Lightbox Film Center draws on a rich history as a regional resource for cinephiles for almost fifty years. Initially known as The Neighborhood Film/Video Project, the program was established by Linda Blackaby in the 1970s and was housed at International House of Philadelphia starting in 1979. As the city’s first cinema to focus exclusively on independent and international films, The Neighborhood Film/Video Project played an important role in advancing local access to emerging filmmakers and engaging audiences around social, cultural and political issues—defining aspects of the work it continues to do today.

In 1992, International House launched the Philadelphia Festival of World Cinema, the first major regional film event of its kind. In the late-’90s, the program underwent a period of transition and reemerged with a renewed focus on year-round film programming and an expanded scope of moving image presentation that included experimental film and video works, artist’s cinema, digital art and other emerging forms across an array of formats.

In 2017, the program was renamed Lightbox Film Center to create more visibility and better position itself for the next era of moving-image presentation. When International House announced the sale of its iconic building, Lightbox sought out a new institutional partner. The University of the Arts officially took on Lightbox in 2020 and helped the program expand into film restoration while continuing to be a major exhibitor of unique and innovative films. In 2024, following the demise of UArts, Lightbox became an independent non-profit organization in order to continue our mission of providing a cinema space for diverse, innovative, and sometimes overlooked films so that the public can engage with the broader context of moving image culture.