Reimagined Sex Clubs, Affluent Benefactors, and Thai Cuisine: How a Portland Arts Organization Discovers Creative Methods to Support Film.

      It is quite possible that by around 2025, there might be more film institutions in North America than citizens actively engaging with films. This situation calls for those invested in a progressively marginalized medium to take action; one effective way is (somewhat ironically) to tap into funds for an event featuring well-known guests and donors. (It's important to note that these two groups are not always the same.) The Portland Art Museum, while serving cinematic interests as one of America’s largest cultural hubs, faces challenges and opportunities similar to those in New York or Los Angeles. I was taken aback, however, that the Cinema Unbound Awards on Friday, May 30, evolved into an auction where attendees – myself included, with my placard hidden under various plates all night to avoid the temptation of raising it and jeopardizing my finances – contributed up to $50,000 to support the Museum's mission and community initiatives.

      If my surprise at the high level of donations was misplaced, consider the democratic setup of the Cinema Unbound Awards: held in the Kridel Grand Ballroom, it places celebrity attendees and members of the press almost on equal ground – though, one can easily guess who is closer to the front and who is further back – and favors short speeches that minimally disrupt a drag queen's hosting and visits to the open bar. The longest acceptance speech came from chef Earl Ninsom, who was responsible for keeping us well-fed throughout the evening––with the beef belly curry and petite Thai tea tarts being absolutely exceptional––thus he had the most justification to extend any preconceptions of time limits for speeches. (Despite this being an awards show focused on cinema that, according to the Museum, honors “visionaries who push the boundaries of media arts, shaping the future through their storytelling, joy, and innovative perspectives,” culinary arts often find inclusion.)

      The most notable award recipient was likely Sarah Sherman from Saturday Night Live, who mentioned that she preferred being in Portland rather than Phoenix. If not her, then possibly Colin Meloy from the Decemberists and his wife, illustrator Carson Ellis, whose collaborative novel Wildwood is being adapted into a film by Portland-based Laika. Marco Brambilla, famous for directing Demolition Man and the video for Kanye West’s “Power,” received an award that coincided with a forthcoming “Carte Blanche” program previewing his Heaven’s Gate exhibit, which will have a full display at the Museum this fall. This indicates that nearly all the honorees engage with cinematic themes without promoting new works directly.

      Photos by Mario Gallucci

      Amy Dotson, director of the Museum’s Tomorrow Theater, shared that her years at New York’s IFP, where everything adhered to strict categories, sparked her desire for something different. The Tomorrow Theater is located in an area of Portland that I quickly recognized, after just a short time in the city, as more modest and working-class. The friendly atmosphere and array of family-friendly programming are complicated by its previous existence as an X-rated cinema and Portland’s last sex club, with its yellow walls paying tribute to I Am Curious (Yellow). Vital to their mission is creating experiences that, while less provocative, complement the films––for instance, a screening of Pride and Prejudice featured yarn artists who “created new yarn based on the color palette,” allowing attendees to receive materials. Although I might question whether certain initiatives (like pre-film group meditations) risk reinforcing Portland stereotypes, Dotson asserts that the theater hosts “250 one-night-only, unique events” each year, with an average attendance of “about 180 people.” Acknowledging how challenging it can be to persuade anyone to watch a movie, especially at a time when interest in cinema is waning, I must ask: to what extent can I actually argue this point?

      New Yorkers often become myopic regarding the art institute. It doesn't take long to encounter stories of dark-money influences, union suppression, underpaid staff mistreated for minor errors, or CEOs whose workplaces (some of which you may have financially supported!) cover rent for luxurious apartments. While I won’t be naïve enough to think such wrongdoings don’t occur in Portland either, both Cinema Unbound and the Tomorrow Theater at least suggest a more hopeful future. I can be somewhat skeptical about performative social justice in a space filled with affluent individuals, and I will certainly question the authenticity of socio-political currency amid the rise of Trump 2.0 – yet (some of) those wealthy individuals made significant donations to sustain after-school programs. From my vantage point, both the event on Friday and the Tomorrow Theater’s initiatives throughout the year seem to reflect kind-hearted individuals valuing art and their fellow humans in equal measure.

      And the ceremony was, like any event featuring an open bar and a three-course meal, enjoyable. (This is despite having indulged much too freely at the previous evening’s honoree dinner, which led to vomiting later that night and into the morning, making me mindful