Seattle Central’s short-term plan to light up the big screen at Capitol Hill’s Egyptian Theatre begins

The Egyptian in happier times (Image: CHS)

The festival will include Gustavo Gamou’s Sex Panchitos

Though it is eyeing a Central District land deal to help overcome budget woes, Seattle Central isn’t planning to sell off its SCC Fine Arts building — better known as the home of Capitol HIll’s Egyptian Theatre.

The Egyptian’s screen will be lit for the first time in months starting Thursday night as the school begins hosting a schedule of short-term events while looking for a new long-term tenant for the theater that has been showcasing arthouse, classic, and international cinema since 1980.

“The FIN de FEST Film Festival will take place April 9-11 and will feature independent, contemporary Latin American cinema,” a spokesperson tells CHS. “While we are in discussions with a potential tenant, we will continue to host short-term events such as the FIN de FEST Film Festival.”

Seattle Central is partnering with Socks on My Hands Productions for the “limited-run event” this weekend. The Latin American film festival documenting Mexico City’s punk scene opens Thursday night.

“The festival offers a space where cinema, identity, community, and intercultural dialogue intersect, bringing Latin American stories to new audiences in Seattle and the greater PNW,” organizers say.

Dustin Curtis and Socks on My Hands is a growing producer of community events, festivals, and “other experiences” — including puppet shows.

This weekend’s festival is hoped to be the first in a schedule of events to reactivate the theater after the exit of SIFF last fall after 10 years running the theater as the Seattle mega-nonprofit faced financial difficulties and layoffs.

SIFF had been caring for the Egyptian for more than a decade. Its 2014 deal to take over the theater after the Landmark chain pulled the plug on its projectors included a 10-year lease with Seattle Central with options for five-year extensions.

The theater has been shuttered since November 2024 when a major water leak forced its closure.

Seattle Central officials say they are seeking a long-term tenant for the theater and haven’t included the 1915-built E Pine Masonic Temple in recent property sale discussions.

CHS reported here on plans for a sale of SCC’s Wood Technology Center property along 23rd Ave in the Central District as the Seattle Colleges system faces ongoing budget woes.

A Seattle Central spokesperson confirmed the potential sale of the center and said the school is hoping to keep the program running.

“Our goal is to support current students through to completion of their programs while maintaining these important training opportunities for future students,” the SCC spokesperson said. “At the same time, we’re exploring a potential real estate transaction as one strategy to help address ongoing budget challenges.”

Capitol Hill’s days as a neighborhood thick with art house screens are long gone. The cinema at the Broadway Market closed decades ago and the neighborhood’s Harvard Exit Theater was overhauled and reopened in 2018 to serve thousands every year as the home of the Consulate of Mexico in Seattle.

Smaller screen cinema experiences carry on at 12th Ave’s Northwest Film Forum and in the Central District at Central Cinema.

New life at the Egyptian is hoped to be a good sign for Seattle film.

Amid SIFF’s struggles, other, smaller film organizations are also feeling financial pains. The latest blow comes as Capitol Hill-headquartered Three Dollar Bill Cinema has announced it has ended its run of major film festivals in favor of what it hopes will be more frequent, smaller events. 2025’s combined Seattle Queer and Trans Film Festival could have been Three Dollar’s last.

The Egyptian Theatre is located at 805 E Pine. Watch the CHS Calendar for upcoming Egyptian Theatre events.

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