The Mariemont Theatre is reopening this weekend, months after its previous owner closed its doors.
The historic theater, now owned and operated by the nonprofit Cindependent, will have a soft opening starting at 3:30 pm Friday. The first film, Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World, is scheduled to begin screening at 4 pm.
The theater also plans to show other newly released films Friday, including the fantasy adventure The Magic Faraway Tree, the historical political drama The Brink of War, the crime thriller The Rivals of Amziah King, and the Anthony Bourdain biopic Tony.
A 7 pm showing of Tony will be followed by a roundtable discussion with local chefs about how Bourdain influenced their careers.
Also on Friday night, the theater will host a special screening of the 1938 Oscar-winning comedy You Can't Take It with You, which first hit the big screen the year the Mariemont Theatre first opened.
Cindependent Executive Director Allyson West tells WVXU that, much like under the previous ownership, moviegoers can expect the theater to show a variety of first-run films. It will also host special event screenings for classic films and other favorites.
"We have taken what was really great about that movie theater and about that programming and refined it to be just a little bit better," she said.
West says her organization has repaired the inside of the five-house theater and added new features like an outdoor patio in the front to create spaces people will want to spend time in before and after films.
Since purchasing the historic theater, Cindependent and volunteers have been working to revamp it, installing new projectors and audio equipment. West says over the next few weeks, the crew will put that new equipment to the test and figure out the best ways to run the theater.
"I've never run a cinema before. I'm not doing it alone, but we need an opportunity to test out the systems that we've been building," West said.
A grand reopening gala for the Mariemont Theater and kickoff event for the 2026 Cinedependent Film Festival is set for Sept. 16.
Read more:
