Your Year-Round, Free Madison Movie Theater
The moment when the lights go down leaving only subdued lights in the aisles, a hush cascades into the movie theater and the movie screen illuminates bringing with it the start of your movie-going experience. It’s a moment when escape begins and you’re drawn into a story, into moments and lives that are not your own but in which you become enveloped.
We invite you to experience the magic of films at our free film showing experiences at the Marquee at our building Union South during the University of Wisconsin–Madison academic year and at the Memorial Union Terrace during the summer.
In case you missed it, we said free, and we meant to say free. From groundbreaking documentaries to sneak previews of sure-to-be hits before they go to other theaters, the Marquee and the Terrace bring the best parts of movie-going together without the cost.
You can check out our current film showing lineup here.
The Marquee at Union South
On the second floor of Union South, the cozy Marquee greets you to your movie experience with 330 rich, red, soft seats, each offering a perfect, unobstructed view of your film. There simply isn’t a bad seat in the house. The Marquee also has a lift and accessible seating available. Union South, as a whole, is accessible and ready to welcome you to a great date night, escape or whatever makes up your night at the movies.
Bonus: Union South has many dining options on-site and, unless an event specifically advises otherwise, you can bring food and beverages from our dining options into the Marquee. You can go for classic sweet treats from the on-site Badger Market or popcorn from our Sett Recreation, or take your movie cuisine a different direction with campus-made ice cream from the Daily Scoop, a burrito from South Cantina, or Wisconsin cheese curds from the Sett. You know what makes movies better? Cheese. Can never go wrong with fried cheese, right?
Plus, check out the cozy seating throughout Union South for studying, chatting or simply relaxing before or after your movie.
Memorial Union Terrace
The snow doesn’t stick around forever. We promise! After it goes away (or sometimes after it mostly goes away), we bring out chairs and tables to our historic, outdoor dining and entertainment space, the Memorial Union Terrace, which is thousands of square feet right along the shore of Lake Mendota.
The more than 1,800 chairs with a distinctive sunburst design mark the start of a time we call Terrace season. If you hear people referring to Terrace chairs, by the way, these are the chairs they’re talking about. They are iconic symbols of summer in Madison. Their design is even trademarked.
During this season of revelry, we bring you an events and activities lineup with something for everyone. Don’t believe us? We’re talking about art activities; free, live music; kayak and canoe rentals; duck-watching (Okay, we don’t create this activity, but it is a classic, favorite part of the Terrace experience.); and, of course, free film showings. The free showings usually start in late May and continue through August, occurring on Mondays and some Sundays.
Fun fact: There’s usually a theme to the summertime film lineup. See if you can figure out the theme when you check out the Monday film lineup, which is usually released each May.
During inclement weather, in the summer, the film showings move indoors to nearby dining destination der Rathskeller inside Memorial Union. The show goes on!
No matter where the film showing happens, you’re never far from deliciousness. Like Union South, Memorial Union has restaurants, a market and a café to help tame that growling tummy and quench your thirst.
The Student-Led Team that Makes it Happen
Many may not know it, but current UW–Madison students make all of these film showings happen as members of a registered student organization called the Wisconsin Union Directorate (WUD) Film Committee. Now, it may sound simple to show a film, but it is far from that; our students first collaboratively select the films, sometimes based on current events or a theme, and then comes the business side of movie theaters. These talented students negotiate for the film screening rights to each film, working to determine a price that works with their budget and negotiating a contract that meets the team’s needs and that ensures the films are accessible to all audience members. Sometimes, it can even take quite a bit of work to determine whom to contact to obtain screening rights.
If you are a UW–Madison student or know a UW–Madison student that would like to join the Film Committee, check out this page. The committee is free to join, and students can join at any time. This committee is one of 11 committees and six clubs that make up WUD at the Wisconsin Union, the Division of Social Education at UW–Madison.
Your purchases at Memorial Union, Union South and Wisconsin Union-run markets and cafes at UW–Madison help support these student leadership opportunities. Those cheese curds we mentioned, they have philanthropy in them, and we could not be more grateful for your visits for movies and our other 1,000s of events and your purchases.
