Criterion Collection Fund for Struggling Independent Cinemas Blows Past Its $500,000 Fundraising Goal

The fund will continue to collect donations and disburse need-based aid through April 30. “The Art-House America Campaign aims to provide financial relief to struggling independent cinemas across the country so they can pay staff and their essential bills and survive until it is safe to reopen their doors,” the GoFundMe page reads. Essential payments include those for payroll, insurance, rent, non deferrable loans, utilities, fundraising, and mortgages.

The fund was seeded with an initial donation of $50,000 from the Criterion Channel and Janus Films. Thousand of donors then pitched in to bring the campaign closer to its goal. On April 21, the fund was given a massive injection of $75,000 courtesy of Netflix, bringing the campaign to within 90% of its fundraising target.

To date, two separate disbursements of funds have been allocated to qualifying independent theaters. Those theaters include the following:

The 52 Theaters Receiving the Initial Disbursement:

Amherst Cinema, Amherst, MA • Ark Lodge Cinemas, Seattle, WA • Naro Cinema, Norfolk, VA • ArtsQuest, Bethlehem, PA • Bedford Playhouse, Bedford, NY • BendFilm, Bend, OR • BIJOU Theatre, Lincoln City, OR • Brattle Theatre, Cambridge, MA • Central Cinema LLC, Knoxville, TN • CinemaSF, San Francisco, CA • Cinematique of Daytona, Daytona Beach, FL • cinéSPEAK, Folsom, PA • Circle Cinema Foundation Inc., Tulsa, OK • Clinton Street Theater LLC, Portland, OR • Dairy Arts Center, Boulder, CO • Denver Film Society, Denver, CO • Eveningstar Cinema, Brunswick, ME • Fargo Theatre, Fargo, ND • Film Society of Minneapolis St. Paul, Minneapolis, MN • Historic Howell Theater, Howell, MI • Old Greenbelt Theatre, Greenbelt, MD • Gateway Film Center, Columbus, OH • Images Cinema, Williamstown, MA • Manlius Art Cinema, Manlius, NY • Martha's Vineyard Film Society, Vineyard Haven, MA • Media Arts Center San Diego - Digital Gym Cinema, San Diego, CA • Music Box Theatre, Chicago, IL • North Park Theatre of Buffalo, Inc., Buffalo, NY • Northwest Film Forum, Seattle, WA • Savoy Theater, Montpelier, VT • Broadway Metro, Eugene, OR • Olympia Film Society, Olympia, WA • Osio Theater Foundation, Monterey, CA • Maiden Alley Cinema, Paducah, KY • Philadelphia Film Society, Philadelphia, PA • Parkway Theatre and Maryland Film Festival, Baltimore, MD • Robinson Film Center, Shreveport, LA • Rosendale Theatre, Rosendale, NY • Roxie Theater, San Francisco, CA • Salt Lake Film Society, Salt Lake City, UT • Screenland Armour Theatre, North Kansas City, MO • Sidewalk Film Center & Cinema, Birmingham, AL • Stuart Cinema & Cafe, Brooklyn, NY • Suns Cinema, Washington, D.C., DC • Frida Cinema, Santa Ana, CA • Loft Cinema, Tucson, AZ • Nightlight Cinema, Akron, OH • Roxy Theater, Missoula, MT • The State Theatre, Modesto, CA • The Texas Theatre, Dallas, TX • The Winterset Iowa Theater, Winterset, IA • Traverse City Film Festival / State and Bijou Theaters, Traverse City, MI

The 28 Theaters Receiving the Second Disbursement:

14 Pews, Houston, TX • a/perture cinema, Winston-Salem, NC • Alexander Valley Film Society, Cloverdale, CA • American Cinematheque, Los Angeles, CA • Anthology Film Archives, New York, NY • Byrd Theatre Foundation, Richmond, VA • Carlisle Regional Performing Arts Center, Carlisle, PA • Cinema Capitol, Rome, NY • Colonial Theatre, Phoenixville, PA • Columbia Film Society, Columbia, SC • Coral Gables Art Cinema, Coral Gables, FL • Dietrich Theater, Tunkhannock, PA • Film Streams, Omaha, NE • FilmScene, Iowa City, IA • Grandin Theatre Foundation, Roanoke, VA • Kenworthy Performing Arts Centre, Moscow, ID • Light Industry, Brooklyn, NY • The Lyric Council, Blacksburg, VA • Maysles Documentary Center, New York, NY • Pageant Theater, Chico, CA • Provincetown Film Society, Provincetown, MA • Row House Cinema, Pittsburgh, PA • The Screening Room, Amherst, NY • SIFF, Seattle, WA • Tampa Theatre, Tampa, FL • Trylon Cinema, Minneapolis, MN • The World Theatre Foundation, Kearney, NE • Zeitgeist Theatre & Lounge, Arabi, LA