Outdoor Movies in North Vancouver

Hosted by the Polygon Gallery, Deckchair Cinema is a new series of free outdoor movies on the big screen this summer at Cates Deck in North Vancouver.

Deckchair Cinema movies take place on Thursday evenings between June 23rd and August 11th in 2022. In addition to these films, movies with Sunset Cinema also take place on Wednesdays in the Shipyards between July 13th and August 24th. See below for details about both of these two series of events.

SUNSET CINEMA IN DOWNTOWN VANCOUVER

In addition to the Deckchair Cinema and North Vancouver’s Sunset Cinema movies, free films also take place in downtown Vancouver on Wednesdays in August of 2022. Vancouver’s version of Sunset Cinema happens outside the Queen Elizabeth Theatre on August 3rd, 17th, 24th and 31st in 2022. Admission is free.

To see what’s showing in the plaza outside the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in August see our article about Sunset Cinema in Vancouver.

Deckchair Cinema Outdoor Movies in North Vancouver

Outdoor Movie Showings are popular in the summer as people bring their blankets and popcorn to see films on giant screens in parks and other venues. There haven’t been as many in the last couple years due to the pandemic, but there is a new summer series in North Vancouver in 2022.

From late June until mid-August, the Polygon Gallery hosts a weekly movie night on Thursday evenings. The screenings take place on Cates Deck which is on the water just in front the gallery. The movie nights all start with music played by live DJs at 7:00 pm followed by the movie itself beginning when the sun sets.

There is a concession stand with snacks available and also drinks on hand from different local breweries. Cates Deck is one of the public spots where you can Drink Alcohol in North Vancouver, although not when an event is going on. You definitely can bring your own blankets and chairs to see the movie, however, and that’s recommended!

Admission Details

Admission to Deckchair Cinema is by donation so you can give whatever you want. There are no tickets reserved in advance so it’s first-come, first-serve for available space. The venue isn’t very big, so arriving early is highly recommended.

There isn’t an exact time that the screenings begin so check when sundown is on the day you’re going if you don’t want to be there at 7:00 pm for the live music. The earlier you arrive, however, the better seats (or floor space) you can get.

2022 Deckchair Cinema Schedule

The inaugural Deckchair Cinema series consists of eight films. Some of them are well-known hits and others are less famous productions. Below is the schedule for 2022:

June 23rd: Carts of Darkness – a documentary about a few homeless men in North Vancouver who started up the sport of shopping cart racing in the community. The creator of the film is set to be at the screening.
June 30th: Cleo from 5 to 7 – a French drama film about a singer who is told by a fortune teller that she is terminally ill, likely with cancer.
July 7th: Persepolis – a biographical film based on the graphic novel series of the same name, about a girl growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution.
July 14th: Smoke Signals – the first feature length movie entirely produced by Native American filmmakers that reached a wide international audience. It tells the story of two young men bonded by their relationship with a complex father figure.
July 21st: Enter the Dragon – one of Bruce Lee’s most famous films, he stars as a martial artist who enters a kung fu competition to help defeat a gang that was involved in the death of his sister.
July 28th: Hairspray – the 1988 version of this story about a young girl who is cast on a well-known dance show and fights against both segregation and sizeism.
August 4th: Summer of Soul – an Oscar-winning documentary about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival featuring restored, never-before-seen footage of the event.
August 11th: Paprika – a Japanese animated film about the theft of a device that allows the user to influence peoples’ dreams.

Sunset Cinema at the Shipyards

Sunset Cinema is a series of free outdoor movies on Wednesday nights at Shipyard Commons in 2022. Below is the schedule for this summer.

July 13th – Matilda
July 20th – Kicking and Screaming
July 27th – Nanny McPhee
August 3rd – Wall-E
August 10th – Mamma Mia!
August 17th – Night at the Museum
August 24th – Back to the Future

To learn more about these events see the City of North Vancouver‘s website. And for a list of other similar events in different parts of the Lower Mainland, see our article about Free Outdoor Movies.