Clinton Street Theater

Clinton Street Theater Cult, indie, classics, drag, music, comedy. World famous for screening The Rocky Horror Picture Show! In 1976 it reverted to its original name.
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A landmark of Portland cinema history, The Clinton Street Theater is one of the oldest operating movie houses in the United States. Opening in 1915 as the Clinton, the theater became the 26th Avenue Theatre in 1945 and the Encore in 1969. Although the theater has undergone many changes over the years, it remains an intimate single screen venue with the capacity for 200 patrons

Famous for its long

-standing exhibition of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, the theater is currently a magnet for independent and revival films. Our mission is to support the community through the power of independent film and live events in welcoming environment where people can be true to themselves while experiencing exciting art of all varieties.

Misan Harriman, the subject of Andy Mundy-Castle's 2026 documentary SHOOT THE PEOPLE, spoke to Huck Mag about what was g...
05/31/2026

Misan Harriman, the subject of Andy Mundy-Castle's 2026 documentary SHOOT THE PEOPLE, spoke to Huck Mag about what was going through his mind when he decided to document protests as a photographer:

"The truth is I think I was shooting my own trauma in many ways – a lot of the faces, I could see myself in their eyes, and I guess they could see themselves in my eyes. So it was a deeply painful period, but an important period to bear witness as an artist. I think we get lost in the vibes of clout and Instagram filters, and I’m not interested in entertaining people through my art – I’m interested in showing them what we are, so we can build community and build better. On the streets now, people say things like: ​“Thank you, you care so much about the climate, the q***r community, women and race.” But for me, that’s the fu***ng basics. The idea that my children are going to inherit a world where you can’t love who you want, where you can’t live in the body that you want, where Black and Brown people are considered to be less human, where Arab babies are being annihilated before our very eyes, is not acceptable."

An early screening of SHOOT THE PEOPLE will be on Tuesday, June 16th at 7:00 PM.

Such a cool type face for this 1992 Japanese poster of PARIS IS BURNING.PARIS IS BURNING returns to the Clinton on Frida...
05/31/2026

Such a cool type face for this 1992 Japanese poster of PARIS IS BURNING.

PARIS IS BURNING returns to the Clinton on Friday, June 19th at 7:00 PM. This screening is free, RSVP here: https://cstpdx.com/event/paris-is-burning-3/

Donna Deitch's 1985 DESERT HEARTS is considered one of the first depictions of a le***an relationship in cinema that did...
05/30/2026

Donna Deitch's 1985 DESERT HEARTS is considered one of the first depictions of a le***an relationship in cinema that did not end in tragedy. Deitch speaks to this point in a 2017 article for Criterion, and how she wanted the formal qualities of the film to feel "accessible" to a more mainstream audience:

"I was reacting against all the movies that had been made about same-s*x love stories, or at least the ones about two women. They were so negative, and that seemed strange to me—more than strange, it just felt wrong. Because the story of DESERT HEARTS was so controversial in its time, I thought that it would be best served by having the style be very accessible. I wanted to cloak this film in the garb of a mainstream Hollywood romance. The goal here was to have an audience, because that’s how the Hollywood romance operates, right? I wanted this to be a very accessible movie, not a ghettoized film. So although I used to be an experimental filmmaker, I didn’t want any of that visual language in this film. I didn’t think it suited it."

One of out favorites, DESERT HEARTS screens Sunday, June 14th at 7:00 PM.

In an interview with director Alice Maio Mackay conducted by Filmmaker Magazine, Maio Mackay speaks about how music infl...
05/30/2026

In an interview with director Alice Maio Mackay conducted by Filmmaker Magazine, Maio Mackay speaks about how music influences so heavily her writing, and how for her latest feature THE SERPENT'S SKIN, Meatloaf (a house hold name for the Clinton), inspired her heavily.

"I was really inspired by Meatloaf for this one! Just the vibe of all three volumes of “Bat Out of Hell.” That I listened to a lot. "

THE SERPENT'S SKIN screens Monday, June 8th at 7:00 PM.

It feels very obvious to point out how the title and subject matter of Wong Kar-Wai's 1997 film HAPPY TOGETHER feels dis...
05/29/2026

It feels very obvious to point out how the title and subject matter of Wong Kar-Wai's 1997 film HAPPY TOGETHER feels dissonant from one another. While there are many interpretations, Wong Kar-Wai dictates in an interview at the time of its release what the phrase "happy together" means to him:

"In this film, some audiences will say that the title seems to be very cynical, because it is about two persons living together, and at the end, they are just separate. But to me, happy together can apply to two persons or apply to a person and his past, and I think sometimes when a person is at peace with himself and his past, I think it is the beginning of a relationship which can be happy, and also he can be more open to more possibilities in the future with other people."

Coming to the Clinton Tuesday, June 30th at 7:00 PM.

We hope everybody is excited to witness the musical beauty of this scene on the big screen...We return to the town of Tw...
05/29/2026

We hope everybody is excited to witness the musical beauty of this scene on the big screen...

We return to the town of Twin Peaks Friday, June 5th at 5:00 PM as we begin season 2, featuring special guest Harry Goaz (Deputy Andy Brennan) in person!!

We'll be screening episodes 1 through 5; “May the Giant Be with You,” “Coma,” “The Man Behind the Glass,” “Laura’s Secret Diary,” and “The Orchid’s Curse." Note that “May the Giant Be with You" is 93 minutes!

Tickets available here: https://cstpdx.com/event/twin-peaks-season-2-episodes-1-2-3-4-5/

Join us TONIGHT at 7:00 PM for a showcase of the hottest celluloid oddities in town! Presented by the lovely folks at th...
05/28/2026

Join us TONIGHT at 7:00 PM for a showcase of the hottest celluloid oddities in town! Presented by the lovely folks at the Nyback Archive!!

Join OJRC to witness a story of the power of protest led by people in prison. Weaving together testimonies from hunger s...
05/28/2026

Join OJRC to witness a story of the power of protest led by people in prison. Weaving together testimonies from hunger strikers as well gaining unprecedented access to state prison officials and never-before-seen footage from inside Pelican Bay prison in Northern California, this documentary goes beyond simply making a case against solitary confinement and illuminates how prisoner-led resistance grew from a whisper inside the halls of Pelican Bay to a colossal feat across California prisons that involved 30,000 incarcerated people.

OJRC is screening THE STRIKE as part of their work to end the use of solitary confinement in state prisons. Extensive research over several decades has clearly and consistently shown that solitary confinement is profoundly harmful. Several states have ended the use of prolonged solitary confinement as a disciplinary sanction in favor of more humane and effective alternatives. Oregon must end solitary confinement.

Screening with a post-film discussion Tuesday, June 9th at 7:00 PM, tickets available here: https://cstpdx.com/event/the-strike/

Todd Haynes's POISON is widely considered to be a "trailblazer" within the New Q***r Cinema movement (a term coined by B...
05/27/2026

Todd Haynes's POISON is widely considered to be a "trailblazer" within the New Q***r Cinema movement (a term coined by B. Ruby Rich in 1992 to describe a movement of independent films being made in the early 1990s with a focus on q***r themes).

In an article for Senses of Cinema, MaoHui Deng discuses the controversy the film raised within the American Family Association, and a quote from Haynes himself criticizing Wildmon's stance structurally:

"When the film was first released, it created a huge furore. The Rev. Donald E. Wildmon, then head of the American Family Association, wrote to Congress, condemning the “explicit p***o scenes of homos*xuals involved in a**l s*x”. Wildmon made the comment without having seen the film, but based his statement from a review that he read. Though there are scenes of a**l s*x in the film, it is all very tastefully done and no ge****ls are shown – it is not p***ography. Wildmon’s statement is hence symptomatic of the widespread homophobia in his contemporary America and its cinema, where films that explored “deviant” s*xualities were seen to be morally bankrupt and positioned as the opposite of heteronormative practices. Yet, as Haynes observes, this belief is extremely fraudulent:

I have a lot of frustration with the insistence on content when people are talking about homos*xuality. People define gay cinema solely by content: if there are gay characters in it, it’s a gay film […] Heteros*xuality to me is a structure as much as content. It is an imposed structure that goes along with the patriarchal, dominant structure that constrains and defines society. If homos*xuality is the opposite or the counter-s*xual activity to that, then what kind of a structure would it be?"

Something to chew on, POISON screens Monday, June 1st at 7:00 PM.

The Portland EcoFilm Festival presents a program of New Indigenous Films, screening tonight at 7:00 PM.
05/26/2026

The Portland EcoFilm Festival presents a program of New Indigenous Films, screening tonight at 7:00 PM.

Address

2522 SE Clinton Street
Portland, OR
97202

Telephone

+19718083331

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