The cinema opened in October 1970, under the name Cine-Mini Theater in rented space formerly used by the Portland State University Bookstore.
Larry Moyer, owner of
Moyer Theaters and rival brother of
Tom Moyer, believed that Portland was ready for an intimate, fully automated
niche market movie house where the
projector, house music, curtains, and house lights were automatically controlled. The small theater was not a profitable first-run venue, however, and soon it began showing old movies and midnight movies, including the first public screening of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" in 1975. The name was changed to 5th Avenue Cinema in 1973, although the entrance remained on Southwest Hall Street. Almost from the beginning, the cinema worked with the PSU Film Committee to select programming that would appeal to students. An alliance with the
Northwest Film Study Center followed, and the cinema even screened films during the annual
Portland International Film Festival. When
Act III Cinemas purchased Moyer Theaters in the late 1980s, Portland State University accepted ownership of the 5th Avenue Cinema as a non-profit organization. The cinema is one of the few student operated theaters in the United States. ==References==