Following the success of the Cine-Rama art house theater incubator, the Chattanooga Film Festival (CFF) will build a permanent theater called The Palace Picture House.
CFF opened the doors to Cine-Rama last May at 100 W. Main St. in the hopes of proving that Chattanooga could sustain indie, classic and genre films and documentaries year-round.
Chattanooga film fans attended the screenings en masse, proving the city could support an arthouse theater.
Now working with Lamp Post Properties, CFF has found a permanent location for The Palace Picture House. Details will be released this spring with an eye on a summer launch.
Until then, Lamp Post Properties is providing a temporary theater space in the Tomorrow Building to help keep the momentum going. In addition, CFF headquarters will be located within the Tomorrow Building long term.
CFF festival director Chris Dortch says the opening of the Palace feels like the next logical step in what has been a seven-year journey to making Chattanooga a safer place for cinema.
“Since the first days of the Mise En Scenesters film club, this has been our dream,” he says. “I’d ask someone to pinch me, but if this is all a magical hallucination, I’d like to stay in the dream a bit longer.”
Source: CFF