Film Forum
The Film Forum is a nonprofit movie theater at 209 West Houston Street in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City. It is a four-screen cinema open 365 days a year, with up to 250,000 annual admissions, nearly 500 seats, 60 employees, over 6,500 members, and an operating budget of $7 million. It is the only autonomous nonprofit cinema in New York City and one of the few in the United States.
History
It began in 1970 as an alternative screening space for independent films, with 50 folding chairs, one projector and a $19,000 annual budget. Karen Cooper became director in 1972. Its current Greenwich Village cinema was built in 1990. In 1994, the Film Forum was honored with a Village Award by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, even though it is technically in SoHo.In 2018, the Film Forum had a major renovation, adding new seats and a fourth theater. In 2023, it was announced that Cooper would step down from her position and she will be succeeded by the theater's deputy director, Sonya Chung.