Sag Harbor Cinema officially reopening Thursday

The Sag Harbor Cinema will celebrate its official grand opening Memorial Day weekend with a wide-ranging lineup of films, in-person appearances from special guests, a musical performance and the first cocktails to be served from the venue’s third-floor bar.

The celebration runs Thursday through Memorial Day though there will be no official opening-day ceremony due to ongoing COVID-19 protocols.

"We are feeling incredibly excited," said Giulia D’Agnolo Vallan, the cinema’s founding artistic director. "This is really the first time we have an opportunity to present a program where the cinema really shows the potential of what we’ll be doing in the future."

The reopening has been a long time coming, and not just because of the pandemic. After a fire nearly destroyed the building in December 2016, plans were to rebuild the single-screen venue as a multi-screen, nonprofit art house. A combination of private donations and public funds went into a $20 million renovation effort that began in 2017 with the $8 million purchase of the building. Progress came to a halt under the COVID-19 shutdown, but the cinema eventually restarted construction and in October began offering free tours as a way to build excitement among local moviegoers.

Strong business following a soft opening, on April 9, proved encouraging. "People really want to go back to the cinema," Vallan said. "I think there is a desire to be together and to experience films together."

The cinema’s Memorial Day weekend lineup features a mix of programming, from first-run to repertory. The horror sequel "A Quiet Place Part II," opening nationwide Friday, will play in Auditorium 1, which boasts a state-of-the-art Atmos sound system. A 35 mm print of Quentin Tarantino’s "Pulp Fiction" (1994), along with a collection of 35 mm Tarantino trailers, will play Saturday and Sunday at 9:25 p.m. "Sound Visions," a program of shorts from local filmmakers, screens Saturday at 4 p.m. and Monday at 7 p.m.

Family fare includes Disney’s animated "Alice in Wonderland" (1951), which plays Saturday and Monday at 1:30 p.m. A free pop-up animation station for kids will be available Saturday with timed entries from 3 to 6 p.m.

The cinema also will muster some star power in the form of live guest appearances. A screening of D.A. Pennebaker’s classic Bob Dylan documentary, "Don’t Look Back," will take place Friday, followed by a Q&A with the filmmaker’s longtime collaborator and partner, Chris Hegedus, along with a performance of Dylan favorites from G.E. Smith, the former "Saturday Night Live" bandleader. Dave Kehr, film curator at the Museum of Modern Art, will introduce William Wellman’s comedy "Nothing Sacred" (1937) Saturday at 6:45 p.m. "Cinema Para Todos," a panel on Latin American movies, will feature filmmaker Carlos Sandoval ("Farmingville") and other speakers.

"Art-house cinemas might have an easier time than the big chain multiplexes. It’s a different relationship with the audience, it’s a little more personal," said Vallan. "And that’s what we designed the theater in mind with."