Movie news

The Julien Dubuque International Film Festival is celebrating its 15th anniversary by expanding to eight days, firmly securing its spot as Iowa’s largest — and longest — film festival. This year features over 200 films, including a documentary about the opera singer Simon Estes.

Downtown Washington will play host to the 4th annual Farm to Film Fest April 17-19. The three-day celebration of cinema is designed to bring the community together for an immersive weekend of art, culture and entertainment — all for free.

Iowa’s longest-running film festival is celebrating its 25th anniversary with its biggest festival weekend yet. The Cedar Rapids Independent Film Festival runs April 9-12 and features 65 films — all with Iowa ties.

The second annual Ottumwa International Film Festival returns to the Bridge View Center March 20-21 for a two-day celebration of cinema.

After seven years in the dark, Waverly’s Palace Theatre is hosting a grand reopening celebration this weekend. The nearly century-old movie theater has undergone major renovations and is opening just in time for the release of Wicked: For Good.

Celebrating adaptation is at the heart of the Refocus Film Festival in Iowa City. But this year, another unifying theme emerged: art as a form of revolution. From regional premieres to newly restored classics, the four-day festival featured many movies that inspired conversation around social change.

On a summer night in 1955, one of the most acclaimed films of all time made its world premiere in Des Moines. It was one of the most monumental film events in the city’s history, and yet today that first screening of The Night of the Hunter remains largely overlooked. The Varsity Cinema is looking to fix that by screening the movie for its 70th anniversary.

Iowa City's fourth annual Refocus Film Festival will open with Train Dreams, directed by the Academy Award-nominated writer Clint Bentley. Following in the festival's theme of adaptation, the film is based on the award-winning novella of the same name, written by Iowa Writers' Workshop alumnus Denis Johnson.

A new film series is looking back at five iconic Hollywood films from directors and actors who left Europe in the years leading up to World War II. "From Hitler to Hollywood" will feature screenings at The Last Picture House in Davenport starting Sept. 3.

Iowa City’s nonprofit movie theater FilmScene has partnered with a local investor to purchase the building that houses its original location on the Ped Mall.