Roxie Theater

The Roxie Theater is a movie theater at 3117 16th Street in the Mission District of San Francisco built in 1909. It is also known as the Roxie Cinema or just The Roxie.

The oldest continuously operating movie theater in San Francisco, the Roxie opened its doors as the C. H. Brown Theater in 1909, and was owned and operated as the Poppy Theater from 1912 to 1916 by Philip H. Doll, a local jeweler and watchmaker.

The 300-seat theater was renovated in 1933, changed its name to The Roxie, and added its unusual marquee with neon sign but no place for movie titles. In 2003, a 49-seat theater dubbed the Little Roxie opened two doors from the main theater.

Other names for the theater:

In the late 1960s with the decline of its neighborhood, The Roxie became a pornography theater. In March 1976, community leaders Robert Christopher Evans, Dick Gaikowski, Peter Moore, and Tom Mayer bought the Roxie, remodeled it, and turned it into an art and independent film center. Between November 1–15, 1979, the Roxie hosted the U.S. premiere of Luis Buñuel's L'Âge d'Or (1930), a film that had been banned for almost 50 years. Over the years, the Roxie has been home to many film festivals such as the Frameline Film Festival, the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival, the Arab Film Festival, SF Indiefest, and many others.

On December 26, 2005, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that the Roxie had agreed to be acquired by New College of California, a small liberal arts college also based in the Mission District. New College agreed to pay off the Roxie's debts and to pay salaries of Roxie employees going forward. The Roxie became part of New College's Media Studies Program on January 1, 2006, and was renamed the "Roxie Film Center at New College".

On February 26, 2008, New College announced it was closing, thus ending its support of the Roxie. After New College’s collapse, New College Board member Rod Holt and his son Alan took over the theater’s lease and filed for 501(c)3 non-profit status. In 2009 the Roxie became a not-for-profit organization, committed to remaining a critical and historical center for film, culture, and contemporary practices in the direct community and beyond.

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