History

Founded in 1939, the Plaza Theatre is Atlanta’s longest-running independent cinema. Designed in an Art-Deco style by architect George Harwell Bond, and located in the Briarcliff Plaza, the theatre opened with George Cukor’s The Women (1939) in the winter of that year. The cinema’s signature attraction, its 20-foot screen surrounded by golden curtains, originally entertained up to six-hundred patrons per screening in its heyday. The Plaza’s most iconic feature, and still original to this day, is its glorious marquee featuring a blue ‘wave’ at the crest, and its radiant and colorful billboard down below.

Despite over 80 years of tumultuous existence, the Plaza has persevered, having adapted a number of times throughout the century in order to survive—including a brief period as an adult cinema in the 1970s. By 1983, following a purchase by cinema proprietor George LeFont, the Plaza finally saw its first glimpse as Atlanta’s hub for arthouse and international films. Since then, a handful of owners and community members have helped solidify the Plaza’s place as the city’s cultural film center for generations to come.

In 2017, upon acquisition lead by Christopher Escobar and co-owners, the Plaza experienced a flourish of upgrades and additions, including two small auditoriums in place of the balcony, alongside projection upgrades like 4K digital and 35/70mm film. The Plaza audience now enjoys a robust slate of classic, cult, arthouse, and independent programming, in addition to an ever-growing slate of special events and community partnerships like the Rocky Horror Picture Show (with live shadow cast LDOD), the Plazadrome classic film series (a partnership with Videodrome, Atlanta’s only video store), Wussy Mag’s monthly queer camp film series, Silver Scream Spookshow and the nearly five-decades running annual Atlanta Film Festival.

The preservation of the Plaza Theatre would not be possible without the support of our loyal patrons, as well as the innovative stewardship by prior owners George LeFont, Jonathan & Gayle Rej and Michael Furlinger (all of whom now have auditoriums dedicated in their honor). To further ensure the survival of our beloved cinema, the Rej's founded The Plaza Theatre Foundation (PTF) in 2009, with a mission to restore, preserve and share Atlanta's historic Plaza Theatre for the artistic, educational, and charitable benefit of our community.