WILMINGTON — One of the area’s most popular independent film series will be shifting to a new location to make way for a new chapter at North Carolina’s oldest theater.
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A joint partnership between historic Thalian Hall and WHQR for 33 years, Cinematique’s last screenings will take place at the hall at the end of June. It will feature 1996’s “The English Patient,” 2001’s “Amelie” and 2006’s “The Queen.”
“These were the most popular films, bringing in the highest attendance,” according to Mary Bradley, WHQR’s development director, who has programmed the series at Thalian Hall for the last decade.
While Cinematique is not discontinuing, the series will relaunch in August in a new partnership with Cucalorus. Films will screen at the smaller arthouse theater of Jengo’s Playhouse, the Cucalorus headquarters located in the Soda Pop District.
Dan Brawley, the executive director of Cucalorus, and Bradley are in the midst of finalizing films, so announcements of the exact dates haven’t been made yet.
“It’s a little bit of a blank canvas and we’re going to be careful to preserve the things that people love about Cinematatique, but also be aware that there are some new opportunities that didn’t exist before,” Brawley said. “When you program for a 500-seat cinema, you have certain restraints. When you program for a 70-seat cinema, that changes.”
In the meantime, Thalian Hall is also scaling a standalone cinema series to begin in July. Thalian CEO Shane Fernando said the goal is to bring more films to both its main stage and the Ruth and Bucky Stein Theatre through various blocks, including new releases, classics, family films, and cult classics.
According to Fernando, both Cinematique and Thalian Hall changes essentially mean more options for cinephiles, not less, and from locally organized programmers that strive to curate unique experiences.
“We had to do a deep introspective in terms of what we do and why we do it, with so much changing within the streaming field, with audience behavior,” Fernando said. “All the pointers go to — and we experimented over this past year — doing film programming differently in terms of also bringing in an experiential component.”
Here is a look at the changes ahead.
Cinematique
Bradley said when she found out Cinematique needed to find a new home base, Cucalorus naturally came to mind, as the film festival has been around for 30 years and its foundation often supplies grants and resources to filmmakers and artists in residency. Cucalorus’ headquarters at Jengo’s Playhouse underwent renovations a few years ago, including installation of a larger lobby, concessions and full service bar in the back, not to mention upfit of its 70-seat theater.
“Now feels like the perfect time to take on this partnership,” Brawley said. “I mean, we’ve been in the neighborhood for 21 years and the only reason you would over here is to see a movie at Jengo’s but now you can go to Hi-Wire and grab a beer, get a piece of pizza next door or an ice cream cone nearby, a cup of coffee or cocktail at Ibis before or after a movie, and make a whole evening of coming to the Soda Pop District.”
Brawley — who has overseen Cucalorus for more than two decades — noted Cinematique integral to his own love for film. He remembered its discovery in the mid-1990s as a teen; he always would ride his bike to his neighborhood cineplex, he said: “But I never dreamed of seeing a John Sayles’ movie there.”
Sayles’ “Return of the Secaucus 7” was his introduction to Cinematique, when Anne Brennan had taken him to the screening while Brawley was an intern at the then St. John’s Museum — eventually to become Cameron Art Museum. Brennan worked at St. John’s before becoming CAM’s executive director before retiring in 2023.
Along with Michael Titterton, WHQR’s founding station manager, and local business owner Hilda Godwin, Brennan helped launch Cinematique in 1991. It started as a project backed by St. John’s and launched at College Road Cinema across from UNCW.
“Michael and I were very close friends with Hilda and [her husband] Ralph,” Brennan wrote in an email to Port City Daily. “When we saw each other socially we often bemoaned the lack of film offerings. There were 28 screens in town and it seemed everything showing was beat-em-up Arnold Schwarzenegger movies. I had learned somehow about Cinematique of Asheville and cold-called the contact there.”
The folks in Asheville offered insight and resources, even contacts to its distributors, to get the program lifted off the ground on the coast.
By 1995, Thalian Hall former CEO Tony Rivenbark, who passed away in 2022, had upfitted downtown’s historic theater with 35-milimetter film equipment and purchased a screen and sound system to begin showing movies. Cinematique eventually moved to its historic digs and Brennan said they established a committee of volunteers to review the films, particularly interested in new art-house releases and classic films.
“The wonderment of it all, was the audience,” Brennan said. “The faith they had, and the belief in the endeavor. And they knew they were a part of a new initiative that needed to take root. They came to movies that had no real plot line, that had subtitles, for God’s sake, that presented uncomfortable political and social issues, movies that actually caught fire, and they still kept showing up.”
Sometimes a film would also bring controversy. Brennan remembered during the early days showing 1994’s “Priest,” regarding pedophilia and Catholic priests. Upon pulling into the parking lot of the College Road Cinema, she saw crowds of protestors.
“It was filled with shouting, sign-waving picketers,” Brennan recalled. “So much anger. So much vitriol. I attempted to talk with several of them as to learn why they were so upset, what was in the movie they felt was so untrue … not one had even seen the movie. That’s when I knew the work of Cinematique was so important.”
Eventually, St. John’s dropped out of the partnership, Brennan said, due to its director at the time, Ren Brown, thinking it was not part of the art museum’s core mission. However, Cinematique continued between WHQR and Thalian Hall and became the place to catch independent, foreign, documentary, and other notable works not normally shown in larger, corporate theaters.
Well, until those theaters took notice.
“It was evident once Cinematique began to take hold, the for-profit theatres realized it wasn’t so risky bringing in less mainstream fare,” Brennan said. “We even saw some of the films we showed with Cinematique reappear at the larger cinemas. That’s what Hilda, Michael and I dreamed and hoped might happen.”
Bradley said that competition has also been hard to keep up with over the years, as seats have dwindled at Cinematique.
“By the time we were able to play them, people had already seen them,” she said.
In recent years, the programming has also fought against a changing industry, with people having access to streamers and films more easily today than ever before. This was exacerbated by the pandemic in 2020, as audiences also became accustomed to being able to rent movies from the comfort of their homes and at a bargain compared to a movie cineplex ticket, which locally can cost upward of $18 (though Cinematique prices always remained around $10).
Bradley said it took a while to build back up programming but associated a love for the filmgoing experience, in a proper theater, as most appealing to die-hard Cinematique supporters. Thalian Hall CEO Fernando said in recent years audience members could be as few as six or as many as 75 per screening.
Bradley found out at the end of April Thalian Hall was launching its new separate film series and the Cinematique three-decade partnership would end. She said working with Fernando the last few years on programming — and before that with Rivenbark — has been positive.
“It’s really one of the favorite parts of my job,” she added.
Bradley remains excited about future changes as well. She and Brawley already had a working relationship, having hosted the DocuTime Film Festival from Cucalorus and WHQR over the last few years. (It’s coming up June 14 at Jengo’s, to feature films based on comedian Andy Kauffman, librarians dealing with recent surges in book-banning, and even a short doc about WHQR’s newsroom.)
Bradley said Cinematique films “lend themselves” to the quirkiness that is Jengo’s Playhouse — leaning in even further into the arthouse vibe. Brawley noted what happens at a current Jengo’s screening can be unpredictable at best.
In March, Jengo’s featured cult filmmaker John Waters’ movies ahead of his visit to UNCW.
“We had an artist doing an analog projection project before the screening, and you could come up and put a little word or play with the little figures that are being projected on the screen,” Brawley said.
Jengo’s has been hosting film series for nine to 10 weeks at a time over the last few years, even partnering with the Southern Circuit Films — also with which WHQR is part of, along with UNCW and Working Films — to connect independent documentary filmmakers with audiences.
Oftentimes, both Cinematique and Jengo’s will include after-screening talks with the director or crew. For instance, Jengo’s is showcasing “George Washington,” horror filmmaker David Gordon Green’s first feature and Paul Schneider, an actor in the film, will speak.
Just last month Cinematique screened “Eric Larue,” Michael Shannon’s directorial debut that filmed in Wilmington. Production designer Chad Keith, who lives in town, was at the screening afterward to talk about the film.
“Cinematique viewers trust us,” Bradley said, stating that programming will continue if not be reinforced, with the same expectations.
This means Cinematique will continue showing the Oscar shorts every year ahead of Academy Awards season. But Brawley said he is also looking forward to more exploration. As cinema continues to see shifts in participation, he is inspired by asking the question: “What do audiences want now that everyone has a microcinema in their home?”
Brawley thinks it is more connection and going beyond the screen, inspiring conversations and empathy. Also, he said there are endless possibilities in attracting films that never reach a cinema.
“When I go to the Toronto Film Festival or Sundance, the number of feature films that are just totally breathtaking and deserve to reach screens all over the world is just hard to wrap your brain around,” he said.
Bradley said since fewer seats need to be filled at Jengo’s, it also could mean leaning into more fringe or even local works.
“This gives us a bigger breadth to experiment,” Bradley added, saying early discussions have leaned toward twice-a-month screenings.
Cinematique also could move beyond what was traditionally set at Thalian Hall as Monday through Wednesday showings. Both Brawley and Bradley are on board for weekend screenings and matinees, with the former also wanting to toy around with late afternoon runs, such as maybe a 4 p.m. Friday screening.
“I’ve been talking to people who say they love earlier screenings because they may be doing a birthday party on Saturdays or don’t want to go downtown because it is crowded on the weekends,” Brawley said.
All possibilities are being weighed, with the desired outcome to be making art accessible to anyone who wants to experience it.
“Dan and I have already discussed potentially bringing back a programming committee,” Bradley said. “It might be nice to include more input.”
Upon Cinematique’s relaunch with Cucalorus, tickets will be around $12 or so. Brawley said relying on ticket sales alone won’t keep it going, though.
The partnership includes split ticket sales after paying out a distribution percentage, which can tick up to 40%, according to Bradley. She plans to look toward foundations, banks and private donors to keep Cinematique going.
“We probably will apply for grants, too,” she said.
Brawley pointed to the Full Frame Film Festival in Durham recently breaking down how much every seat would cost if grants, government funding, private donations and the like weren’t helping nonprofit organizations. If FFFF relied on ticket sales alone, every seat would be $60.
“And I think we’re in a moment where National Endowment of the Arts funding is being terminated, where it feels like there’s a threat to the arts funding in this country, it’s important for people to remember, all the seats, all the venues that do performing arts and cinema would cost many times more without a broad base of funding support,” he said. “Can you imagine a world where that’s actually how it worked and the number of people who could experience the arts would shrink to a very small part of the community? That’s not a world I want to be in.”
Thalian Hall
Though Thalian Hall has had film programming in some form or fashion for years, its new cinema series gives it all an umbrella to live under, according to Fernando.
The series was formed with the help of Michael Morelli, the executive projects and scheduling director of cinema, who is also a graduate of film studies at UNCW. Morelli has worked at the hall for 14 years, pitching ideas to bring more film opportunities to Thalian.
Aside from Cinematique finding a home there, Thalian Hall annually has hosted the screening of “It’s a Wonderful Life” by Frank Capra every holiday — in homage to his son, Frank Capra Jr., who once served as president of EUE/Screen Gems studios in Wilmington.
Morelli, however, always wanted to do a series on cult classics at the Ruth and Bucky Stein Theater.
“It’s fun to discover new things,” he said. “And cult films are called that because maybe they started out with not a lot of people familiar with them, but there is something about them that people love — whether they’re awful or hilarious or a good shock.”
Fernando, who began leading the hall in 2023, took notice of Morelli’s ideas. Last Halloween, Thalian hosted a shadow cast of perhaps the most popular cult classic, “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” — best known for its audience interaction, where people dress up, sing along with the movie and do frequent callbacks.
It almost sold out.
“Rocky Horror” will have its 50th anniversary this year, but Disney owns it and dictates its rights to release. However, Thalian Hall has scheduled “Minions” for its 10th anniversary as part of its family series.
“We’re always at the will of the studios with repertory bookings,” Morelli said, adding a cult film he would like to bring to the historic hall would be “Friends Society” and the “Evil Dead” series.
While cult films may have less mainstream audiences, the vintage series will appeal to everyone, Morelli said. He also wants to include more Asian and French cinema options.
“My list is getting longer as I constantly am discovering new content,” he said.
The cinema series at Thalian Hall will screen year-round, with themes centering on various times of year and holidays. “Wet Hot American Summer” is kicking off the cult series, along with the “Sandlot,” a vintage throwback but also family-friendly film centered around baseball.
“All those kind of tie into the Independence Day holiday in a way or summer in general,” Morelli said. “My goal with the series is to tie into each other and with some of the other programming we have.”
The first new release to show will be “Friendship,” starring Paul Rudd, who also is featured in 2001’s “Wet Hot American Summer.”
Films will be announced in a rolling fashion and run the whole month, Fernando said, but the group has been experimenting with other ways to attract audiences beyond just screening a film. Fernando said to keep the new series viable, an experiential component will be part of every screening in the new series.
Engaging an audience beyond film, in his view, makes the programming more appealing, so audiences should expect “surprises.” Films could include a nonprofit organization vending and talking about its outreach to showcase something relevant to a screening or may include specialized professionals speaking about content explored in a movie.
“For example, with ‘Top Gun’ as part of the vintage series in July, we’re looking at bringing fighter pilots to come and talk at the show and to be with the audience,” Fernando said, further explaining the family series may have a youth program component.
It could also mean live music playing with a movie, as planned at Thalian Hall this Halloween. The Oct. 31’s screening of 1921’s “Phantom of the Opera” will include immersive pipe organist and Maestro Cameron Carpenter performing the score to the silent film.
“I would love to do more with silent films as well,” Fernando said.
Last year, Fernando hosted Disney’s 1953’s “Peter Pan” film and brought in the original Tinkerbell, live-action model Margaret Kerry who spoke before and did a meet-and-greet afterward.
“The average audience size was between 300 and 400,” he said. “Audiences still want to come together for that communal experience … It’s what we’re seeing trending across the country.”
He also has been studying how varied demographics approach the arts recently, particularly since the pandemic created more remote workers who have flexible schedules. Thalian already hosts 700 events annually in dance, theater, music and more.
Fernando plans to fill in gaps of downtime with more programming added in as appropriate. In cinema, this means earlier screenings, around 10 a.m., for young audience films and late-night screenings for cult films, perhaps after a theater production closes.
Appealing to locals who also want to see a movie in the 167-old historic theater is something to consider, as well; Fernando said Thalian Hall often attracts people who embrace community and experiences beyond the norm. His end-goal is to get audiences into the theater perhaps on the appeal of one arts sector, with the hope they return to support another.
“We have to keep reinventing — thinking outside of the box,” Fernando said, adding he wants to strengthen cinema partnerships, including with area studios and other film organizations.
Thalian has hosted specialized events and some red carpet premieres before — such as last year’s “The Exorcism,” filmed in Wilmington featuring Russel Crowe, as well as PBS’s “American Coup: Wilmington 1898.”
“I would really love to build a tradition of projects that are filmed here are also first screened in Wilmington,” Fernando said. “But that’s definitely a longer road game, in terms of relationship-building.”
In addition to ramping up its cinema programming, Thalian Hall is undergoing a $25-million transformation, with the goal to become an arts hub in the region. Every inch will become accessible to the public once City of Wilmington fully exits Thalian Hall. Though city staff offices are now vacant, council meetings still happen in the chambers but are expected to be moved to the city’s headquarters at the Skyline Center by fall.
With a goal to begin construction in 2026, once its capital fundraising campaign is reached, Thalian Hall will double its square footage by renovating those areas and in support of even more arts programming. Included is the addition of a new theater in former council chambers, more rehearsal and development spaces, a recording studio, martini bar and live music venue, and coffee shop, among other plans.
Fernando said cinema programming will take place on both its main stage and Ruth and Bucky Stein Theater, regardless of renovations to come.
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