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3.15.2010

san francisco chinatown's great star theater re-opening


This is a cool story about the re-opening of the historic Great Star theater in San Francisco, a Chinatown theater that shows both Chinese-language films and Chinese opera -- possibly the last film venue of its kind in America: Great Star theater preparing to rise again.

The old Chinatown theater is being refurbished and reopened by two guys who have no previous connection to Chinese culture, but an appreciation for cinema and old movie houses. They saw the possibilities. The goal is to revitalize it and to do local community Chinese events and bring in concerts and film festivals.

Coincidentally, husband-and-wife Ruby Yang and Lambert Yam have made A Moment of Time, a documentary on the tradition of Chinese movies and their effect on the population of San Francisco's Chinatown. It's screening as part of the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival (but not at the Great Star, funny enough).