Sundown Cinema is an annual outdoor movie event in San Francisco, created by the SF Parks Alliance. From June to October, the event offers free movie screenings in parks and public spaces throughout the city for the community. This year the movies featured are “The Princess Bride” at Dolores Park on June 12, “Inside Out” at the “Presidio Civil War Parade Ground” on July 24, “The Parent Trap” at Marina Green on Aug. 21, “School of Rock” at the Ferry Building on Sept. 25 and “Beetlejuice” at Crane Cove Park on Oct. 16. The movies will start after sunset and there will be food, drinks and entertainment before the movie for the audiences.
Sundown Cinema at San Francisco began in 2003 and was originally produced by the San Francisco Neighborhood Theater Foundation. It was originally called Film Night in the Park and was established in Washington Square Park. As it gained more popularity, with more than 150,000 people attending the event from 2003 to 2018, films began to be shown in more places, such as Dolores Park and other locations in San Francisco. In 2019, Film Night in the Park merged with the SF Parks Alliance’s Sundown Cinema. While this event was cancelled in the beginning of 2025, because of the program not having enough money, it was later brought back in September of that year with a showing of two movies and will continue this year as well.
“I think [watching movies outside] is like a really fun and really cool experience,” FHS sophomore Jahnavi Gupta said. “Then you get to see other people, for example, if [it is in] a park, you can just ask all your friends to meet up at the park and that way you can just meet more people and it’s just a more fun experience overall.”
Sundown Cinema at San Francisco is a tradition loved by the community that has increased in popularity throughout the years after it was first created. The event offers a unique experience for people and a good opportunity to see different parts of San Francisco while going to see a variety of fun films. The outdoor setting provides an interesting and relaxing atmosphere for the audience unlike watching movies at a theater. As the location changes for each movie, people are able to see new places around San Francisco each time they come to the event and enjoy the weather outside.
“I suppose it’s interesting,” FHS sophomore Quitterie Fraisse said. “I feel like it depends on the ambience. The ambience might be a little distracting in some cases, but if it’s perfectly quiet and there’s no one else around, I think it would be interesting. It would probably be pretty calming or quiet, depending on the area and pretty too, if it’s the sunset.”
Additionally, there is a variety of genres of movies being shown this year, including comedy, fantasy and drama, which allows for the event to be entertaining for any audience.
