dream into a reality, from groundbreaking to Opening Day. Disney Worldbuilders goes behind-the-scenes of how movies and franchises such as Frozen, Zootopia, and more are turned into immersive worlds across the global Disney parks. James Cameron, Kevin Feige, Jon Favreau, Pete Docter, Jennifer Lee and Jared Bush are among the filmmakers who feature in the documentary. Jeff Kurtti is the most prolific nonfiction author in Disney history, with more than 40 volumes to his credit over 25 years. A leading authority on The Walt Disney Company, its founder, and its history, Kurtti is also a writer-director of award-winning documentary content, and a respected public speaker. He was creative director, content consultant, and media producer for The Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco, and a producer of The Boys: The Sherman Brothers’ Story, a critically acclaimed documentary about the famed songwriters. In June 2024, Kurtti was appointed Presidential Fellow in Walt Disney Studies at Chapman University in Orange, CA. All schedule details and speaker lineups are tentative and subject to change without notice.

Continuing our journey through the many forms Queer Cinema can take, The Frida Cinema is proud to present Kantemir Balagov’s devastating postwar drama: Beanpole. In the ruins of Leningrad just after the end of World War II, two young women struggle to rebuild their lives after serving together on the front lines. Iya, a physically imposing nurse known as “Beanpole,” suffers from mysterious seizures that leave her incapacitated, while her fiercely determined friend Masha returns from the war carrying a secret that binds their futures together. As the two women attempt to find some semblance of normalcy amid the devastation, their intense and often volatile relationship becomes the center of their shattered world. Winner of the Best Director prize in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes, Balagov’s Beanpole is a haunting portrait of survival. Less explicitly queer as some of the other films in this series, this is an overwhelming portrait of two women searching for connection in a world that has been almost completely destroyed.

Our Walt Disney Studies series continues on November 1st with a very rare screening of Swiss Family Robinson! And as an added bonus, special guest Kevin Kidney will be giving a special post-screening presentation entitled "A Swiss Family Robinson Adventure"! This spectacular screen version of the literary classic is full of breathtaking South Seas scenery, exotic animals and treacherous pirates. The heroic tale chronicles the courageous exploits of the Robinson family after they are shipwrecked on a deserted island. Using teamwork and ingenuity, they skillfully overcome the obstacles of nature and transform their new home into a "civilized" community. But the ultimate challenge comes when a band of cutthroat pirates threatens to destroy the Robinsons' impromptu paradise. "A Swiss Family Robinson Adventure": Kevin Kidney shares his research on the creation of Swiss Family Robinson, from its initial production to his personal journey to find and explore the original filming locations—including the castaway island and the legendary tree house.

Our Spielberg Summer series turns its attention to one of the most powerful and influential war films ever made with Saving Private Ryan, a landmark achievement that forever changed how combat is portrayed on screen. In the aftermath of the D-Day invasion, Captain John Miller (Tom Hanks) and his squad are assigned an extraordinary mission: locate Private James Ryan (Matt Damon), whose brothers have all been killed in action, and bring him home. As the soldiers journey deeper into war-torn France, the mission forces each man to confront difficult questions about the value of a single life amid unimaginable loss. Famous for its visceral opening depiction of Omaha Beach, Saving Private Ryan goes far beyond just technical brilliance. Spielberg combines staggering realism with his signature humanism, creating a film that honors both the chaos of war and the ordinary people "asked" to endure it.

Our Art House 101: Global Queer Cinema series is headed to the Philippines for one of the most daring and influential films in the country’s queer cinema history: Macho Dancer. After being expelled from the military, a young man named Pol leaves his provincial home for Manila, where he finds work as a macho dancer in a seedy nightclub. But beneath the glitter and spectacle of the club lies a dangerous world of exploitation, drugs, prostitution, and corruption. As Pol becomes increasingly entangled in the lives of the men and women around him, his search for survival becomes inseparable from a society rotting beneath the surface. Directed by Lino Brocka, one of the giants of Philippine cinema, Macho Dancer is a provocative film about sexuality and political oppression. Made during the final years of Ferdinand Marcos’ dictatorship, Brocka uses the world of male sex work to expose the desperation and corruption of a society where virtually everything, including the concept of desire itself, can become a commodity. Come support this landmark of Filipino queer cinema and a powerful act of cinematic resistance on the big screen.

"Get the funk up!" Our Unsung 80's Soundtracks series continues with Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman - or what happens when a movie studio also owns the recording contract of a pop superstar! One of the defining films of its decade, Batman stars Michael Keaton as billionaire Bruce Wayne, who secretly spends his nights stalking the streets of Gotham City as the costumed vigilante Batman.  As Batman closes in on dastardly villain Joker (Jack Nicholson, oozing charismatic menace), he also finds himself drawn to photojournalist Vicki Vale (Kim Basinger). With Burton’s gothic visual style, Danny Elfman’s soaring score, and Oscar-winning Art Direction-Set Decoration by Anton Furst and Peter Young, Batman proved that a comic-book movie could be dark, stylish, and strange, while also humorous and wildly entertaining. Batman is something of an unusual entry in the soundtrack canon, with two very different albums coming out of the film. Danny Elfman’s orchestral score became one of the most recognizable superhero themes ever written, while Prince was brought in to create a separate album of songs inspired by the film. The resulting Batman soundtrack became a massive commercial success, spending six weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, and spawning hits including “Batdance,” “Partyman,” and “Scandalous.” The album was conceived around the Joker and Vicki Vale, with Burton reportedly giving Prince a rough cut of the film to inspire the songs. Elfman’s score and Prince’s album rarely appear together in the film, but both became essential parts of the movie’s identity, making Batman one of the biggest soundtrack phenomena of the 1980s.

Our Spielberg Summer series ventures off-path and into the Fall as we visit the future in A.I. Artificial Intelligence, a haunting Science Fiction fairy tale that stands among the director’s most ambitious and deeply misunderstood works. In a world where advanced robots live alongside humans, a young android named David (Haley Joel Osment) is programmed with the ability to love. When he is abandoned by the family he was created to join, David embarks on an extraordinary journey to become “real,” believing it is the only way to win back the affection he longs for. Originally developed by Stanley Kubrick and ultimately realized by Spielberg, A.I. is an unsettling vision of technological loneliness. Over two decades later, its questions about what it means to love feel more relevant than ever, revealing a far more profound than many audiences recognized upon its release.

The penultimate film in our Hong Kong Action Essentials series is Bullet In The Head, which also happens to be our final John Woo film in the series, as well. There's no better way to end his chapter in this lineup than with his most brutal and personal film to date. Three friends fleeing Hong Kong after a violent crime find themselves trapped in the chaos of the Vietnam War, where their loyalty and morality are tested beyond repair. What begins as a desperate bid for escape descends into a harrowing portrait of friendship under unimaginable pressure. As war strips away ideals and innocence, the bonds between the men fracture, leading to betrayals that cut deeper than any bullet. Fueled by rage and grief Bullet in the Head trades balletic elegance for raw emotional devastation. This is heroic bloodshed turned inward, and a legendary filmmaker pushing himself into completely new territory. Our Hong Kong Action Essentials series explores the time from the mid-’80s through the early ’90s, where Hong Kong filmmakers rewrote the grammar of action cinema forever. Directors like John Woo, Tsui Hark, Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Ringo Lam, and Lau Kar-Leung fused balletic gunplay, risky stunts, martial arts virtuosity, and raw emotional intensity into a new cinematic language that would be oft-imitated but never replicated. (sorry, The Matrix, we love you too!) Join us every month in 2026 as we explore this golden age where style and emotion collided to change movies forever.

Few filmmakers have embraced queer desire with as much style, humor, and glorious melodrama as Pedro Almodóvar. So of course we had to include his work in our Art House 101: Global Queer Cinema series! We've played the hits before, so now we're diving headfirst into one of his earliest and most deliriously queer films: Law of Desire. Pablo Quintero is a successful filmmaker whose latest movie has just premiered to acclaim, but his personal life is considerably less orderly. His former lover has disappeared from his life, his trans sister Tina is dealing with her own complicated romantic history, and a handsome young admirer named Antonio has become dangerously obsessed with him. When Pablo rejects Antonio’s advances, desire quickly curdles into jealousy...and so much more. Made just a few years after Spain emerged from Franco’s dictatorship, Law of Desire finds Almodóvar throwing open the doors to a world of queer sexuality, gender fluidity, artistic ambition, and unapologetic excess. Anchored by unforgettable performances from Eusebio Poncela, Carmen Maura, and Antonio Banderas, the film is a feverishly funny and dare we say...very sexy. Don't miss your chance to see it on the big screen!

Our Classic Movie Nights series is getting real screwy as we present the Katharine Hepburn/Cary Grant comedy classic Bringing Up Baby! David Huxley, a mild-mannered paleontologist on the eve of marrying his longtime fiancée, has his carefully ordered life thrown into complete disarray when he crosses paths with the wildly unpredictable Susan Vance. After Susan mistakes him for a zoologist, the pair become entangled in a series of increasingly ridiculous mishaps involving a tame leopard named Baby. Starring Grant and Hepburn at their most effortlessly hilarious, Bringing Up Baby is one of the defining films of Hollywood's screwball comedy era. Howard Hawks' knack for balancing plates during the escalating absurdity (and of course the chemistry of the two legendary leads) make it a timeless comedy that must be seen on the big screen! Please make sure to get to this showtime early, as our beloved Marketing Director, Bekah, will be doing a pre-screening presentation on the film! 

What would you do if were framed for a murder…you had not committed yet? The penultimate film in our Spielberg Summer series is the Tom Cruise-starrer Minority Report, a dazzling Sci Fi Thriller that imagines a world where crime can be stopped before it happens. In Washington, D.C., of 2054, police captain John Anderton (Tom Cruise) leads a revolutionary unit that uses psychic visions to arrest murderers before they commit their crimes. But when Anderton himself is identified as a future killer, he goes on the run, determined to uncover the truth behind a system he once believed was infallible. Based on the novel by Philip K. Dick, the film combines breathtaking action, Noir intrigue (something you'd think would be in more Spielberg projects), and startlingly prescient ideas about surveillance and predictive technology, making it one of smartest blockbusters of the 21st century.

One of the greatest achievements in recent art house cinema and a seminal work of “slow cinema,” Sátántangó, based on the book by László Krasznahorkai is the third film in our Béla Tarr Retrospective. The film follows members of a small, defunct agricultural collective living in a post-apocalyptic landscape after the fall of Communism who, on the heels of a large financial windfall, set out to leave their village. As a few of the villagers secretly conspire to take off with all of the earnings for themselves, a mysterious character, long thought dead, returns to the village, altering the course of everyone’s lives forever. Shot in stunning black-and-white by Gábor Medvigy and filled with exquisitely composed and lyrical long takes, Sátántangó unfolds in twelve distinct movements, alternating forwards and backwards in time, echoing the structure of a tango dance. Tarr’s vision, aided by longtime partner and collaborator Ágnes Hranitzky, is enthralling and his portrayal of a rural Hungary beset by boozy dance parties, treachery, and near-perpetual rainfall is both transfixing and uncompromising.  Sátántangó has been justly lauded by critics and audiences as a masterpiece and inspired none other than Susan Sontag to proclaim that she would be “glad to see it every year for the rest of [her] life”. Sátántangó has been restored in 4K from the original 35mm camera negative by Arbelos in collaboration with The Hungarian Filmlab.

For the next film in our Art House 101: Global Queer Cinema series, we’re looking through the eyes of a filmmaker who brought her own cultural experience to a story about family, identity, and falling in love: Alice Wu’s Saving Face. Wil is a successful young surgeon living in New York’s tight-knit Chinese-American community, where her single life is already a source of concern for her traditional mother. But when her mother unexpectedly becomes pregnant and is sent to live with Wil, the pressure to maintain the family’s reputation only intensifies. Then Wil meets Vivian, a beautiful and openly queer ballet dancer, and finds herself falling in love, forcing her to choose between the expectations placed upon her and the life she actually wants. Drawing from her own experiences as a queer Chinese-American woman, Alice Wu’s Saving Face is a deeply personal romantic comedy about the complicated ways sexuality shape who we allow ourselves to become. With its charming performances and refusal to choose between cultural tradition and queer identity, Wu created a film that understands that sometimes the hardest person to come out to is yourself.

As we turn the corner towards the end of our Art House 101: Global Queer Cinema series, we’re celebrating one of the essential voices of contemporary queer cinema with a double feature from French filmmaker Céline Sciamma: Water Lilies + Tomboy. Sciamma’s debut feature, Water Lilies, plunges into the charged world of teenage desire, where a sexual awakening can feel impossibly intense. When Marie befriends Floriane, the star of a local synchronized swimming team, she becomes fascinated by her new friend, even as Floriane’s complicated relationship with her own sexuality begins to blur the boundaries between admiration and desire. Then, in Tomboy, Sciamma turns her gaze toward gender identity through the eyes of a ten-year-old child. After moving to a new neighborhood, Laure introduces herself to the other children as “Michaël,” beginning to navigate friendships, play, and first love while keeping her secret from her family. What begins as a simple childhood game gradually becomes a tender exploration of discovering who you might be. Long before Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Sciamma was already making some of the most quietly radical films about queer desire and identity. This double feature is an exemplary early showcase of her extraordinary talent. There will be a 10 minute intermission between the movies. One ticket gets you access to both films.

Plunging into the 1970s Berlin underground, this unforgettable portrait stands as one of the most harrowing films ever made about drug addiction. Based on the true story of Christiane Felscherinow, whose shocking memoir made her the face of a generation of troubled German youth, this bracing dramatization follows the alienated thirteen-year-old Christiane (Natja Brunckhorst) as she goes from popping pills to shooting heroin amid West Berlin’s infamous club scene. An instant cult sensation on account of its authentically grimy location shooting and electrifying soundtrack by David Bowie, Christiane F. (original title: Christiane F.: Wir Kinder vom Bahnhof Zoo) remains a haunting vision of a young life in free fall. As part of our Unsung 80's Soundtracks series, we will be presenting Janus Films' new 4K digital restoration, approved by director Uli Edel, featuring a new 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack. The soundtrack album is essentially a David Bowie compilation created around the film, rather than a conventional original film score. Bowie also recorded the German-language version of “Heroes,” “Helden,” specifically for the German market/film connection. Bowie also appears as himself in concert footage, and his music is deeply woven into the film's atmosphere and Christiane's obsession with him. This film contains mature themes and intense subject matter that may be triggering for some viewers. Viewer discretion is advised.

The final film in our Béla Tarr Retrospective is The Turin Horse, his 2011 swan song. Inspired by the legendary 1889 incident where philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche witnessed a cab driver whipping a stubborn horse in Turin, Italy, and collapsed after embracing the animal. The film tracks the bleak, repetitive daily survival of the aging driver, his daughter, and their horse amid a relentless windstorm. Declared by Tarr as his final feature film, it is celebrated as a masterpiece of modern minimalist cinema and long-take cinematography. Don't miss this new restoration on the big screen! 

Our Spielberg Summer series concludes with some post-Thanksgiving screenings of War of the Worlds, his hauntingly realistic reinvention of a Sci Fi classic that transforms an alien invasion into a terrifying story of survival. When colossal extraterrestrial machines suddenly emerge from beneath the Earth and begin annihilating entire cities, divorced dockworker Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) is forced to protect his children as civilization collapses around them. As humanity struggles to comprehend the scale of the catastrophe, Ray’s desperate journey becomes a fight not to save the world, but simply to keep his family alive. Released in the shadow of a newly changed America, War of the Worlds channels post-9/11 anxieties into some of the most intense and visceral spectacle of Spielberg’s career. Stripping away triumphalism in favor of fear, the film stands as one of his darkest works. It's a reminder that even at his most pessimistic, Spielberg never loses sight of the human beings at the center of the story, making it the perfect film to conclude our 14 film retrospective of his work. 

Our Walt Disney Studies series charters new territory with a double feature of the 2008 documentary Walt & Grupo, followed by the 1942 short film Saludos Amigos in an evening we're calling South of the Border with Walt Disney! And during the interval between the features, a discussion and Q&A with the director, Theodore Thomas, will be hosted and moderated by Disney Historian Jeff Kurtti. Walt & El Grupo: It was 1941, a critical time for the world and for the Walt Disney Studio. When the U.S. Government asked Walt to be a cultural ambassador to South America, the stage was set for his very own real-life adventure. With a group of handpicked artists, later called "El Grupo," Walt's road trip achieved the impossible: goodwill. And in the process, it paved the way for two classic Disney films, Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros. Saludos Amigos: A whimsical blend of live-action and animation, Saludos Amigos is a colorful kaleidoscope of art, adventure and music set to a toe-tapping samba beat. From high Andes peaks and Argentina's pampas to the sights and sounds of Rio de Janeiro, your international traveling companions are none other than those famous funny friends, Donald Duck and Goofy. They keep things lively as Donald encounters a stubborn llama and "El Gaucho" Goofy tries on the cowboy way of life...South American style.

The penultimate film in our Art House 101: Global Queer Cinema series is Joyland, Saim Sadiq’s tender, quietly radical portrait of family and the complicated ways we perform the roles society gives us. Haider lives with his wife and extended family in Lahore, where everyone seems to have a carefully prescribed role, especially the men. When Haider secretly takes a job as a backup dancer for an erotic theater troupe, he meets Biba, a magnetic transgender performer, and the two begin a relationship that forces Haider to confront desires he has spent his life suppressing. Meanwhile, the women in his family are struggling under their own impossible expectations, creating a portrait of a household where everyone is searching for some kind of freedom. With Joyland, Sadiq brings an extraordinary tenderness to a story about a family in contemporary Pakistan. Sensual without being sensationalistic and heartbreaking without ever losing its warmth, the film became the first Pakistani film selected for the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Queer Palm. At its heart, Joyland is about what happens when the life you’re expected to want collides with the life you secretly desire. We think it's one of the best films of the 2020s, and a perfect fit for this series!

Released in 1982 to near-instant cult status, Slava Tsukerman’s Liquid Sky is a surreal collision of new wave, fashion, drugs, and extraterrestrial weirdness, and easily one of the strangest movies to emerge from New York’s downtown scene. Anne Carlisle stars as both Margaret and Jimmy, a pair of androgynous club kids whose chaotic lives are upended when a tiny alien spacecraft lands on the roof of their apartment building. Leaving a trail of increasingly bizarre encounters in its wake, as well as a few dead bodies, the alien has come to Earth in search of a mysterious substance produced during human sexual activity. Shot on the streets and in the clubs of early-’80s Manhattan, and on an extremely low budget estimated at approximately $500,000, Liquid Sky nevertheless exudes a look and attitude that feel remarkably ahead of their time. Released during the height of the early-’80s New York new wave scene, Liquid Sky has become a cult touchstone for anyone interested in the intersection of underground cinema, electronic music, NY fashion, and queer nightlife. The soundtrack to Liquid Sky is as strange and distinctive as the movie itself. Composer Brenda I. Hutchinson and director Slava Tsukerman built the score around primitive synthesizers, electronic textures, and the sounds of New York’s downtown club scene, creating something that feels less like a conventional movie score than music beamed in from another planet. A slight cheat in our Unsung 80's Soundtracks series in the sense that Liquid Sky's sounds are more of a score, its entirely synthetic soundtrack, mirroring the film’s icy visual palette and alienated characters, felt like an essential for the era.

"Like Lethal Weapon only far funnier and with more chainsaw action." -Total DVD After so much emotion and violence, we are choosing to close our Hong Kong Action Essentials series by cutting loose with little bit laughter and...uhhh...more violence. Directed by Lau Kar-leung and starring Chow Yun-fat, Tiger on the Beat follows a pair of mismatched cops on the trail of a violent drug dealer, a case that escalates from street-level comedy into something far more savage and unhinged. What begins as a rambunctious action/comedy steadily sheds its humor, morphing into a full-throttle collision of gunplay, hand-to-hand combat, and sheer physical excess. By the time it reaches its infamous finale, the film has abandoned restraint entirely, delivering the perfectly brutal and messy ending to our series. Our Hong Kong Action Essentials series explores the time from the mid-’80s through the early ’90s, where Hong Kong filmmakers rewrote the grammar of action cinema forever. Directors like John Woo, Tsui Hark, Jackie Chan, Sammo Hung, Ringo Lam, and Lau Kar-Leung fused balletic gunplay, risky stunts, martial arts virtuosity, and raw emotional intensity into a new cinematic language that would be oft-imitated but never replicated. (sorry, The Matrix, we love you too!) Join us every month in 2026 as we explore this golden age where style and emotion collided to change movies forever.

What better way to end our Art House 101: Global Queer Cinema series than by celebrating the magic of the movie theater with Tsai Ming-Liang’s haunting, hypnotic Goodbye, Dragon Inn. On the final night before an old Taipei movie palace closes its doors, a handful of patrons gather to watch King Hu’s classic martial arts film Dragon Inn. On screen, swordsmen battle in a long-gone world of cinematic fantasy. In the theater, ghosts seem to linger in the shadows, a projectionist works almost entirely unseen, and a mysterious young man wanders through the empty corridors searching for connection. Among the sparse audience are two aging actors who once appeared together in Dragon Inn, watching themselves, and the cinema they once knew, disappear. With almost no dialogue and an extraordinary sensitivity to the act of watching, Tsai Ming-liang transforms a nearly empty movie theater into a place of queer longing. The furtive glances, anonymous encounters, and solitary figures drifting through the darkness evoke the secretive spaces where desire has so often found refuge. Goodbye, Dragon Inn is a film about so many things: a ghost story, a love letter to cinema, and a profoundly melancholic meditation on loneliness. Goodbye, Art House 101: Global Queer Cinema! 

Our Classic Movie Nights series is closes out the year with the beloved Ernst Lubitsch romantic classic The Shop Around the Corner! Alfred Kralik and Klara Novak are co-workers at a small leather goods shop in Budapest who can barely stand each other. What neither knows is that they have secretly fallen in love as anonymous pen pals, pouring their hearts out in letters to one another. As their relationship blossoms on paper, their prickly day-to-day rivalry becomes increasingly complicated by the realization that love may be hiding in the most unexpected place. Starring James Stewart and Margaret Sullavan, The Shop Around the Corner is one of Hollywood's most enduring romantic comedies, balancing Lubitsch's signature wit and sophistication with genuine warmth and tenderness. Its clever mistaken-identity premise and beautifully drawn characters have made it a lasting classic.  Please make sure to get to this showtime early, as our beloved Marketing Director, Bekah, will be doing a pre-screening presentation on the film! 

Please note: this screening will be projected on 35mm film. Cameron Winter, in December 2025, after a months-long sold-out tour with his band Geese, returned to New York to play a single show at Carnegie Hall. This is the movie. Directed and shot on 35mm and 16mm by Oscar-winning filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson (One Battle After Another, There Will Be Blood, Boogie Nights), the crew includes filmmaker and actor Benny Safdie (Uncut Gems, Good Time) and music producer Ariel Rechtshaid (Grammy winner for albums with Vampire Weekend and Adele). GQ praised Cameron Winter’s show at Carnegie Hall as “staggeringly good,” and Nick Cave said he has a "a glorious, emotive voice with brilliant, blistering words, a racked and wondrous thing.” Winter’s solo album Heavy Metal was named one of the best of the year by Pitchfork, Rolling Stone, Paste and Mojo and Geese’s last record Getting Killed was named the best album of 2025 by The New Yorker, NME, and Stereogum. Tickets go on sale for this event on September 17th. 

The bittersweet end to this year's Walt Disney Studies series is the beloved animated classic Lady and the Tramp! And as an early holiday present, Theodore (Theo) Gluck will be joining us to give a very informative and entertaining post-screening presentation entitled "Walt on the Wide Screen"! The film follows dog’s-eye-view adventures of Lady, a lovingly pampered cocker spaniel, and Tramp, a freewheeling mutt with a heart of gold in Walt Disney’s beloved classic—the first animated feature ever produced in the widescreen CinemaScope process. This heartwarming tale now charms a new generation of families and fans with its exquisite animation, unforgettable songs and one of the dog-gonedest love stories of all time. "Walt on the Wide Screen": Film authority Theo Gluck offers an overview of the era of the widescreen revolution as Hollywood—a response to the looming specter of television. Disney, like all the other studios, was not immune to this innovation, so they answered the call to mutually combat this threat by quickly gearing up to offer widescreen product.

Described as a "Rock & Roll Fable" by its director Walter Hill, 1984's Streets of Fire is an essential inclusion in our Unsung 80’s Soundtracks series. Michael Paré stars as Tom Cody, a tough-as-nails mercenary finds himself pulled back into a life he left behind when his former girlfriend, rock star Ellen Aim (Diane Lane), is kidnapped by motorcycle gang leader Raven Shaddock (Willem Dafoe). Enlisted by Ellen’s manager Billy Fish (Rick Moranis), Tom joins forces with his former partner McCoy (Weapons Oscar-winner Amy Madigan), and sets out into the neon-lit, rain-soaked streets of the city to rescue her. Blending rock & roll, comic-book melodrama, and 1950s street-gang mythology, Streets of Fire features original songs mixed in with 80's staples such as Dan Hartman’s “I Can Dream About You," as well as performances by the Blasters, Ry Cooder, and others, ultimately earning its cult status as something of a rock concert wrapped around a plot.

A singing plant. A daring hero. A sweet girl. A demented dentist. It's the most outrageous musical comedy ever made! HorrorBuzz caps off its year of 40th anniversary screenings with the show-stopping musical Little Shop of Horrors! Meek flower-shop clerk Seymour Krelborn (Frida favorite Rick Moranis) discovers a mysterious plant after a solar eclipse and names it Audrey II, after his coworker-crush Audrey (Ellen Greene). But this plant doesn’t want sunlight or water....it wants blood. As Audrey II grows from a cute little sprout to a fast-talking menace, Seymour must choose between fame, fortune, and doing the right thing…preferably before the plant eats the whole block. Horror Movie Night takes filmgoing to another level with a full night of entertainment, including a themed HMN Video Pres-how, Trivia, Games, Prizes, and another outstanding horror short from HorrorBuzz’s The Screaming Room Film Festival at Midsummer Scream. Doors open and video pre-show video begins promptly at 7:30 pm. Games, prizes, and short film begin at 8:00PM. Feature starts at 8:30PM. This program is a venue rental engagement. The views and opinions expressed in this program do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of The Frida Cinema or its staff.