About RCC

 To see what we helped bring to the Bangor region, click here!

The missions of River City Cinema, a non-profit organization, are to:

• bring diverse films to the Bangor region

• educate the public about the art and history of cinema

• encourage filmmaking in Northeastern Maine

Where We've Been and Where We Are

River City Cinema was formed in 2001 by Barbara and David Clark, Sandra Johnson, Michael Grillo and Jorge González and Kathy Tenga-González, who were interested in bringing more diverse movies in the Bangor area.

Helping RCC get started was a cadre of 76 Charter Members, interested and generous people who funded it even before receiving its present 501(c)(3) status. Without their support RCC could not have developed the promotions, the web site, surveys or data base, or covered the printing costs, the filing fees, and all the incidentals of doing business. They were instrumental in helping make River City Cinema part of Bangor’s creative arts community.

In September 2002, River City Cinema presented its first film in partnership with Movie City 8 in Bangor. Appropriately enough that film was the reissued, director’s cut of Cinema Paradiso whose tagline was “A celebration of…the everlasting magic of the movies”.

Over 50 first-run films were screened under the “Art & Foreign Film” banner at Movie City 8, greatly enhancing the choices of Bangor’s moviegoers. RCC role in presenting these films was to select the titles, promote them, and build an audience for them.
   In addition to the regular screenings we held a number of popular special-event evenings, again in cooperation with Movie City 8, during which invited experts – filmmakers, historians, actors, writers – led post-film discussions. Once such event was a sold-out screening of The Quiet American with a panel discussion that featured Nancy MacNight of the Maine Humanities Council, Robert Whelan from the UMaine English department, Academy Award winning filmmaker Peter Davis and Penobscot Theater principal & actress Coleene Frashure.
   Circumstances were such that the owners of Movie City 8 decided to go back to showing second-run movies exclusively, but we were grateful to the owners for helping us bring significant foreign-language, independent, documentary and experimental films to the Big Screen in Bangor.

In 2003, thanks to a generous grant from the Stephen and Tabitha King Foundation we created Cinema to Go, a portable digital theater. We were now able to hold special film programs in a variety of venues— even outdoors. It also gave us the flexibility to work with other organization. A major component of Cinema to Go, a collapsible 15' x 11' screen, was constructed by Daniel Leaden, owner of Acadia Fabric Structure, partly as an in-kind donation.
  Our first series focused on "Movies About Movies", which featured such titles as Sunset Boulevard (Maine author Sandy Phippen offered anecdotes about the making of this Billy Wilder classic), the documentary Lost in LaMancha, and François Truffaut's Day for Night. Audiences were thrilled to see these works on a big screen.

We have participated in Downtown Bangor's Winter Weekend by showing movies and serving up a hot soup dinner at the Union Street Brick Church. The audience was warmed with soups provided by the Sea Dog Restaurant and some of the RCC members as well as bread by the local bakeries.

Each summer RCC holds a free outdoor film festival downtown Bangor and and transforms Pickering Square into an open air movie theater. Generous local sponsors make it possible for the audience, some for the first time, to experience cinema classics on the big screen.

Here's a review from a member of the audience—
"Attending a "Smiles on a Summer Night" (RCC's free comedy series) film was a glorious way to spend an evening! The technical quality was wonderful, the crowd was festive and the popcorn smelled great. The event transformed the feeling of Bangor. I felt like I had arrived in a new and wonderful city!"

We also help bring the Maine International Film Festival to Bangor by hosting "satellite" screenings at the Bangor Opera House Audiences have enjoyed evenings and discussions with the likes of Ed Harris, "the guru of independent films" John Pierson and Mary Harron.

Throughout the fall, winter and spring we screen many foreign films, documentary and independent that had not been seen on a big screen—Monseiur Ibrahim, The Motorcycle Diaries and Osama were only a few of the critically acclaimed movies we showed. These are shown at venues such as the Bangor Opera House, home of the Penobscot Theatre, and the Brewer Middle School Auditorium.

Where We're Going

RCC's goal is to have a multi-purpose cinema center in downtown Bangor. This facility will allow RCC to show first-run films, offer filmmakers editing and screening capabilities, and teach the public about the art of cinema through exhibits and hands-on demonstrations.

Any suggestions, recommendations or donations are always welcome!