This story is featured in CityBeat’s March 20 print edition.
It’s a Monday evening, and cinephiles are gathered at Woodward Theater with beer and popcorn in their hands to watch an indie film. Nothing is better than beginning the week with a film screening.
In 2021, the Woodward Theater soft launched Woodward Cinema, a means to screen local, national and global art house films. At first they showed a film every month for six months, but now the theater hosts screenings every Monday night with a 125-seat capacity. The ongoing series is the brainchild of Jonny Shenk, the Woodward’s film booker and curation lead of Cindependent Film Festival (there is no affiliation between Woodward and Cindependent), and Chris Varias, Woodward’s co-owner.
“Chris was interested in doing film and was kind of looking for the right way to do it,” Shenk told CityBeat. “I have some background working in film exhibitions. When we met, it kind of became a natural partnership with us that started doing that.”
From 2016-2021, Shenk was general manager at The Esquire and programmed daily repertory screenings.
“That was definitely my favorite part about the Esquire experience,” he said, “and one of my favorite jobs I’ve ever had. That’s how I got to meet a lot of people in the Cincinnati film community, and I have a lot of great memories.”
Filmgoers won’t find screenings of the latest Marvel movies, but they will find indie films from distributors like A24 and Utopia. Recently, the Academy Award-nominated Aftersun screened, and so did The Sweet East, with the film’s screenwriter Nick Pinkerton — who’s a Cincy native — in attendance. The buzzy film stars Jacob Elordi and recent Emmy winner Ayo Edebiri.
On Feb. 26, the Woodward screened its 50th film in the series, Drift, starring Cynthia Erivo and Alia Shawkat. Many of the films aren’t available on streaming apps, so people need to go in-person.
“The vision has become to showcase stuff that isn’t playing anywhere else that deserves an audience, deserves a big screen presentation,” Shenk said. “I really love the Cincinnati film scene in general, and if I’m not working at the Woodward, I’m always going to see movies at the Esquire or I’m going to the Garfield.”
In 1913, the Woodward opened as a silent movie theater and showed films until the 1930s. Decades ago, downtown Cincy bustled with several movie theaters like Skywalk Cinemas and The Movies, which now houses Cincinnati World Cinema at the Garfield Theatre. Until 2019, The Mini Microcinema screened indie films across the street from the Woodward, so the Monday night screenings are filling a void — sometimes a timely one.
In April 2022, Woodward screened the Ukrainian black comedy Donbass, shortly after the Russia-Ukraine war started.
“We had a Russian history professor come in from UC and do a conversation after the film,” Shenk said. “Everybody was kind of just processing what was going on with that attack, so we did that.”
OutReels Cincinnati, Cindependent and Cincinnati Socialists have sponsored screenings such as The Murder of Fred Hampton.
In November 2022, the music documentary Meet Me in the Bathroom, based on the titular book about the early aughts NYC rock music scene, brought a full house.
“We found that doing music-related content often suits our venue pretty well because it is largely a concert venue, so it’s like a natural fit.”
So far in March, music documentaries have included the 40th anniversary screening of Stop Making Sense, a doc on Iron and Wine and Ghosts of the Chelsea Hotel (And Other Rock & Roll Stories). On April 1, the thriller Femme will screen, and the following week rock documentary The Napa State Tapes will premiere. In May, Jane Schoenbrun’s unsettling We’re All Going to the World’s Fair will screen in conjunction with the A24-distributed release of their new film, I Saw the TV Glow.
The Woodward’s main sources of revenue are concerts and special events, but its film arm, as Shenk explained, is similar to what Apple and Amazon do.
“They have their own thriving main element of their business, and then on the side, they’re able to do film or TV almost as a passion project or just as sort of a brand extension,” he said. “The Woodward is kind of similar to that in a certain way where the Woodward doesn’t depend on the movie screenings to survive. They’re more able to do them as another fun element of what the business already is. And I think for that reason, we only show good stuff, essentially.”
The Woodward isn’t alone in its boutique programming. Secret Base Cinema and Outer Cinema Cincinnati program horror and cult films; the latter screens its picks at Esquire. The Lounge in Northside screens films like Romeo + Juliet and Certain Women every other Tuesday. Cinema in OTR specializes in Black cinema. Powered by Cindependent, Shenk runs Cincy Film Calendar in which he posts on Instagram what’s screening at cinemas, festivals and makeshift cinemas across the city every week.
“I think it’s only a good thing for Cincinnati to have more options, more variety in the film space,” Shenk said. “I think that’s how it used to be. I think we can all support each other and push each other to be better and kind of continue to see how the film scene continues to grow in Cincinnati. We’re growing together as a city, and I’m excited about where it’s all going.”
Woodward Theater screens movies every Monday at 7:30 p.m. unless otherwise noted. More info: woodwardtheater.com.
This article appears in Mar 6-19, 2024.