Cicada Cinema

09/29/2026

Here at Cicada Cinema, we care about the comfort and cleanliness of your seating. Like, a lot. So much that a team of dedicated Cicada volunteers spent 9 AND A HALF HOURS hosing down salvaged theater seating just for you! 🧼🫧

(Don’t worry, we did take a break for some amazing pizza, once again provided by the excellent folks at Pizza X.) Who’s ready for some comfy chairs?!?

09/24/2026

✅ Cicada is on the ballot for the Bloomingfoods Positive Change Program! Bloomingfoods Co-op Market

If you are a Bloomingfoods owner-member, don’t miss your chance to vote for Cicada Cinema during Bloomingfoods’ annual election. Your vote can help Cicada land one of 11 spots in the Positive Change program, a wonderful program that gives Bloomingfoods shoppers the opportunity to support a different community organization each month by rounding their purchases to the nearest dollar.

Completion of the theater renovations is already being made possible by your support, but your vote for Cicada Cinema on the Positive Change ballot can take us even farther!

A spot in the Bloomingfoods Positive Change program will generate funding that will help us continue doing what we do best in our first year at the new space: making high-quality film screenings accessible for everyone through low admission prices and community partnerships.

So, vote Cicada! And, as always, thank you so much for your support!

09/10/2026

Can you believe it’s September already? At Cicada Cinema, we sure can’t!

The month of August was a busy one here at the theater, and it went by fast. Wondering what we’ve been up to? Well, mostly construction, construction, and more construction! Thanks to your generous donations, we’ve been able to get a lot of work done on the theater, including installing a firewall in the attic, continuing the risers, and more plumbing and electrical work than anyone wants to talk about, and lots of painting, too!

Painting services were provided by Arlo’s Paint and Sign (Arlo) and Arlo was also nice enough to load our BRAND NEW SCREEN onto his truck and bring it to the theater. 🫶Thanks, Arlo! The building looks great.

Though the construction kept us busy this month, we made sure to take a day out to write thank you notes and pack up posters for all of you, our Patronicity patrons. Fueled by gratitude and pizzas donated by our friends at Pizza X, our dedicated volunteers wrote 330 thank you notes by hand and packed up over 80 posters for local delivery.

Speaking of the posters, they (along with the t-shirts) will be on their way soon! Badknees is currently printing the shirts, and once those are finished, we’ll be sending everything out. If you live in Bloomington, keep an eye on your porch, because a Cicada volunteer will be delivering your item to your door. For those outside Bloomington, your items will arrive via postal mail.

We’ll be sure to send you more updates as the Cicada Cinema theater buildout progresses! In the meantime, stay tuned for details on another easy and fun way to support your local community cinema.

08/25/2026

LOVE PIZZA and LOCAL NONPROFIT CINEMAS? 🍕

If you’re in Bloomington and would like to continue your support for Cicada Cinema while eating delicious pizza, our friends at Pizza X have you covered!

Every Wednesday in August, Pizza X will donate 20% of your bill to Cicada Cinema. Just tell them you’re supporting Cicada Cinema when you place your order or select it under the “Xtend-A-Hand” tab when placing your order online.

🤯📽️👅

08/23/2026

Cicada volunteers were hard at work on Saturday writing thank-you notes to all our generous Patronicity donors!

Big thanks to Pizza X for keeping our volunteers fed and happy! (And for supporting us through your X-Tend A Hand program every Wednesday in August.)

Posters and T-shirts are on the way soon...

08/21/2026

TOMORROW 🌈 OUTSIDE at Butler Park see ARCO!

Arco tells the story of Iris, a girl living in an all-too believable future in which life continues normally despite climate disasters and advanced technologies, until one day from out of the sky drops Arco, a boy from a distant, more peaceful future. The two bond as they try to deliver Arco to his family and out of the clutches of three mysterious brothers who know where (or, rather, when) he’s from.

A stunning debut from animator Ugo Bienvenu, fans of Studio Ghibli won’t want to miss this sweet-hearted examination of young love, technological change, and family.

This screening was programmed by Cicada Cinema in collaboration with our friends, the City of Bloomington Parks and Recreation department.

08/18/2026

For the first time in a while, we have a movie on offer—and what a movie!

Join us this Saturday, August 22nd at 8:30 pm for a (family-friendly!) screening of 2025 French animated masterpiece Arco, outdoors at Rev. Ernest D. Butler Park! This screening was programmed by Cicada Cinema in collaboration with our friends, the City of Bloomington Parks and Recreation department.

Arco tells the story of Iris, a girl living in an all-too believable future in which life continues normally despite climate disasters and advanced technologies, until one day from out of the sky drops Arco, a boy from a distant, peaceful future. The two bond as they try to return Arco to his family and out of the clutches of three mysterious brothers who know where (or, rather, when) he’s from.

A stunning debut from animator Ugo Bienvenu, fans of Studio Ghibli won’t want to miss this sweet-hearted examination of young love, technological change, and family.

Thursday, December 4th
Rev. Ernest D. Butler Park (812 W 9th St)
Showtime: 8:30 pm
FREE | All ages
Outside • BYO Chair or Blanket

08/10/2026

UPDATE ✌️

Thanks to all the volunteers who came out to help during our build day on July 25th, there’s finished drywall in the lobby and risers for the tiered seating in the auditorium(still in progress a lil).

Cicada Cinema is truly an independent volunteer-run organization. It’s turns out that it’s a TON of work to retrofit a former warehouse space into a community movie theater. Work that could not be done without the generosity of our patrons and the amazing work our beautiful volunteers!

FOR THE LOVE OF FILM -
FOR THE LOVE OF COMMUNITY

-Cicada Cinema

08/10/2026

08/10/2026

UPDATE ☝️

It’s been a busy summer at Cicada. Thanks to the generous support of our community and donors, we’ve been able to make a lot of progress on the build already.

Cicada volunteers saved a used cinema sound system and seats from a closed theater in Greensburg, framed a vestibule & bathroom, started construction of a concession area, and cleaned up the grounds of the new space.

See next post for more update number ✌️