Series & Events
Occuring Annually
Indie Grits
What started as a DIY festival for a tight-knit and dedicated audience, the Indie Grits Film Festival (IGFF) has grown into a staple of Columbia’s cultural life, giving novice to advanced media makers a venue for sharing their interest in independent media making and celebrating the Southeast through film, art, music, and bits.
IGFF 2020 is scheduled for March 26-29!
Nick After Hours
Cinema has the power to create strange new worlds. So when we say we're interested in showing "weird movies" in our new After Hours series, we mean something potentially earth-shattering. After Hours takes the broad categories of "cult film" and "genre film" and aims to create a transformative theatrical experience, casting the familiar in the glow of the uncanny. This is cinema as spectacle, cinema as politics, and cinema as magic; a kind of magic only possible with the unexamined brought to light.
Thank you to our programming committee:
Alice Lilitu
Dr. Julia Elliot
Hartley Middleton
Cade McConnell
Travis Wagner
Saturday Stories
In a continuing effort to open our space to younger moviegoers and make the Nick experience more inclusive, we are launching Saturday Stories, a monthly family-friendly series.
We are excited to launch this series as part of an effort to create more family spaces downtown. Saturday Stories will bring the best in national and international youth film to Columbia, entertain and educate our future, and introduce kids to the world of cinema.
For the Record
In the face of a 24-hour news cycle rife with punditry and accusations of fakery, the subjects of truth and evidence remain more vital and contested than ever. Motivated by a curiosity about how and when images are accepted as fact, “For the Record” presents a combination of new and classic documentary films that explore and interrogate cinematic realism.
Recognizing the important role that history plays in shaping our communities, this season the Nickelodeon invites you to join us for thought-provoking films and conversations about the forces that mediate our encounters with the past and influence our decisions for the future.
Special thanks to our series sponsors, Susan Thorpe and John Baynes.
Showtimes and tickets
Coming Soon
Coming soon to the Nickelodeon Theatre!
Screening dates are subject to change.
Showtimes and tickets
OUT Here
"What was the first gay film you saw? What was the first gay film that changed your life, made you laugh, broke your heart, lifted your imagination, gave you hope? Those are some of the films we want to see."
- Ed Madden, Director of Women's & Gender Studies,
Department of English Language and Literature
Special thanks to our series sponsors:
SC Equality PAC
Burnette Shutt & McDaniel, PA
Darryl Cooper
John Lucas
Robert Keenan and Brian Chen
Lula Drake
Dr. Ed Madden and Bert Easter
Larry Hembree and Joe Hudson
James Hendrick and Richard Irwin
Ruth and Walker Rast
COVID-19 Measures: Nickelodeon Theatre is Closed, but our virtual screening rooms are open (see films below)!
As the country and the world responds to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have made the decision to close the theater as a precaution to keep our staff, patrons and community safe.
Showtimes and tickets
40 Years of Film
The Nickelodeon Theater has been bringing you the best in independent arthouse and classic films since 1979. In honor of our anniversary, we’ve launched 40 Years of Film. A retrospective look at films from the Nick archive, each film in the series is selected and hosted by a Nickelodeon community member, as they reflect on what the film means to them and how it encapsulates their memories of the Nick.
Showtimes and tickets
Silver Screen Studies
"Silver Screen Studies" is a recurring screening and discussion series that pairs films with special presentations by scholars and cinema experts. Whether you are a seasoned cinephile or just film-curious you'll enjoy these classics that everyone deserves to see on the big screen.
Special thanks to our series sponsors, Aaron and Andrea West.
Showtimes and tickets
Virtual Screening Room
The Nickelodeon Theatre, in partnership with independent distributors, now bring you Virtual Screening Rooms! Enjoy all the indie films you miss from your home.
Showtimes and tickets
Foreign Focus
Foreign Focus is a monthly series screening the best contemporary films from across the globe. As a space for cultural enrichment, we understand how essential it is to expose our audiences to different realities and perspectives. With the creation of our new series Foreign Focus, we want our audience to explore the world through striking images and thought-provoking content.
Foreign Focus will transport you to awe-inspiring places where you will witness different traditions and be fascinated by the infinite ways human beings interact throughout the world.
Special thanks to our series sponsors:
Dr. Gail Morrison
Aaron and Andrea West
Paul and Jean Denman
David Whiteman and Lee Jane Kaufman
Jean Capalbo and Craig Chattin
Showtimes and tickets
Sound & Vision
Sound & Vision brings together siblings of form through a music film series in partnership with DRIP (records). In addition to screening both repertory and contemporary music films, local bands will perform live before each screening, bringing a bit more action to Columbia's Saturday night.
Showtimes and tickets