July 21, 2016 - November 6, 2017
This pop-up theater is presented by the Exhibitions Program at Philadelphia International Airport in partnership with Bryn Mawr Film Institute and History Making Productions.
Located in Bryn Mawr, PA, in the western suburbs of Philadelphia, the nonprofit, member-supported movie theater and film education center is dedicated to entertain, engage, and educate audiences by presenting wide ranging independent films and offering film courses, workshops, and other special events.
The Bryn Mawr Film Institute was founded as a result of a “call to rescue the historic Seville Theater, a center of Bryn Mawr community life since 1926.” In 2002, the institute’s current founding president and executive director Juliet Goodfriend along with other civic leaders successfully saved the historic theater from demolition. Following more than 10 years of renovation and expansion, today the institute features 4 state-of-the-art theaters, classrooms, community space, café, and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Bryn Mawr Film Institute has over 8,000 members and is among the largest member-based theater in the United States. Although membership is encouraged, the majority of screenings, courses, and events are open to the public.
Winner of 7 Emmy awards, the documentary film studio History Making Productions was founded in 2008 by Philadelphian and civic entrepreneur Sam Katz. The production studio includes writers, editors, filmmakers, and historians who “seek to share Philadelphia’s rich history through the powerful medium of film.” Its purpose is to educate Philadelphians and the world about the City’s significant role in the development of American democracy. History Making Productions describes Philadelphia as “the single most compelling stage for the unfurling and testing of American ideals.”
The studio’s first epic documentary film series, Philadelphia: The Great Experiment, features chronological episodes covering nearly 400 years from the 1600s with A Lost World to the 1990s Breakthrough. More recent documentaries include The Women of Philadelphia, Urban Trinity: The Story of Catholic Philadelphia, and Philadelphia: The Nation’s First World Heritage City.
