East Avenue in downtown Rochester brings you to the Little Theatre. Commonly called The Little, it’s a non-profit multiplex and movie theatre specializing in art film — screening independent work and foreign productions from outside the United States. Founded in 1929, the Little is one of the oldest theaters for art-house cinema in the United States, a local institution that has adapted through decades.
Since 2011 it has been an affiliate of the WXXI Public Broadcasting Council, the non-profit community organization that owns and operates the region’s principal public radio and television stations. The Little has also served as a performance venue during the Rochester International Jazz Festival, held annually in June. When the COVID-19 pandemic closed the building, the theater moved online, streaming independent films from its website.
More recently, since 2021 the Little has been home to the High Falls Film Festival, a monthly series focused on celebrating women in film. In 2022 the theater received the Excellence in Historic Preservation award from the Preservation League of New York State for interior restoration work that aimed to match the original 1929 appearance. Since 2021 the Little has hosted the High Falls Film Festival, celebrating women in film, right along East Avenue for you.