Rehoboth Beach Cinema Art House to open March 17

Standing behind a waist-high wall that will soon be a ticket booth, Rehoboth Beach Film Society Board President Allen Stafford said the best thing about the society’s new Cinema Art House is that it gives the group a real home.

“Now, we have have control over our future,” he said Feb. 24.

The long-awaited Rehoboth Beach Cinema Art House will open its doors Thursday, March 17, with the society’s first Jewish Film Festival.

Stafford said he knows people were predicting the film society’s demise when the popular Rehoboth Beach Independent Film Festival was forced to find a new home, after losing theater space at Movies at Midway in April 2014.

The group successfully pulled off the 2014 and 2015 film festivals by partnering with Cape Henlopen High School in Lewes, the Baycenter in Dewey Beach and Metropolitan Community Church in Rehoboth. Still, said Stafford, the society never lost its vision of finding a permanent home.

In July 2015, the society announced it had found a home in Dartmouth Plaza – behind the Wawa on southbound Route 1 in Lewes.

Sue Early, film society executive director, admitted it’s a little scary being this close to completing renovations. Now, she said, it will be about filling seats. The society is paying rent, and construction took longer than expected, said Early, so it’s important to open the doors.

“It has to be open by March 17,” said Early, while giving a tour of the nearly completed space Feb. 23. “No ifs, ands or buts about it.”

The art house will have two screening rooms – a 108-seat room with an elevated floor and one that sits 35 to 40 people for smaller screenings. Both rooms have been fitted with digital capabilities that, said Early, meet or exceed industry standards.

“It’s going to sound wonderful,” she said, standing in the large screening room.

The society partnered with the Rehoboth-based, 400-member Seaside Jewish Community to make the new 7-film, 4-day festival a reality. There will be a post-film discussion following three of the festival's eight showings.

Mike Salzman, community co-president, said he and his wife, Fran, have been working with Early from the idea’s inception.

“We both felt very honored that the Jewish community would be the ones to co-host the first big event in the new Cinema Art House,” Salzman wrote in a Feb. 24 email.

Mike said it’s thrilling to watch the group grow and create a much-needed space for the arts.

“This festival continues to honor the diversity and acceptance of all here in Rehoboth Beach,” he said. “We hope that it will be the beginning of a very successful history for the venue, and we look forward to having another Jewish Film Festival next year and into the future.”

An unexpected stroke of good luck for the society is the soon-to-be built Lefty’s Alley and Eats, a 35,000-square-foot entertainment venue with bowling, laser tag, arcade games and a restaurant. The construction of this venue was announced in November, and it is under construction on an undeveloped parcel adjacent to Dartmouth Plaza.

Early said she thinks Lefty’s will add to the art house’s appeal. Parents could watch a movie while their kids are next door, or people who watch a movie could continue the conversation while having a bite to eat at the restaurant, she said.

Early said about 85 percent of the art house’s $700,000 budget has been raised, with about $115,000 more needed. She’s hoping the local business community will help with the rest.

She said the film society and the film festivals bring visitors to the area, who in turn spend money on lodging, food and shopping.

“The cultural benefits also help the local economy,” she said.

For more information on the art house, the film festival and how to donate, go to rehobothfilm.com.