SILVER SCREEN The Rafael

Silver Screen

The Big 2-0

Going strong after a 1999 renovation, the Smith Rafael Film Center retains its status as a crowd favorite. BY BERNARD BOO

WHEN YOU WA LK into the screens, state-of-the-art tech and an Smith Rafael Film Center, updated aesthetic. you can instantly tell it’s Since reopening, the Rafael has served run by people who care. as center of gravity for the MVFF and It’s a movie house with a soul. CFI, with countless filmmakers, actors

Originally opened in 1920 as the and artists passing through its doors. Orpheus Theater, the Rafael saw its curFrom legendary figures like Ang Lee and rent era begin in earnest on April 16, Sean Penn to rising talents like Damien 1999, with completion of a years-long Chazelle and Mahershala Ali, a who’s renovation project championed by Mill who of industry movers and shakers Valley Film Festival executive director have presented and discussed their work Mark Fishkin after the devastation of onstage in Theater 1. the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. With But the Rafael is a tribute to great cinhelp from the San Rafael Redevelopment ema, not Hollywood hype. When Fishkin Agency, Bay Area architect Mark first set out to reimagine the theater, he Cavagnero and many others, the theater envisioned it as a world-class establishsprang back to life, and this year marks ment where filmmakers, regardless of its 20th anniversary. status or budget, could share their work

“It was like going to war to build it,” in an intimate, respectful environment. recalls Fishkin, who’s also founder and “When we talked about building the executive director of the California Rafael, we talked about how independent Film Institute. The project added two filmmakers had the worst venues (to show

their films in),” Fishkin says. “Our hope was to create the best possible venue that they could have, with state-of-the-art equipment and a setup for special events.”

There is no theater quite like the Rafael, and for the past 20 years, Fishkin and Cavagnero’s original design has remained as attractive and functional as ever. Watching movies in Theater 1 is a distinctly immersive experience, Theater 2’s art deco adornments give it an atmosphere all its own, and Theater 3 offers the most advanced technological presentation.

But what ultimately breathes life into the place are the audiences, filmmakers and staff who come here each week to engage in conversations about films and filmmaking.

“I don’t think there’s another venue in Northern California that has as many personal appearances, from local documentary filmmakers to some of the greatest (cinema) talents in the world,” Fishkin says. “It’s the home of the Mill Valley Film Festival, and it’s in the DNA of everything we do.”

In 2023, CFI will take ownership of MVFF’s other main movie house, the Sequoia in Mill Valley, and undertake renovations. “We hope to make the Sequoia just as unique and hopefully give it just as old and wise a soul as the Rafael,” Fishkin says.

For now, the local community is celebrating the Rafael’s successful two-decade run. For Fishkin, the true measure of that success is the outpouring of affection and support shown by loyal moviegoers. “Twenty years is a long time for this theater,” he says with a smile. “People come up to me all the time and tell me how much they appreciate the theater, and that’s really the best compliment we can get.”