Aurora Film Society Moves To Larger Location

AURORA, IL — Starting in January, the Aurora Film Society will no longer screen movies at the Aurora Regional Fire Museum's second-floor theater, opting instead to switch to a larger location, the group announced.

Going forward, the nonprofit organization will make use of the space at The Venue, a live music and performance space on South Broadway in downtown Aurora. Dan Jeremy Brooks, president of Aurora Film Society, said the upgrade is a sign of the nonprofit's growth.

"It's a bigger space, and it's pretty well known," he said in a statement. "In many ways it's more fittingly cinematic."

The Aurora Film Society will kick off its 2025 season Jan. 15 at The Venue, a live music and performance space on South Broadway. "The Crime is Mine," a 2023 French comedy set in the 1930s, will be the seasoning-opening film.

Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. on Jan. 15. Reservations, via the Aurora Film Society website, are encouraged but not necessary to attend.

After the inaugural event, the film society will screen films for members at 7 p.m. on the third Wednesday of each month. Movies that will be shown this year — voted on by last year's members — include "The Long Good Friday," "The Third Man," "Paper Moon" and others as voted on by last year's members.

The Venue's bar will be open during screenings.

Created in 2018, the Aurora Film Society is a subscriber-based organization. Annual memberships, which include passes to monthly screenings, are available for $60.

Members are also encouraged to bring DVDs to the organization's movie swaps, held at screenings. DVDs are all placed on a table for anyone to take. At the end of April, the remaining movies will be donated to The Bear Project, a literacy and life outreach program helping the Pine Ridge Reservation community in South Dakota and Nebraska.