Frank Li He spent nearly his life running the cinema theaters. At the age of seventy, after a long profession as an independent theater operator in San Francisco, he and his wife and owner, Lida, are looking to sell the theaters of the marina and the video that he supervised since the early first decade of the twentieth century. But he says that the cinema experience should not end.
He wants me to “see these two theaters continue as cinematic theaters.”
He says he will be sad about moving away from theaters, which is located on Chestnut Street in the Marina area and part of the LEE neighborhood theaters, but it is the right moment for a new owner.
“I think it’s time. After 60 years of work, it may be a good chance at the moment. Things are looking.” diverse. “I think the release schedule this year can return to its normal from pre -judge.”
lobby Anchorage Theater In San Francisco.
From the door of courtesy Frank Lee
Lees has played Pressidio, consisting of four screen since 2004 and marina on a screen since 2008.
He told me: “The neighborhood needs these two theaters, clearly.”
His first successful theater was the 4 -star theater on the screen in the Richmond area, which ran from 1992 until it was sold in 2021.
Lees will be left behind a wealth from the history of society in theaters. They were already part of the coordination of film culture in San Francisco, especially in the nineties and early first decade of the twentieth century, when they programmed Asian cinema. They even held a 4 -star Asian movie.
The festival will show films such as “The Ang Lee” The Wedding Banquet “and Zhang Yimou” Rues The Red the Red Lantern “, Park Chan-Wook” Sayyid Vengeance “, Bong Joon Ho’s” Barking Dogs Never BITE NEVER “and various works Directors from Korea, Japan, Tuan, Philippines, SRi Langa and Hong Kong.
He told me: “We were displaying some very good products among all these Asian countries.”
At that time, I had continued to practice with his father, who was working to distribute Asian films and examine them from about 1964-1987. He told me: “I greatly helped him, side by side, I grew up with work.”
He told me that his father, Frank Li, the father, had a theaters throughout the United States and one in Toronto, and he largely serves the local neighborhoods of the Chinese district in their cities – “wherever the Chinese neighborhood was, he had a theater.” Among the theaters is the Bella Union Theater in San Francisco. Cinema East and Europa (before it is the new Beverly) in Los Angeles; 55th St, Playhouse and Canal Cinema in New York and the Toronto College.
Frank to me the father These places were working during a period when Chinese theaters It was popular Cultural centers For Chinese immigrant societies. It was also part of the reason for some Asian films arriving in the United States
Lee, who was born and raised in the Chinese neighborhood in San Francisco, remembers the presence of the San Francisco International Film Festival at the age of 9, accompanied by his father, Frank Lee, the father, they watched a movie from the Hong Kong Show Prades Studio. Frank Li Father, Civil Engineer and Radio producer, then he got a three -year deal with Shaw Brazerz to distribute their films in the United States
He tells me that his father thought, “How no one [is] susceptible? They were only showing the old black and white Hong Kong films in those days. Shaw Brothers was largely Hollywood, a wide screen, color, really nice productions and everything else. “
Films were also an unconventional choice because they were in the Mandarin, when the Kantoni was more common in the United States, according to Lee. “I got a lot of support from the media in New York, San Francisco Media and La Media, especially newspapers in those days. They really supported the films, and they reviewed every movie that he showed, which he brought from Hong Kong.”
Frank Lee, the father, started showing Hong Kong movies and then moved to Taiwanese films, before returning to Hong Kong Cinema. “There were about five or six distributors in this country who were fighting for films from Hong Kong and Taiwan for 20 years. So my father was one of the main ones.”
“we [would] Li added: “Buying the rights of films in Taiwan in those days and distributed up to 50 screens per day,” the seventies and early eighties. “
From the door of courtesy Frank Lee
He tells me that his father closed his cinematic works by the late eighties, as the home video has become more prevalent. During the epidemic, he sent me cinematic publications from his father’s operations to the Hong Kong and Taiwan film archive. The Lee focus on Asian film programming ended after the 2000s, as the competition has grown inside that specialist. But he is proud of what he and his father accomplished: “I would like to say that he is a pioneer brings Asian films and shows them to the non -Asian masses in the 1960s. Then I continued this in the early 1990s.”
These days, he and his wife appear a set of films. Comedies and films directed towards the audience well, but theaters also show a mixture of commercial and Oscar films. Lees rented halls for special occasions such as birthday parties, corporate events, and screen representative shows. Local schools use theatrical spaces for donation collection checks. San Francisco International Film Festival used both theaters last April.
The outer surface of the marina theater in San Francisco.
From the door of courtesy Frank Lee
He tells me that there is not much competition with other theaters. “On the western side, where we are, we are the only six, the only six existing at the present time,” he said. “We can largely reserve anything we love in theaters as it is the only theaters in that area.”
It imagines that the marina and Pesido can develop to serve cooking tastes in the city along with the theater experience. He said: “We see an opportunity here as some operators may want to attend and dinner.”
The marina was approved by the city to install a kitchen. Although there is no application in the business to obtain a similar permit in Prasidio, Lee said that there is a general scheme to add Dine-in to both theaters if a new owner wants to follow this option, or even run a ghost kitchen in one of the theaters to serve the other. Lee describes the Chestnut Street as a “food lover area”: ”Any new open restaurant, it’s great, it is an event.”
The couple, who have two children working as doctors, aims to retire this year and look forward to speaking to potential buyers.
While he and his wife are preparing to abandon the marina and video, he expects me to her legacy as operators at the San Francisco theater will be about their contributions to the local cinema scene.
Their time in theatrical works included obstacles such as the epidemic, as well as a Legal battle In the first decade of the twentieth century to stick to a 4 -star star while facing the evacuation of real estate owners. Lees received support for society, as thousands of people signed a petition to save the theater.
He added: “A lot of people remember us in this way-independent, studying, takes many opportunities at four o’clock, and they greatly show the things that people do not show.”
