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The small stucco building at 504 Yale Blvd. S.E. once played host to the Albuquerque Occupy movement, a haven for protesters who cried out for more transparency on Wall Street. But, after the group split and the majority of the members moved to (un)Occupy, building owner Michael Palombo decided to turn it into the Fans of Film Cinema Cafe & Coffee House, which now dishes out lattes, pastries and a heaping dose of independent film.
“I just have a passion for independent film and I wanted to bring more of that to the public,” Palombo said. “And I guess I love coffee, too.”
Palombo started the cafe in October to support his social network called Fans of Film, which raises money and awareness to support independent filmmakers. He is mainly interested in supporting the local and online film communities.
He has a Twitter following of more than 23,000 people from across the globe, about 5,000 of whom are filmmakers. Palombo said he drew inspiration for his business from other cinema cafes, such as the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Austin and the Brew & View in Chicago, both of which he said have been extremely successful. He said these types of cafes provide a more public venue for films that might otherwise never be seen.
“The idea of a cinema coffee shop or a cinema cafe is not new, it’s not a new concept, but it‘s nothing like that here,” he said. “The independent film scene here is growing but there isn’t a lot of public support other than film festivals.”
Palombo said his interest in film stemmed from his career as a glassblower. With the advent of YouTube, he began filming and posting videos of his glassblowing to publicize his work.
Soon, he said he wanted to make videos of other things, and began to work on set with filmmakers. Eventually he even made his own short film “This Ain’t New York.”
“I like to make things, and the independent film seemed like the ultimate thing to make,” he said. “I was turned on to film like I was turned on to glass.”
Once a month, Palombo holds a screening at the cafe, which boasts its own in-house minitheater with a large screen, projector and seating. On Dec. 21, Palombo showed “The 420 Movie,” written and directed by independent filmmaker James Blackburn. In addition to the screenings, he also displays in the cafe works made by local artists, and periodically holds art auctions. He said that because he’s an artist, he thinks it’s important to support not only film, but art in all mediums as well.
“All the arts are part of film, music, visual art. I mean every art goes into film, ultimately, at the end,” he said. “It’s about promoting the arts through film.”
In addition to providing a local venue for artists, Palombo said he felt the University district needed a new, different kind of coffee shop. He said the Yale location is ideally situated between CNM and UNM, and that the neighborhood is on the rise.
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“There’s only two coffee shops in the neighborhood, and they’re always overcrowded and have created their own animosity around themselves. A lot of people either hate Winning or hate Satellite,” he said.
Former owner of Burning Paradise video store Kurly Tlapoyawa said Palombo’s business is not only a vital resource for the community, but also provides a great model for other businesses.
“There’s really no other venue in town that offers a cafe and microtheater,” Tlapoyawa said. “We need stuff like this to keep Albuquerque a cool place to live.”
Tlapoyawa said Palombo provides people with more entertainment options by offering the community a place to get together and watch independent film.
“There’s this lack of choice,” he said. “People are hungry for good stuff, not just the same pablum that they’re spoon-fed by the mainstream studios. They want new, interesting, underground things. And when you take that away, all you’re left with is basically garbage.”
