The Gateway Theater, Broward's Oldest Movie House, Reopens To Host Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival
MIAMI (CBSMiami) - Something old is new again this Memorial Day weekend, as the Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival (FLIFF) will reopen The Gateway Theater, Broward's oldest movie house, now with 4 screens.
FLIFF"s President and CEO Gregory Von Hausch said refurbishing the theater which opened some 71 years ago is planned, but they'll still keep the iconic theater's retro feel.
"The style of the building is called modern mid-century and we think that we want to keep that style and embellish it and not try to change it into something that it isn't. But, we will upgrade it substantially," said Von Hausch.
Talk about historic, The Gateway was the place where the 1960's hit film, "Where the Boys Are," held its premiere.
Von Hausch plans to make The Gateway red-carpet ready for new premieres during FLIFF, which runs in early November.
"There's a big tower that goes out and has a lit-up sign that says Gateway on it so we can put our sponsor's name up there and at the top of it put a searchlight like 20th Century Fox. We can really jazz it up," he said.
— Gateway Cinema (@gatewayfortlaud) May 26, 2021
The Gateway is now the third theater where FLIFF will run its day-to-day operations. The 2 others are the single screen venues known as Savor Cinema in Fort Lauderdale and Cinema Paradiso in Hollywood.
"So, now we'll have three theaters, six screens going seven days a week full tilt and we're really excited about it," Von Hausch explained.
This holiday weekend begins with a kick-off of 4 films including 2 huge releases. First, the highly anticipated, "A Quiet Place II " and "Cruella," followed by 2 independent films.
"We're going to follow that thumbprint. We will release a blockbuster, a foreign film and independent film, and something cutting edge," he said. "This year we have two blockbusters in 'A Quiet Place II' and 'Cruella,' so we'll see how that goes."
Von Hausch says he's thrilled to have audiences back inside theaters where they belong.
"We do want to see people get back. We do want to take whatever precautions are necessary," Von Hausch explained. "We think that cinema belongs with a crowd on a big screen, sharing together and that's what we're looking forward to."
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