Angelika Film Center Dallas

In 1998 and 1999, announcements that two new-build art theaters were coming to town in the Landmark West Village and the Angelika – Dallas at Mockingbird Station. Dallas had never had a new-build art cinema – though many converted spaces such as the UA Ciné and Silver Cinema’s Inwood Theater both of which were operating at the time of these announcements. And the Anglelika was in good hands with veteran art cinema architect Frank Dagdagan who had done the circuit’s first Texas theater in Houston.

So this was exiciting despite the fact that the projects fell months and months behind schedule. At Mockingbird Station, the $100 million, 10-acre business plus living concept was delayed by bad weather. At the Landmark West Village, Landmark’s bankruptcy forced the project to stall out and was endangered. The Angelika finally had a soft launch on July 27, 2001 with Deep Ellum Film, Music, Arts and Noise Inc. (DEFMAN) presenting free screenings of independent films, “George Washington” and “L.I.E.” The theater then had more free soft launch screenings until it grand opening on August 3, 2001. The theater’s film experience was an instant success and spelled doom for the nearby UA Ciné as well as the Granada Theater.

In addition to art cinema, the theater hosted many major film festivals including USA Film Festival, USA Kidfest, Jewish Film festival screenings, Dallas International Film Festival, Dallas Black Film Festival, and Vistas Hispanic film festival among them.

Downstairs, however, the downstairs cafe by Lisa Kelley featuring risotto cakes , pounded pork medallions and sautéed chicken breast didn’t click with the audience and would soon be downgraded to coffee bar and prepared sandwiches and desserts. Kelley left in less than four months and another chef tried without much success to make the theater a restauarant. And more competition for the art cinema dollar came when new buyers took on the flatlined Landmark West Village opening as the Magnolia Theater in January of 2002. And Angelika would open a West Plano theatre within the DFW market. As of the mid-2010s, all three theaters were operating as full-time art cinemas.

Grand opening ad posted.