Alhambra Theatre Film Festival

The Alhambra Theatre Film Festival launched its first festival on April 9, 2015 and ran to April 12. It was created to draw attention and raise funds for the restoration of the Historic Alhambra Theatre in Evansville, Indiana. In that first year over ninety films were shown and more than 750 people attended including guests and filmmakers from across the country and the world. The film festival Board intends to make this an Oscar Qualifying Festival.

The Alhambra Theatre

The Historic Alhambra Theatre as it appeared when it opened as a movie theatre on September 27, 1913.

The Alhambra Theatre is a historic movie theatre in the Haynie's Corner Arts District of Evansville, Indiana. It was designed by Frank J. Schlotter and opened on September 27, 1913 as a movie theatre. The Alhambra was one of many built in the Moorish style at the turn of the 20th century influenced by the Alhambra palace in Spain. Although Alhambra theatres opened all over the world, in the United States only a traditional playhouse built in New York predates Evansville's. The theater cost $18,000 to build ($432,784.00 in today's dollars) and it was the largest movie theatre in Evansville at the time. It included a cigar shop and a confectionery. It spurred many new businesses in the area now designated as the Haynies Corners District. When talking pictures emerged it was the first local movie theatre equipped for sound and air conditioning. For 43 years it was the anchor of the neighborhood it served until it closed in 1956. The current effort to restore the Theatre began in 2003 and started with the roof and the exterior. The restored exterior of the building ended the first stage of the renovation and rehabilitation. Now our focus shifts to the interior spaces. Our goal is to have the lobby restored in 2015 and the auditorium open and functioning by 2017.


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