The YES Cinema & Conference Center is the premiere theatre in Columbus, Indiana when it comes to…read morethe indie/arthouse scene including alternative, cultural, and educational films along with the occasional cinematic classics. They also do run first-run features - for example, Black Adam is currently screening and they will be getting Black Panther: Wakanda Forever at the new Avatar flick among others.
The YES Cinema is run by a Columbus, Indiana non-profit called Lincoln-Central Neighborhood Family Center, an area organization that assists numerous support systems, i.e. neighborhood improvement, education and employment development, health education. and more.
This is a smaller theatre with only two screens. However, it's a well cared for cinema and they host the annual YES Film Festival that just ran this past weekend. You can also rent spaces for business meetings, private screenings and corporate and private parties.
YES Cinema's two screens have relatively newer chairs, though they fall short of the more premium/luxury seating options available in a lot of theaters these days. That said, they're quite nice compared to a lot of indie/arthouse options you will find. The screens also do offer Dolby digital surround sound (which is fairly standard for most cinema chains, however, not always for smaller theaters or arthouse cinemas).
The employees I met were friendly, the location in downtown Columbus is convenient, parking is free and plentiful, and accessibility is overall quite solid including parking, entryways, and screens. The theatre is clean inside and out and I was super comfortable.
In terms of snacks, they do serve wine and beer here. You are not allowed to take in food or drinks of your own and they also have a notice that backpacks are not allowed.
You can get a free small popcorn on your birthday (with ID and only on your actual birthday).
Fun facts?
The first film shown at YES Cinema was White Christmas (2004).
The film "Columbus" holds the box-office record for sales at YES Cinema (which is incredibly appropriate - not only is the film set in Columbus, but it was actually filmed in Columbus).
Under ordinary circumstances, I'd probably stick with a 4-star rating for the cinema. However, there are two reasons I'm offering up the 5-star:
1) Because of the cinema's charitable roots it really is a movie theater that benefits a great cause.
2) Ticket prices for movies are typically $5 - that's right around half most theaters and even less than some matinee prices here in Indy. They do sometimes charge more for special events, but their prices make it affordable for families and for those on a limited income.
There's an awful lot to love here. If I lived near Columbus, I'd be here all the time. If you're in the Columbus area, I definitely recommend it. It may not quite measure up to your more premium cinemas, but it's an awesome little theatre and one of Indiana's true cinema gems.
