Following UArts closure, Lightbox Film Center is now an independent nonprofit

The sudden closure of the University of the Arts on May 31 also meant the immediate shuttering of the Lightbox Film Center. After relocating in 2019 from West Philadelphia’s International House, where it had existed in various forms since the 1970s, the repertory movie theater operated for five years on South Broad Street in the former Gershman Y building.

Curator and director Jesse Pires, who had worked at the different iterations of the theater since 2004, said at the time that he hoped to keep the Lightbox going in some form.

Four months later, the Lightbox has now been reconstituted as a nonprofit organization. It will hold its first scheduled screenings at the Living Room at Bok in South Philly’s Bok Building, where the Bok Movie Club and Secret Cinema recently held film screenings.

“It’s certainly been an unusual summer for me,” Pires said of his efforts to keep the Lightbox alive. “I was going through all these different stages — shock, disbelief, closure — and trying to figure out the next move.”

He spent most of the summer figuring out “the various modes of bureaucracy” of becoming a nonprofit and speaking with potential partners, including local universities. Ultimately, he chose the nonprofit route, calling it a “big leap of faith.”

Pires said he “kept getting responses from all of our audience members and supporters and people who really love this program and were concerned and felt like it should continue.” He took that to heart, and said, “OK, I’m going to take it upon myself to figure this out and see how I can do this.

“I’m happy and thrilled that I was able to get things back in line, and it looks like we’re ready to launch.”

He said the new Lightbox’s programming will occur “mostly” at the Bok, although screenings at other locations are possible.

“We have all along had other institutions behind us to prop us up and support us in various ways,” he said. “We’re exploring as many ways to sustain ourselves as we can.”

“We were devastated by the sudden closure of UArts and the profound impact this had on so many organizations and artists that worked within its walls,” said Lindsey Scannapieco, managing partner of Bok and Scout, the development firm behind it. “We are eager to support solutions that create space for the artists and cultural producers of our city — and we are very excited for Lightbox to reemerge in the historic Bok auditorium.”

Lightbox’s new era will kick off Nov. 13 with a restored print of German director Helmut Herbst’s 2006 film The Cathedral of New Emotions. This will be preceded by a program of six 16 mm animated shorts from Lightbox’s collection.

A week later, on Nov. 20, also at Bok, the Lightbox will screen another restoration, of 1972′s sketch comedy musical Scarecrow in a Garden of Cucumbers, which starred Warhol superstar Holly Woodlawn and was directed by Robert J. Kaplan. And on Dec. 11, the Lightbox will feature a new restoration of Bruce Weber’s Let’s Get Lost, a documentary about jazz musician Chet Baker.

The plan is to show films “just about every Wednesday,” with other evenings possibly coming later, and “there’s a whole list of films” that Pires would like to screen in the near future. He also hopes to continue with the film restoration efforts that he was a part of during UArts’ last days; one of those restorations, of 1981′s Nightshift, will have its world premiere at the New York Film Festival on Oct. 8.

The Lightbox program is accepting donations; visit donorbox.org/lightbox-reopening for more information.