Opening Night Gala | May 15, 8:30 pm PST

Join us on Opening Night to celebrate the start of the Cinema Cocktail 2020 Virtual Film Festival!

Because we’re united through cinema from all across the country – and possibly from various corners of the world – we’ll be experimenting with ways to hold virtual galas and celebrations throughout the festival. We’ll hold our first gala as a kick-off to the festival on May 15 at 8:30pm (PST). Some of you may have had a chance to see our Opening Night Film, some of you might be getting ready to watch it. Either way, join us for a brief time of snacks and cocktails as we start to form community around this celebration of film. Email josh@cinemacocktail.com for the Zoom invitation to join the party!

Cocktails of Choice: The Highbury Bramble and the Woodhouse Manhattan


The Highbury Bramble captures the quaint charm of the village where Emma stirs up so much trouble. Stir up some of your own with gin and blackberry liqueur.

Ingredients:

      • 2 oz. gin
      • 1 oz. lemon juice
      • 1/2 oz. simple syrup
      • 1/2 oz. blackberry liqueur

Add the gin, lemon juice, and simple syrup into a cocktail shaker with ice and shake. Strain into an Old Fashioned glass with ice, and pour the blackberry liqueur over the top. Garnish with the lemon slice and blackberry.

The Woodhouse Manhattan is mixed with blackberry liqueur rather than vermouth to capture the picturesque countryside of Emma’s estate, where there was “very little to distress or vex her.”

Ingredients:

      • 2-1/2 oz. whiskey
      • 1/2 oz. blackberry liqueur
      • 2 dashes bitters

Add all ingredients into a cocktail shaker with ice and strain into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a blackberry or a cherry – or both!

Gala Gourmet


It’s not your birthday, but who cares? Gift yourself this pack of 15 chocolate-covered cookies in the spirit of our fearless, if clueless, heroine. After all, she said it herself: “I always deserve the best treatment, because I never put up with any other.” And if 15 cookies won’t be enough, it also comes with 20. ($25)

Wanting something dairy and nut-free? Look no further than these fruit tarts, shortbread cookies with raspberry, apricot, or prune filling. Put on a pot of tea for the complete Highbury experience. ($20)

Emma. (2020) | May 15, 9:00 pm

Jane Austen’s beloved comedy about finding your equal and earning your happy ending, is reimagined in this delicious new film adaptation of Emma. Handsome, clever, and rich, Emma Woodhouse is a restless queen bee without rivals in her sleepy little town. In this glittering satire of social class and the pain of growing up, Emma must adventure through misguided matches and romantic missteps to find the love that has been there all along. – Universal Pictures UK

Director: Autumn de Wilde

Cast: Anya Taylor-Joy, Johnny Flynn, Bill Nighy, Mia Goth, Miranda Hart, Josh O’Connor, Callum Turner, Rupert Graves, Gemma Whelan, Amber Anderson, Tanya Reynolds, Connor Swindells

Country: United Kingdom

Distributor: Focus Features

Rating: PG

Runtime: 2 hours, 4 minutes

Platform: Video-On-Demand

Special Events: Opening Night Gala, Filmmaker Conversations

Where to Watch

Filmmaker Conversations