The historic Circle Cinema in Tulsa will be one of the satellite theaters used for next month’s Sundance Film Festival.
According to the Tulsa World newspaper, the Circle was chosen among 20 theaters across the United States for the acclaimed festival on Jan. 28 to Feb. 3. Twelve films will be screened, alongside programming from local directors and artists.
The Admiral Twin Drive-In in Tulsa, another historic film venue with Route 66 ties, also has been secured as an additional venue for larger screenings.
Other Tulsa venues for the film festival will be the Philbrook Museum of Art, Gilcrease Museum, University of Tulsa and OSU-Tulsa because they have enough space for distanced seating.
Another Route 66-related venue that will be a satellite area for the festival is the iconic Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California.
The festival, which usually takes place in Park City, Utah, has been dispersed this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Circle Cinema officials weighed in on the announcement:
“It is exciting for the 2021 Sundance Film Festival to come to Tulsa,” Circle Cinema programmer Chuck Foxen said in a news release. “This is America’s largest independent film festival. It’s a big deal for Circle Cinema and for Tulsa. I have attended the festival in Utah for the last 10 years, and most of the major films that play at Circle Cinema are first seen at the festival. This will be an opportunity for Oklahoma to see award-winning movies before anyone else, with added enrichment of filmmaker Q-and-As, panel discussions and more.”
Said Circle Cinema co-founder and board president Clark Wiens: “To be selected as the only satellite screen in Oklahoma is a tremendous honor and a testament to Tulsa’s status as a national arts destination. Circle Cinema is proud to be a part of this community as an independent, nonprofit, arthouse theatre. We hope the festival may serve as a return to celebrating film on the big screen, and it must be said that the health of our guests is our top priority. We would not be hosting the festival if it wasn’t possible to do so safely.”
Masks must be worn to the theater, per city ordinance and the Circle Cinema’s rules during the COVID-19 pandemic. Panel discussions, filmmaker question-and-answer sessions and other events with the festival will take place outdoors drive-in theater style or with open-air and distanced seating.
Tickets will be available starting Jan. 7. For more information, go to circlecinema.org/sundance. Film screenings and times will be announced later.
The Circle Cinema, built in 1928, sits on the 1926-1932 alignment of Route 66 in Tulsa at 10 S. Lewis Ave.
The theater closed in the mid-1990s. The Circle Cinema’s revitalization began in 2003, the same year it was designated to the National Register of Historic Places.
It remains Tulsa’s only nonprofit movie venue, specializing in independent films, local movies and other special programming.
The Circle Cinema also sponsors a Walk of Fame that honors “notable film legends” with ties to Oklahoma. Past inductees include Michael Wallis, Alfre Woodard, Gene Autry, James Garner, Joan Crawford, Ron Howard, S.E. Hinton, Tony Randall and Will Rogers.
The Admiral Twin Drive-In opened in 1951, and its second screen was built a year later. It sits off the older Admiral Place alignment of Route 66.
The Admiral Twin also served as an inspiration during a scene in Tulsa native S.E. Hinton’s best-selling novel, “The Outsiders” and the film version directed by Francis Ford Coppola.
A fire destroyed the drive-in’s twin screens in 2010, but donations and public sentiment prompted its owner to rebuild and reopen in 2012.
(Image of the Circle Cinema in Tulsa by Tom Baddley via Flickr; image of the Admiral Twin Drive-In in Tulsa during its reopening in 2012)