5th Avenue Cinema

5th Avenue Cinema Oregon's only student run cinema has been operating non-profit since 1989. Plus FREE POPCORN AT EVERY SHOW for all.

5th Avenue Cinema is Portland State University's student-run cinema house screening an eclectic selection of camp, cult, classic, and contemporary independent and mainstream films. Our goals are to provide further education for PSU students interested in film, as well as a fun place for people to see something they wouldn’t ordinarily get to see on the big screen. The general public is always invi

ted to attend and there is FREE popcorn at every show. Our feature films are never digital and are presented on 35mm film, with the occasional screening on our rare Norelco 16mm projector. Admission is FREE for PSU students & faculty w/ID. $4 for all other students & seniors. $5 General Admission.

week 10: climax◌ dir. gaspar noé (2018) | belgium, france | french, english | 96 min | dcp◌ programmed by alyssaloosely ...
06/01/2026

week 10: climax

◌ dir. gaspar noé (2018) | belgium, france | french, english | 96 min | dcp
◌ programmed by alyssa

loosely based on a true story, a french dance troupe gather at a remote, abandoned school for rehearsals. following this, their after party turns into a hallucinatory, drug-fueled nightmare when they find that the party’s sangria bowl has been spiked with l*d.

◌ friday, june 5 at & 8:30pm
◌ saturday, june 6 at 6 pm & 8:30pm
◌ sunday, june 7 at 3 pm

◌ accepting cash & card
◌ general admission $7
◌ free for psu students, staff, alumni w/ id

( doors open 30 min before showtime & close 5 min after showtime )

week 9: moral ◌ dir. marilou diaz-abaya (1983) | philippines | tagalog, english | 138 min | dcp◌ programmed by sarah the...
05/26/2026

week 9: moral

◌ dir. marilou diaz-abaya (1983) | philippines | tagalog, english | 138 min | dcp
◌ programmed by sarah

the fact we are able to view marilou diaz-abaya’s moral is just short of a miracle. restored from almost certainly unsalvageable conditions a decade prior, diaz-abaya’s rich portrayal of the lives of four women after their college graduation during martial law-era philippines is a gift in character study. frank its subjects of s*x and politics, it is a joy to grow alongside these women, flaws and all. college is messy, what lies beyond perhaps even more so. programmed as spring graduation nears here at psu, this is intended to be a loving send off to those about to begin their next chapter.

◌ friday, may 29 at 6 pm & 8:30pm
◌ saturday, may 30 at 6 pm & 8:30pm
◌ sunday, may 31 at 3 pm

◌ accepting cash & card
◌ general admission $7
◌ free for psu students, staff, alumni w/ id

( doors open 30 min before showtime & close 5 min after showtime )

week 8: homework | to be and to have ! DOUBLE FEATURE ! ◌ dir. abbas kiarostami (1989) | iran | persian | 86 min | dvd ◌...
05/22/2026

week 8: homework | to be and to have

! DOUBLE FEATURE !

◌ dir. abbas kiarostami (1989) | iran | persian | 86 min | dvd

◌ dir. nicolas philibert (2002) | france | french | 80 min | dcp

◌ programmed by naomi

a child explains why their homework is unfinished. another waits patiently, sounding out words one syllable at a time. in kiarostami’s homework (mašq-e šab), students reveal the practiced choreography of being “good”: sitting still, speaking properly, knowing when silence is safer than honesty.

philibert’s to be and to have (être et avoir) observes the daily routine of a rural primary school classroom: recitation, careful listening, small hands learning how to write, count, and repeat.

each title frames a structure of learning: homework, the task carried between school and home; être et avoir, “to be” and “to have,” the two french auxiliary verbs through which action, memory, relation, and selfhood are articulated. 

what both films consider is how children learn to inhabit the world they are given, following the rituals of schooling as responsibility, social life, and ways of knowing take shape beyond the classroom.

◌ friday, may 22 homework at 6 pm to be and to have at 8:30 pm
◌ saturday, may 23 homework at 6 pm to be and to have at 8:30 pm

◌ sunday, may 24 homework at 3 pm to be and to have at 5:30 pm

◌ accepting cash & card ◌ general admission $7 ◌ free for psu students, staff, alumni w/ id

( doors open 30 min before showtime & close 10 min after showtime )

week 7: strike◌ dir. sergei eisenstein (1924) | ussr | 95 min | 16mm◌ programmed by clarafilmmaker sergei eisenstein sai...
05/14/2026

week 7: strike

◌ dir. sergei eisenstein (1924) | ussr | 95 min | 16mm
◌ programmed by clara

filmmaker sergei eisenstein said to imagine a cinema which is not dominated by the dollar. a cinema industry where one man's pocket is not filled at other people's expense; which is not for the pockets of two or three people but for the heads and hearts of 150 million people. every motion picture affects heads and hearts, but as a rule motion pictures are not produced especially for heads and hearts. generally motion pictures are turned out for the benefit of two or three pockets; only incidentally do they affect the heads and hearts of millions.

witness his first feature film strike on 16mm, which is a stylized account of pre-revolutionary russia and the brutal repression that the working class faced. accompanied by a shorts program that showcases a union report from the 60s , soviet bloc animations, and a film about how workers around the world have cut out middle management. a zine discussing the context of eisenstein’s bourgeois upbringing, the art movement he was a part of in russia, and revolutionary thoughts on culture and film will be present and free.

◌ friday, may 15 at 6 pm
◌ saturday, may 16 at 6 pm
◌ sunday, may 17 at 3 pm

◌ accepting cash & card
◌ general admission $7
◌ free for psu students, staff, alumni w/ id

( doors open 30 min before showtime & close 10 min after showtime )

week 5: the juniper tree ◌ dir. nietzchka keene (1990) | iceland | english | 79 min | dcp◌ programmed by naomi nietzchka...
05/06/2026

week 5: the juniper tree

◌ dir. nietzchka keene (1990) | iceland | english | 79 min | dcp
◌ programmed by naomi

nietzchka keene’s adaptation of the 19th-century fairy tale recasts the story through a distinctly feminist lens, shifting attention from the tale’s inherited suspicion of women to the very systems that produce it. filmed in stark black-and-white on Iceland’s southern coast, basalt cliffs and the mist of seljalandsfoss give the landscape a presence of its own. featuring björk in her debut as both an actor and a new mother, the film follows her character, margit, and her sister katla, as they live in exile after their mother’s persecutory death. photographed in long, low summer light, silhouettes are framed against vast open space where grief, ritual and landscape are inseparable.

◌ friday, may 8 at 6 pm & 8:30 pm
◌ saturday, may 9 at 6 pm & 8:30 pm
◌ sunday, may 10 at 3 pm

◌ accepting cash & card
◌ general admission $7
◌ free for psu students, staff, alumni w/ id

( doors open 30 min before showtime & close 10 min after showtime )

week 5: murdering the devil ◌ dir. ester krumbachová (1970) | czechoslovakia | czech | 105 min | dcp ◌ programmed by jul...
04/27/2026

week 5: murdering the devil

◌ dir. ester krumbachová (1970) | czechoslovakia | czech | 105 min | dcp

◌ programmed by julie

this singular directorial film by new wave costume designer and writer ester krumbachová, known as ‘the queen of czech film design’, features a delicious social critique on love and marriage and the extent that a woman might go to, to romance a man unworthy of the crumbs at her feet. set primarily within the fortysomething bachelorette’s apartment, a visually stunning array of costuming and set design come through in dressings of beautiful teal and shades of brown, velvet furniture and floral motifs that make you wonder why on earth she would ever want a man there to ruin it all. with dark humor and a cheeky inner monologue that delights, its absurdist commentary on gender constructs quickly led to eastern bloc censorship and krumbachová was blacklisted from ever directing again. a real treat to the eyes and soul, a love letter to women everywhere that a beautiful life you build alone is always better than settling for a dusty, devilish man.

◌ friday, may 1 at 6 pm & 8:30 pm
◌ saturday, may 2 at 6 pm & 8:30 pm
◌ sunday, may 3 at 3 pm

◌ accepting cash & card
◌ general admission $7
◌ free for psu students, staff, alumni w/ id

( doors open 30 min before showtime & close 10 min after showtime )

week 4: if a tree falls: a story of the earth liberation front ◌ dir. marshall curry (2011) | us, uk | english | 85 min ...
04/21/2026

week 4: if a tree falls: a story of the earth liberation front

◌ dir. marshall curry (2011) | us, uk | english | 85 min | dcp

◌ programmed by julie

a rare look behind the scenes of the earth liberation front, a radical environmental group once deemed america's 'number one domestic terrorist threat' by the fbi. filmmakers sam cullman and marshall curry give us a documentary that unfolds within the context of political flashpoints across the late 90’s and early aughts, during the rise of green anarchy’s actions against the exploitation of resources when peaceful protests failed. the film follows e.l.f. organizer daniel mcgowan and fellow comrades of the oregon cell based in eugene as we discover personal stories that led them to the rationalization of property destruction as a means to a liberatory end. challenging our conditioning and reasoning in a way that inspires a conversation as to who the terrorists are and the price earth pays for unchecked capitalism.

◌ friday, april 24 at 6 pm & 8:30 pm
◌ saturday, april 25 at 6 pm & 8:30 pm
◌ sunday, april 26 at 3 pm

◌ accepting cash & card
◌ general admission $7
◌ free for psu students, staff, alumni w/ id

( doors open 30 min before showtime & close 10 min after showtime )

week 4: if a tree falls: a story of the earth liberation front◌ dir. marshall curry (2011) | us, uk | english | 85 min |...
04/21/2026

week 4: if a tree falls: a story of the earth liberation front

◌ dir. marshall curry (2011) | us, uk | english | 85 min | dcp

◌ programmed by julie

a rare look behind the scenes of the earth liberation front, a radical environmental group once deemed america's 'number one domestic terrorist threat' by the fbi. filmmakers sam cullman and marshall curry give us a documentary that unfolds within the context of political flashpoints across the late 90’s and early aughts, during the rise of green anarchy’s actions against the exploitation of resources when peaceful protests failed. the film follows e.l.f. organizer daniel mcgowan and fellow comrades of the oregon cell based in eugene as we discover personal stories that led them to the rationalization of property destruction as a means to a liberatory end. challenging our conditioning and reasoning in a way that inspires a conversation as to who the terrorists are and the price earth pays for unchecked capitalism.

◌ friday, april 24 at 6 pm & 8:30 pm
◌ saturday, april 25 at 6 pm & 8:30 pm
◌ sunday, april 26 at 3 pm

◌ accepting cash & card
◌ general admission $7
◌ free for psu students, staff, alumni w/ id

( doors open 30 min before showtime & close 10 min after showtime )

week 2: silvestre◌ dir. joão césar monteiro (1981) | portugal | portuguese | 120 min | dcp◌ programmed by sarahjoão césa...
04/08/2026

week 2: silvestre

◌ dir. joão césar monteiro (1981) | portugal | portuguese | 120 min | dcp

◌ programmed by sarah

joão césar monteiro blended the folktales bluebeard and the portuguese “a donzela que vai a guerra” to create a resplendent, brechtian atmosphere that lures us into a world full of dangers. silvia, played by maria de medeiros in her earliest role, navigates these trials and finds autonomy in a system built to fail her. both grounded in the mud of the medieval era and transcendent to the celestial, this is one of monteiro’s most sublime and delicate works.

◌ friday, april 10 at 6 pm & 8:30 pm
◌ saturday, april 11 at 6 pm & 8:30 pm
◌ sunday, april 12 at 3 pm

◌ accepting cash & card
◌ general admission $7
◌ free for psu students, staff, alumni w/ id

( doors open 30 min before showtime & close 10 min after showtime )

week 1: they live | fresh kill! DOUBLE FEATURE !◌ dir. john carpenter (1988) | us | english | 94 min | dcp◌ dir. shu lea...
04/03/2026

week 1: they live | fresh kill

! DOUBLE FEATURE !

◌ dir. john carpenter (1988) | us | english | 94 min | dcp
◌ dir. shu lea cheang (1994) | uk, us | english | 80 min | dcp

◌ programmed by clara

behold, absurd reality! consume! work relentlessly! eat poison! obey! watch television! fight for the truth… whatever that means. witness how two different filmmakers, john carpenter and shu lea cheang, approach social, political, and environmental issues through the lens of the goofy and surreal. made only 6 years apart, both they live and fresh kill focus on working-class characters that attempt to seize the means of communication and reflect on its production. subliminal messaging, corrupt companies, radioactive fish, and undercover agents are rampant. the realization that their actions and beliefs are more orchestrated than previously thought leads many to fight for their survival. through hacktivism, comically long wrestling matches, shootouts, and organizing, a reality that feels much like our own is deconstructed in creative ways.

◌ friday, april 3
they live at 6 pm
fresh kill at 8:30 pm

◌ saturday, april 4
they live at 6 pm
fresh kill at 8:30 pm

◌ sunday, april 5
they live at 3 pm
fresh kill at 5:30 pm

◌ accepting cash & card
◌ general admission $7
◌ free for psu students, staff, alumni w/ id

( doors open 30 min before showtime & close 10 min after showtime )

Address

510 SW Hall Street
Portland, OR
97201

Opening Hours

Friday 6:30pm - 12am
Saturday 6:30pm - 12am
Sunday 2:30pm - 6pm

Telephone

+15037253551

Website

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