Screening the Future

The Next Decade at the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center

Help us continue breaking new ground as one of the nation’s premier nonprofit cinemas. In the next decade, we are committed to significant investments and improvements to our facility in order to provide our audiences a truly singular moviegoing experience. Your tax-deductible contribution to the Screening the Future campaign will be used in the following areas:

• The Digital Future: The Rafael will have state-of-the-art sound and projection quality in all three theaters, with 2K and 4K digital projectors, servers and HD decks, as well as traditional film projectors, so that all film formats can be shown to their highest possible standards.
   
• The Sustainable Future: In keeping with Marin County’s culture of environmental awareness, responsibility and action, the Smith Rafael Film Center will be a community leader in green business practices, with rooftop solar panels, a fully-restored, environmentally-friendly LED marquee, and a healthy organic concession stand.
   
• Education and Exhibition: The Rafael will renovate its multi-purpose event space, making it a permanent home for our year-round CFI Education program. It will also serve as a presentation space where rotating film-related exhibitions will be open to our audiences, enhancing their appreciation of the cinematic arts.

Please make a donation to Screening the Future today. Your can make a secure donation online by clicking on the donate button below or by contacting development@cafilm.org.

For the past ten years, the Christopher B. Smith Rafael Film Center has brought the very best in international and independent cinema to downtown San Rafael, attracting world-renowned filmmakers and guests from across the globe, contributing to the prestige of the city and making it a destination for visitors from all parts of the Bay Area. The Annual Rafael Honors, which we will inaugurate in 2010, will continue the tradition of celebrating the best that modern cinema has to offer.

There are few communities in the world that can sustain a theater of this caliber, enabling us to thrive and thus continue our mission of celebrating and promoting film as art and education. 

If you would like to read more about the history of the Smith Rafael Film Center and our plans for the next decade, please click here.

Thank you to everyone who has supported us and helped to make our first decade such a success!