Gardena Cinema is an 800-seat, single-screen movie theater located on Crenshaw Boulevard, Gardena, California in the US. It was built in the 1940s. [1]
The theater was built in 1946. [2] In 1976, the Kim family, South Korean emigrants, purchased the theater. [1] [2]
In 2023, local fans of the theater rallied support for the theater in response to it being listed for sale. [3] The community aims for the theater to be preserved. [2] [4] In 2023, the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival held a screening at the movie theater. [1] As of May 2023, Judy Kim, who runs the cinema her parents bought, is in the process of filing for nonprofit status to keep the business afloat while her family looks for a buyer. [2] [5]
Gardena Cinema is the last single-screen theater in the South Bay. [6]