(Image: The Grand Illusion)

Classic Seattle art house cinema The Grand Illusion is moving on from its University District home and will be partnering with Capitol Hill’s Northwest Film Forum on pop-ups and more as it searches for a new theater to call home.

The Seattle Times reports the U District theater will close after more than 50 years with a final screening in January.

The Grand Illusion is asking for community fundraising support as it searches for a new space in the city and says 12th Ave’s NWFF will be a partner in pop-up screenings.

That partnership could run deeper. CHS reported here as NWFF strengthened efforts coming out of the pandemic on a search for a new home of its own.

NWFF traces its origin to the 1995 launch of WigglyWorld Studios, a post-production outfit that got its start in the neighborhood. The organization quickly grew into other aspects of film, including teaching and screening, and moved into an old 12th Ave storefront in the early 2000s, creating the theater and film arts center we know today.

The building, once home to the Klineburger Brothers taxidermists and neighboring the fortress-like East Precinct, has been part of real estate investor and arts supporter Elizabeth Linke’s 12th Ave holdings.

Meanwhile, SIFF told CHS earlier this year that it was business as usual at Capitol Hill’s historic Egyptian Theatre as the film nonprofit is reaching the decade mark in its management of the historic E Pine venue. a decade. Its 2014 deal to take over the theater included a 10-year lease with Seattle Central with options for five-year extensions.

You can learn more about The Grand Illusion’s plans and partnership with NWFF here.

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