Philadelphia Film Center wants to ‘make it official’ with a new renovated space
WRITTEN BY: Maya Sade Eberlin
Early morning on Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025, the Philadelphia Film Society hosted a breakfast mixer event for their community partners at their Center City location, the Philadelphia Film Center on 15th & Chestnut. The newly renovated space was abuzz with administrative staff, community volunteers and representatives from various Philadelphia-based organizations dedicated to the arts, social justice, experiential branding, mental health, and more.
Volunteers manned a table at the head of the atrium, checking in guests and handing out information and program magazines for the 34th annual Philadelphia Film Festival, which runs from Oct. 16th to Oct. 26th. The promise of an intriguing complimentary breakfast made the 9 a.m. wake-up call worth it for representatives from dozens of local organizations such as Lightbox Film Center, Caribbean Community in Philadelphia, Art Reach, and Belmont Charter Network.
The Center traded in its old exterior, which housed a collage of iconic film stills alongside the season’s programming schedule, for a flat metal facade. The inside was renovated as well, notably trading in the old concessions stand for a marble counter spanning an entire wall of the atrium. The space feels refreshed and grand, trading in old-school charm for a sleek, modern feel. It smelt of varnished wood, glossy magazine paper, leather upholstery, and the occasional gust of attendee cologne.
Guests had ample space to sit and relax in the theater’s pseudo-indoor beer garden area, just across from the concessions stand. Affixed to the wall just in front of the Center’s main screening room was a standee with a PFS x 6abc banner, complete with a mini red carpet running underneath it for photo-ops. Guests flipped through the PFF34 mag and chatted with one another while waiting for the breakfast spread.
Just after 9:20, Jasmine Hawkins, the Director of Community Engagement, ushered attendees upstairs to the Greenfield Screening Room, their iconic event space that has hosted countless cult-classic film screenings and events for the Philadelphia cinephile community. Upon entrance, guests were handed a contact list labeled PARTNER BREAKFAST 2025.
Prior to the presentation, Yace Sula, the Education and Programming Manager, spoke about her role at the Film Society. She explained that she works on the educational side, planning film series and educational events, saying that “community partnerships are the core of what Jasmine and I do.”
Each attendee was asked to introduce themself as well as the organization they were sent to represent. Guests were told that ample mingling time was allotted following the presentation to foster potential connections. Hawkins took the floor from there, telling attendees that the PFS administration prides itself on facilitating connections between their community partners, emphasizing the Education and Community Department’s core mission of creating experiences through film.
They went on to give organization representatives an overview of film-based events they host. Notably, they spearhead residency programs focused on documentary film, short film and film criticism in six classrooms locally. In the former two residencies, students create films in groups that are then screened at a PFS theater, while the criticism residency students create video essay critiques. These video essays were screened for the first time in May 2025 at the first annual “Rising Philly Exhibition” screening. In the spring, they piloted a program offering field trips to Philly schools.
They offer internships for college students, a media mixer networking event targeted at college students, and mini film festivals such as the Philly Film Showcase, Springfest, and Fall Fest, perfect for local filmmakers getting their work out there!
The presentation closed with showing attendees tiers for the Community Partnership pilot program as well as the perks that come with each tier: Associate Partners for mutual-interest organizations who wish to stay in communication, Coordinating Partners for organizations who wish to host one-off events and Collaborating Partners for those who wish to host recurring events. While they have done work with many of these organizations in the past, representatives were encouraged to reach out to PFS to, in their words, “make it official.”
