SF celebrates 100th anniversary of iconic Balboa Theatre with new mural, tribute

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — San Francisco celebrated the 100th anniversary of the Balboa Theatre.

It marked the occasion with free movies, a new mural and a tribute to Oscar-nominated costume designer Aggie Rodgers. Rodgers’ work includes costumes for “Beetlejuice,” “Fruitvale Station,” and “The Color Purple.”

The theater’s actual anniversary was in February, but the celebration was held Saturday night.

A new tile mural was unveiled during the celebration — created by artists Sandow Birk and Elyse Pignolet — to honor a century of filmmaking in the city.

“It’s so great. To be invited to create this mural and do the research and look at all the movies filmed in San Francisco and put them into the mural and get feedback,” Birk said at the Saturday night event.

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Pignolet said the duo just finished installing the mural a few days prior to the event, and it took them eight days to complete.

Local filmmaker Joe Talbot was at the celebration.

“To see this mural with all these 48 San Francisco movies — the little one we did made it on here, which I feel honored by. It’s a beautiful night,” he said.

The Balboa Theatre also celebrated its recent transition to nonprofit ownership.

“Becoming a 501 C3 nonprofit is the way little theaters like this get to continue in perpetuity in the movies. Business is a struggle. And so, you need the largesse of the community to help you make it through,” said Adam Bergeron, CEO of CinemaSFBay.

The Balboa Theatre is located in the city’s Richmond District