A historic film venue in the heart of San Luis Obispo held a grand-opening party Wednesday evening for a new film center that will host a variety of cultural events in the future.
The Palm Theatre in Chinatown district officially launched its SLO Film Center.
The new addition is a collaboration between the theatre and the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival, focusing on a year-round programming slate, according to the film festival's website.
"We are bringing the film festival all year long on steroids," said Skye McLennan, the executive director of the SLO Film Center. "We are going to bring the essence of what we bring with filmmaker [question-and-answer], special events, such as this tonight and all kinds of exciting things."
Officials with the international film festival also made two major announcements at the event: The film festival is now Academy Awards-qualified for the best documentary short category — meaning the winners of that category are eligible for an Oscar.
McLennan said the festival has also been named one of the top 25 "coolest" globally. More details on that ranking will be released in an official announcement later this month.
Officials hope the center will bring new releases, expand the theatre's showings to the community and offer a venue for other cultural and entertainment events.
The grand opening ran from 5 to 7:30 p.m. and had food, drinks, cinema and Halloween-themed activities.
