By John Tredrea, Special Writer
LAMBERTVILLE — In the city, a well-known building on York Street — where an Acme supermarket once stood — is the base of the Acme Screening Room as well as that of city government.
Since 2008, the Screening Room has shown first-run and independent movies Friday and Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons.
For example, being shown this weekend (Sept. 21-23) is “360,” a thriller starring Academy Award winner Anthony Hopkins, Jude Law and Rachel Weisz.
The Screening Room also holds question-and-answer sessions with film directors, screenwriters and others from the movie industry. One guest, for example, was Ted Calley, screenwriter for “Silence of the Lambs.”
Some of the independent films shown by the Acme Screening Room were made or worked on by local people, including Bill Jersey, winner of two Peabody Awards, and Larry McConkey, a cinematographer who was worked on “Silence of the Lambs” and other Academy Award-winning films.
Mr. McConkey, who lives in Lambertville, will be the special guest at an upcoming dinner held for the benefit of the Screening Room.
”We do a benefit every year to raise funds,” Sara Scully, program director for the Screening Room, said Sunday. “We need to raise funds because, since we’re only open on weekends, we only raise 50 to 60 percent of the revenue we need by selling tickets (It sells sell popcorn and other refreshments, too).
”The remainder of our expenses comes from charitable donations and our membership.”
At 5 p.m. Oct; 7 at the Chimney Hill Inn, The Friends of Lambertville Library will hold the dinner to benefit the Screening Room. The meal will be cooked by award-winning chef Brian Held. Guests will have a chance to meet Mr. McConkey. A time to ask him questions will be set aside after dinner.
The Friends of Lambertville Library formed the Screening Room in partnership with the Lambertville Public Library and city government.
The Screening Room’s membership program offers discounts on ticketed programs to those who join: $40 for a single person and $70 for a couple of people. The membership is good for one year from the date of purchase.
One goal is to upgrade seating and signage at the building with approval from the city, the owner of the building.
”We’re currently identifying a pro bono architect that can work with the group and the city’s requirements for the space, which is mixed use, and has many requirements as it’s used for meetings, court and movies,” Ms. Scully said. “We hope to come up with a design that will enhance the film viewing experience with more comfortable seating while also allowing the space to be used comfortably for other meetings.”
Tickets to the event at the Chimney Hill Inn are $60 for members and $75 for others. The Friends is offering a special ticket discount. If a nonmember buys two or more tickets, the price will be discounted to $60 per ticket.
Tickets can be purchased online at acmescreeningroom.ticketleap.com.
”It’s a call to action,” Ms. Scully said.
Donations will be accepted at the benefit dinner. Those who give $100 or more will be named founding donors and have their names inscribed on a plaque that will stand for the life of the Acme Screening Room.
More information about ACME Screening Room can be found online at www.AcmeScreeningRoom.org.

