Boathouse Microcinema is a screening series of local filmmakers in Portland, Oregon. Screenings take place at The Boathouse, a long-running art studio space in a converted fire boat station on the banks of Willamette River. It was originally conceived of by Matt McCormick, who asked Chris Freeman to join. Originally meant as a 10-week project, its initial success after launching in the spring of 2017 led them to continue hosting screenings. In 2018, Chris Freeman continued the series with new collaborators Amy Epperson and Shannon Neale. These two brought a renewed energy and focus on centering queer and minority voices. The covid-19 pandemic ended screenings until Chris Freeman and Bryan Boyce revived the microcinema in 2025.
Boathouse Microcinema is proud to program artists of underrepresented identities, including promoting the work and voices of women, people of color, and sexual minorities. We acknowledge that our screenings take place on the stolen and colonized lands of the Multnomah, Clackamas, and Chinook people. And that our location in Portland’s Eliot neighborhood is a historically Black community that is continually gentrifying.
Oregon ArtsWatch, Apr 2025 – “Filmmaker-Exhibitor Matt McCormick: Back at the Boathouse”
Willamette Week, Feb 2025 – “Boathouse Microcinema Returns for Another Season of Experimental Films”
Portland Mercury Blogtown, Nov 2018 – “Glitch Artist ariella tai Screens Their 2018 Film Retrospective at Portland’s Boathouse Microcinema”
The Digital Divide on KBOO, Oct 2018 – Interview with Chris Freeman
Willamette Week, Apr 2018 – “Film Compliation Portland 90 Exhumes Old Portland Without Nostalgia”
Portland Monthly Magazine, Sep 2017 – “A Riverside Moviehouse Breathes on the Embers of Portland’s Film Underground”
Willamette Week, Mar 2017 – “There is a Tiny Theater in an Industrial Wasteland Where Cool People Go and Watch Movies”
Other Zine, Spring 2017 – “Boathouse Microcinema in Portland: Interview with Matt McCormick”
Boathouse Microcinema’s first season was supported in part by The Precipice Fund, Calligram Foundation, and The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. Special thanks is also due to PICA.
