About The Vanguard
Louisville's arts scene is flourishing. Painting, sculpture, music, and theater all thrive here - and there are galleries and venues to showcase them. We do not have, however, a welcoming place for film: a medium that can incorporate all those arts. Existing activities and groups such as The Kentuckiana Cinematography Club, KINO, Last Call Film Festival, Louisville Film Society, Hart/Lunsford Productions, and the 48-Hour Film Project demonstrate that there is both production and appreciation of the art of the film in Louisville, but we have no venue where the full range of cinema - from experimental, independent, foreign, cult, and documentary to modern classics - finds a true home.
The Vanguard Cinema will be that home. Our inviting, innovative, comfortable cinema will be a place where films of all kinds can be shown and discussed, where local film makers can screen their work and grow an audience, where the innovative movie experience can become part of the fabric and vocabulary of Louisville's culture. Special events tied into the films will enhance the "entertainment value" of the theater experience. Unlike ordinary movie theaters, The Vanguard Cinema will have a restaurant with wine, spirits, and beer, and the seating will be an inviting mix of easy chairs and couches, bar tables, and theater seating. A wait staff will serve the clientele in their seats while the film plays. It will be a place where a dialogue between other arts and film can happen. Musicians can perform, art can be displayed, films shown, writers can be heard, all in one exciting place where people are encouraged to linger and talk and eat and drink. An audience for film will grow, and a clientele that keeps coming back will develop. After all, as Bertolt Brecht said, "A theater without beer is just a museum."
The food will be innovative - often reflecting the themes of the current film offerings. The food, spirit, beer, and wine choices will feature local and regional production. The Vanguard Cinema will be a place of celebration and delight in the local and the global. Local, regional, and national artists will exhibit in the art gallery/lobby and the venue will be a major stop on the Frankfort Avenue Trolley Hop. The Vanguard Cinema will also be a delightful education - festivals, courses, discussion groups can all happen here. Louisville will learn film - and learn all the arts - more deeply. And have great fun doing it.
