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Frame of Mind

Athena Cinema and NAMI Athens are thrilled to present Frame of Mind: A Mental Health Film Series!

In observance of Mental Health Awareness Month, join us every Tuesday in May for four powerful cinematic journeys of the mind. From animated beings to intimate portraits of real lives, Frame of Mind offers a collection of films that remind us mental health is no niche issue, but a shared human experience.

Films have a unique ability to reflect our inner selves, putting emotions too complex for words into sound and visuals. This series places these depictions of mental health center-frame, inviting our community to openly acknowledge mental health and challenge the stigma that surrounds it.

With Frame of Mind, we want to showcase stories that serve as bridges to real conversations, fostering a space for empathy and connection, a space where we, as a community, can lean into vulnerability and face difficult conversations together.

So for the month of May, we invite you to embrace empathy, get together, and step into a new Frame of Mind.

Admission is FREE and open to the public. Tickets are required

All film screening events begin at 7:00 p.m. and will feature guest speakers who will give a pre-show presentation

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Enter the Kingdom

Who’s ready for a BRAND NEW film series..?

With the recent return of our David Lynch retrospective — “Let’s Do Lynch” — being such a smashing success, we’ve cooked up a new series that is sure to follow suit. Beginning in January of 2026, we will be hosting a new retrospective series, ENTER THE KINGDOM, featuring films adapted from the literary works of the one-and-only Stephen King!

Now in his late-70’s, the Man from Maine has been churning out critically-acclaimed novels and short stories for the past half-a-century — it’s estimated that he’s sold around 350 million books worldwide — and he’s created a body of work (mostly grounded in horror fiction) that is sure to stand unrivalled for the foreseeable future. What’s more, King’s gift at coming up with strange characters, bizarre plots, and unforgettable dialogue, lends itself to cinematic adaptation. So, since we’re a movie-house and not a bookstore, the best way we can honor King’s legacy is to show a bunch of films that take you into the weird worlds that he has created!

 

Here’s the line-up…fit for a King! :

CARRIE – Tuesday, January 20th

THE SHINING – Tuesday, January 27th

CREEPSHOW – Tuesday, February 3rd

THE DEAD ZONE – Tuesday, February 10th

CHRISTINE – Tuesday, February 17th

STAND BY ME – Tuesday, February 24th

PET SEMATARY – Tuesday, March 3rd

MISERY – Tuesday, March 17th

THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION – Tuesday, March 24th

THE MIST – Tuesday, March 31st

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WICKED: FOR GOOD – New Showtime Added for Friday at 7:00pm

Due to popular demand, we’ve added a 7:00 p.m. screening of Wicked: For Good today, Friday, November 21st!

To get tickets, click on one of the “ticket icons” below for the showtime that works best for you!

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Science On Screen + Beat the Heat Family Film Series Present: OSMOSIS JONES with Dr Sarah Adkins

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Join us Saturday, July 18th at 3:00 p.m. for a special event that ties together Science on Screen®, the kick-off of our summer Beat the Heat Family Film Series, and Ohio Brew Week’s Last Call!

This event will include a pre-show presentation by Dr. Sarah Adkins

Tickets are donation-based and the proceeds will go to benefit local children’s organizations

About the event

This special screening of the award-winning animated film Osmosis Jones is a project of Science on Screen® + our Beat the Heat Family Film Series.

Admission is a donation of any amount, all welcome!

Science on Screen® is an initiative of the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation that pairs popular films with presentations by experts in science, technology, and medicine, helping audiences explore the real-world ideas behind what they see on screen.

Beat the Heat is our annual summer family film series, supporting local children’s organizations while providing affordable, accessible summer programming for families.

About the film

Comedy legend Bill Murray stars as Frank, a grungy Rhode Island zookeeper who’s lack of hygiene is partly tied to mourning the death of his wife. Inside Frank’s body, where the real action of the film takes place, Osmosis “Ozzy” Jones is a white blood cell (voiced by comedian Chris Rock) who serves as a police officer guarding against threats to Frank’s immune system. When Thrax, a lethal new virus (voiced by Laurence Fishburne), shows up on the biological scene, Osmosis Jones finds himself in a race against time to seek and destroy Thrax before his deadly plans can bring Frank down for the count.

About the speaker

Sarah Adkins, current Executive Director of Rising Suns Pharmacy, is a pharmacist and a native of Athens County, Ohio. Sarah attended Albany Elementary through the 8th grade. She moved with her family into the city of Athens and graduated from Athens High School in 1993. She graduated from the University of Toledo in 1998 with a Bachelor’s of Science in Pharmacy.

She worked for Meijer Pharmacy in Northwest Ohio for two years after graduation. She then moved to Columbus, Ohio and worked for Medco Health Solutions as a Customer Service Pharmacist, Managed Care Pharmacist, Supervisor of Physician Service Center and then Knowledge Manager of Medication Therapy Management. She attended The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy (OSU COP) and completed her Doctor of Pharmacy in June 2010. Sarah moved back to her hometown of Athens, Ohio in 2011. She completed a PGY 1 residency in a collaborative agreement of clinical and academic practice with OSU COP and Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine (OUHCOM).

After the residency, Dr. Adkins advanced her residency into a full-time shared position with OSU COP and OUHCOM where she has worked for the past eight years. She precepts fourth year Ohio State pharmacy students on rotations. She spends clinic time with the Ohio University Heritage Community Clinic and OhioHealth Family Practice Residency clinic. She teaches pharmacy sciences at OUHCOM and Ohio University College of Health Sciences and Professions (CHSP). She is passionate and dedicated to her communities in Appalachia, Southeast Ohio, and Athens.

Check out the rest of our Beat the Heat film line-up

 

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Running Time: 95 MIN95 MIN
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Beat the Heat: THE MUPPET MOVIE

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Join us Saturday, July 25th at 3:00 p.m. as our summer Beat the Heat Family Film Series continues with the ultimate, blast-from-the-past Muppet extravaganza!

Tickets are donation-based and the proceeds will go to benefit local children’s organizations

About the film

Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy, Fozzie the Bear, and all the world-beloved puppets of master puppeteer Jim Henson come together in the classic 1979 film that put these fun characters on the big screen for the first time ever.

The Muppet Movie blends together all the best elements of comedy, a sing-a-long musical, and an exciting road movie to tell the story of how humble swamp-dwelling Kermit the Frog gets discovered by a talent agent one day while playing his banjo and singing a special song. The agent prompts Kermit to hit the road and seek his fame in Hollywood. Along the way, the singing amphibian meets Fozzie and the other Muppets, and, as the gang grows in number, the adventure increases with hijinks, mayhem, and the kind of laughs that only the Muppets can deliver!

Check out the rest of our Beat the Heat Family Series line-up

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Running Time: 95 MIN95 MIN
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Art House Theater Day Double-Feature: PUTNEY SWOPE + SORRY TO BOTHER YOU

Join us Thursday, July 30th at 7:00 p.m. as we celebrate Art House Theater Day with an exciting double-feature of anti-capitalist classics!

One Film $5 – Double-feature $8

Double-feature Schedule:

7:00 p.m. – PUTNEY SWOPE (84 min)

8:35 p.m. – Intermission (25 min…grab a drink and a popcorn!)

9:00 p.m. – SORRY TO BOTHER YOU (112 min)

For Art House Theater Day, we are pairing two generations of radical, anti-establishment filmmaking for a night of surreal corporate warfare!

Kick things of with Robert Downey Sr.’s 1969 underground masterpiece Putney Swope, where an accidental black CEO uses a hilarious dubbed voice to upend the advertising world. Then, fast-forward to Boots Riley’s 2018 sci-fi satirical directing debut Sorry to Bother You, following a telemarketer who uses his telephonic “white voice” to climb capitalism’s twisted ladder.

Come for the biting social commentary, stay for the absurdist comedy. The system is rigged — dub your way in!

About Putney Swope

In this classic 1969 satire written and directed by Robert Downey Sr, a black executive – Putney Swope – of a Madison Avenue advertising agency is accidentally made chairman of the board of directors when a boardroom vote goes awry. Seeing an opportunity to shake things up, Swope renames the agency “Truth & Soul Inc”, fires his white co-workers, and brings on-board a host of radical black activists to try and turn the advertising world on its head with subversive and shock-inducing ad campaigns. While the effort makes Truth & Soul highly profitable, Swope and his cohort end up drawing the ire of the President and are declared a threat to national security.

About Sorry to Bother You

In his directorial debut, self-proclaimed communist and filmmaker Boots Riley presents an alternate reality set in Oakland, California where Cassius Green, a telemarketer who is floundering in his job and struggling with the existential crisis of being black and selling to white people. When a long-time fellow employee advises him to try using his “white voice” instead, Green suddenly finds huge success selling abhorrent-though-lucrative products to Caucasian customers. Meanwhile, Green’s co-workers are organizing a union to try and improve their less-than-favorable working conditions. As Green watches his success begin to erode his old sense-of-self, he has a crisis of conscience when his boss tries to recruit him for a nefarious plan.

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Running Time: 240 MIN (for full event)240 MIN
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Beat the Heat: HARRY AND THE HENDERSONS

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Join us Saturday, August 1st at 3:00 p.m. as our Beat the Heat series offers up a fun and heartwarming film about a family that really gets in touch with nature!

Tickets are donation-based and the proceeds will go to benefit local children’s organizations

About the film

The legend of Bigfoot really hits home in this classic 1987 film that won an Oscar for Best Make Up. John Lithgow stars as George Henderson who, as he drives his wife and children back to Seattle from a camping trip, hits a sasquatch with the family station wagon. Believing the cryptid to be dead, and seeing the potential fame in providing proof to the world of Bigfoot’s existence, the family decides to strap the creature to their car and return home to notify the press. However, the family soon realizes that the hirsute beast, whom they affectionately dub “Harry”, actually survived the collision and is extremely kind and gentle. As the the Hendersons bring Harry deeper into the family fold, they discover that Harry has a nemesis who is hunting him down, leaving it up to George and his family to protect Harry until he’s able to safely return to his forest home.

Check out the rest of our Beat the Heat Family Series line-up

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Running Time: 110 MIN110 MIN
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Beat the Heat: ADDAMS FAMILY VALUES

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Join us Saturday, August 8th at 3:00 p.m. as our Beat the Heat Family Film Series continues with a fun, supernatural comedy featuring the creepiest, kookiest, and all-together-ookiest family there is…The Addams Family!

Tickets are donation-based and the proceeds will go to benefit local children’s organizations

About the film

This 1993 sequel film sees the return to the big screen of Gomez, Morticia, Uncle Fester, Wednesday, Pugsley, and Lurch – the one-and-only Addams Family! As they welcome baby Pubert, a new addition addition to the family circus, the Addams’s find themselves in need of a nanny. They hire outwardly-kind Debbie, who turns out to actually be a serial killer who preys on rich bachelors. Debbie seduces Fester, secretly planning to make him one of her victims and inherit his wealth. As the plot thickens, Debbie’s efforts to eliminate her new beau keep falling short. And, she ends up getting a taste of her own medicine as Baby Pubert saves the day and proves he’s got what it takes to continue the Addams Family name.

Check out the rest of our Beat the Heat Family Series line-up

 

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Running Time: 94 MIN94 MIN
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Welcome Week Rooftop Movie: AMÉLIE

Viewing: August 27,2026

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Welcome to Athens, Bobcats!

Did you know there’s an independent movie theater right in the heart of Uptown Athens? We’re the Athena Cinema, and we’re kicking off Welcome Week with one of our favorite events of the year: a movie under the stars on top of the Athens City Parking Garage.

AMÉLIE

Thursday, August 27

The Rooftop of the Athens City Parking Garage • 15 E. Washington St.

Seating begins at 7:30 p.m.
Event begins at 8:30 p.m.

Come early, grab some popcorn and a drink, settle in with your friends, and enjoy an evening of cinema with a beautiful view of Athens.

TICKETS

FREE for OHIO students with a valid OU student ID
Limit 2 free student tickets per student

$8 general admission

Tickets are required. Get yours online using the ticket button below or stop by the Athena Cinema during regular box office hours.

This event reaches capacity quickly, so we strongly recommend claiming your tickets in advance!

WHAT TO BRING

We have a limited number of chairs available, so bring your own chair, blanket, pillow, or anything else that will make you comfortable.

We’ll have popcorn, candy, canned soda, bottled water, and Athena merchandise available for purchase on the rooftop.

RAIN PLAN

If the weather doesn’t cooperate, the screening will move indoors to the Athena Cinema.

Any weather-related venue changes will be announced on our social media, so follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and BlueSky for updates.

ABOUT THE FILM

Amélie (2001) is a whimsical French romantic comedy from acclaimed director Jean-Pierre Jeunet, starring Audrey Tautou as Amélie, a shy young waitress living in Paris’s Montmartre neighborhood.

With a vivid imagination and a love of helping others, Amélie quietly sets out to improve the lives of the people around her. Along the way, she discovers that creating a little happiness for others might help her find some of her own.

Discover the Athena

New to Athens? Come visit us!

We will be tabling outside the Athena Monday-Wednesday and Friday from 12-1 to share information about the theater and our programming. Sign up for our email list and get a FREE small popcorn!

The Athena Cinema is a 111-year-old independent movie theater right on Court Street in Uptown Athens. In addition to first-run films, we show independent, international, classic, documentary, and repertory films throughout the year, along with special events and programs for the OHIO community.

While you’re here, stop into our lobby, check out our marquee, grab some concessions, browse our merchandise, and pick up your limited-edition Athena student loyalty card.

Welcome to the Athena!

For more details and information about this event, please visit our Rooftop Screenings FAQs page

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Running Time: 122 MIN122 MIN
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Thursday 08/277:30
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Beat the Heat: WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE

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Join us Saturday, August 15th at 3:00 p.m. as our Beat the Heat Family Film Series concludes with a fantastical adaptation of one of the most-beloved children’s books of all time!

Tickets are donation-based and the proceeds will go to benefit local children’s organizations

About the film

Directed and co-written by visionary filmmaker Spike Jonez, with a script by award-winning author Dave Eggers, Where The Wild Things Are beautifully brings to life children author Maurice Sendak’s amazing world of fantasy wherein Max, a troubled young boy, gets sent to his room without dinner and ends up being crowned king of an island of misunderstood monsters known as “The Wild Things”.

Check out the rest of our Beat the Heat Family Series line-up

 

 

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Running Time: 101 MIN101 MIN
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