What is art house cinema? This question has perplexed and divided the most devoted cinephiles for decades. That includes Rebecca Fons, an Iowan who grew up in Winterset and now lives in London, where she serves as head of cinema at the Barbican Centre.
“This is the existential question that all of us in this industry have been pondering for years: How do we define it?” Fons said.
To some, the term may evoke images of black-and-white films from the 1960s or quiet, esoteric stories about the human condition. Fons knows the genre has had its highbrow moments throughout film history, and she admits that’s been a barrier to those films reaching a broader audience.
“There was a time that art house cinema meant pinkies up, black turtlenecks, French films and very prestige titles,” Fons said. “I think that scared a lot of people. I think that really ostracized and kind of kept some people away from some really great films.”
In Fons’ eyes, art house films are for everyone, and they encompass a broad range of genres and subjects. But above all, what makes an art house film an art house film is its independent nature. And importantly, the same goes for art house movie theaters.
That’s something Fons knows a thing or two about. With a resume that includes stints at the Chicago International Film Festival, the Gene Siskel Film Center, FilmScene and the Iowa Theater, it’s safe to say she recognizes an art house theater when she sees one. So, what is an art house theater?
“My definition of an art house cinema is one that operates independently, so you are not part of a big chain; you are not part of a big conglomerate,” Fons said. “There's someone who's independently making choices, who operates with community in mind.”
Even with her nearly two-decade long career in the industry, she concedes that the definition is still open for debate.
“That's what it means to me, but I don't know. I'll arm wrestle anybody who feels differently,” she joked.
Everyone’s indie on Art House Theater Day
Fortunately, physical feats of strength aren’t necessary for movie theaters to participate in Art House Theater Day on July 30. The annual event, hosted by Art House Convergence, celebrates independent cinemas across the country with special screenings and recorded conversations with filmmakers.
The event is designed to recognize and support local, mission-driven theaters that preserve the power of storytelling through cinema. This year, 136 movie theaters are taking part — including two in Iowa — with many presenting a slate of films curated by Art House Convergence’s programming team.
The team of four consists of two mentors and two fellows, who all work together to curate the day’s lineup of films. With her curatorial experience in the art house world, Fons was considered a perfect fit to serve as one of the mentors, according to Ben Delgado, founding board member of the organization.
“As a member of the inaugural board of directors of the Art House Convergence, I worked to develop and implement a film programming mentorship program to curate the lineup for Art House Theater Day,” said Delgado, who’s also the programming director at FilmScene. “I was proud to serve as a mentor and am very excited that Winterset, Iowa, native Rebecca Fons was able to take up the mantle for this year's programmers.”
With director Boots Riley tapped as the 2026 Art House Theater Day ambassador, this year’s programming largely centers around his 2018 debut film Sorry to Bother You. The program also includes two films that are celebrating their 50th anniversaries, Network and Car Wash, along with newer releases Orfeo, Sugar Island and Once Upon a Time in a Cinema.
“It's really a slate of films that we feel represent what the ethos of art house cinemas are,” Fons said. “There's a little something for everyone.”
Bridging the gap: from Madison County to across the pond
Before Fons became an international leader in the film exhibition industry, she cut her teeth in the Midwest, starting in her hometown of Winterset.
“There's this cinema link to that town, and so I always felt like the universe was sort of sprinkling fairy dust over Madison County,” Fons said.
The town and the county have historic roots in Hollywood legend. Western star John Wayne was born in Winterset, and Clint Eastwood famously filmed Bridges of Madison County on location.
In the mid-90s, Fons even auditioned to be an extra in Eastwood’s film but was ultimately turned away.
“They were immediately like, ‘Not you, kid,’” she recalled with a laugh.
That was fine with her. If she couldn’t be in the movies, then she would go to the movies. And luckily, Winterset was home to the historic Iowa Theater. From an early age, Fons would establish a lasting relationship with the single-screen movie house that would continue long into adulthood.
Her interest in cinema soon took her to the University of Iowa to study film and later to Columbia College Chicago for her master’s in arts management. As a graduate student, she had an internship with the Chicago International Film Festival, which led to a full-time job as the festival’s education director.
Fons spent nearly 10 years there before being pulled back to Iowa for what she calls “kind of a crazy project.”
“I left do the Iowa Theater, that was the reason,” Fons said. “That took me back west to Iowa.”
By that point, the Iowa Theater was run down and in desperate need of repair. The building, which dates back to 1899, was set to close for good. But Fons, with all her fond memories of watching movies there, was not about to let that happen.
“In 2015, my mother and I acquired that cinema, turned it into a nonprofit and reopened it in 2017,” she said. “To have something like that happen in my life, where this place that was so instrumental in kind of ingraining in me this love of moviegoing and showing me literally the world … to be able to facilitate that for audiences now in my hometown is just the most magical thing.”
After dusting herself off from the two-year renovation and grand reopening in Winterset, Fons set her eyes on Iowa City. There, the nonprofit movie theater FilmScene was looking to expand beyond its Ped Mall location to the Chauncey, and it needed someone to program its growing number of screens.
“It was like the job description said Rebecca Fons on it,” she recalled with excitement.
Fons was hired and worked at FilmScene from 2017 until 2021. At that point, the long-time curator at the Gene Siskel Film Center in Chicago was retiring, and Fons saw it as a good opportunity to return to the city full time.
After five years as the film center’s director of programming, London’s Barbican Centre came knocking. By September 2025, Fons made the move “across the pond” to become the head of cinema at Europe’s largest multi-art center.
Although she’s now far from her roots in Madison County, Fons has continued to run the programming at the Iowa Theater since she and her mom reopened it nearly 10 years ago.
“I still pinch myself every day,” she said. “I'm fortunate. I worked really hard to work in this industry, but it's still a dream. You know, there's a lot of spreadsheets; there's a lot of meetings. It's not always glamorous. It's mostly not glamorous. But I still consider myself incredibly fortunate.”
Despite spreading her wings in Iowa City, Chicago and, now, thousands of miles away in London, Fons said her greatest accomplishment still lies in her hometown movie theater.
“Of all the things I've done in my in my career, the thing I'm most proud of is rehabilitating the Iowa Theater in Winterset,” she said.
