Found in the wording of their events, Portland Art Museum’s Center for an Untold Tomorrow (PAM CUT) promises ticketholders to its Tomorrow Theater more than just a movie. It’s offering an “experience.”
The Richmond neighborhood arthouse (itself a revamped and rehabbed porn theater) connects local cinephiles with Hollywood legends (Francis Ford Coppola, Guillermo del Toro), homegrown heroes (Mickalene Thomas, Miranda July), and rising stars (Julio Torres, Donni Davy) through its multifaceted programing. One ongoing focus, Carte Blanche, even invites these notables to create an evening around a new work, talk about what they want to talk about, and “do what they wanna do.” More often than not, they just want to do an audience Q&A, but we have sometimes seen this open a door to an audience exchange of garden clippings (Stephanie Hsu’s idea) or scrawling 10 ideas on a whiteboard and only addressing five (Francis Ford Coppola).
Now in its sixth year, PAM CUT’s annual Cinema Unbound Awards are not only an excuse to hold a fundraiser gala but to express the museum theater’s admiration for multi-medium storytellers with big “yes and” energy. Within its 2026 honorees you’ll find comedian-author Maria Bamford, filmmaker-painter Titus Kaphar, and Wildfang CEO Emma McIlroy, whose entrepreneurial endeavors are hard to separate from her activism.
PAM CUT often recognizes the innovation and cultural importance of culinary artists, and this year is no different. Portland restaurateurs Tom and Mariah Pisha-Duffy are award winners and will also stage the night’s culinary takeover. Additionally, the entire LAIKA Studios’ creative team will be celebrated ahead of their newest film, Wildwood—which is based on a book by 2025 Unbound award winners Colin Meloy and Carson Ellis.
But PAM CUT is becoming even more unbound for 2026, expanding its celebrations from one glamorous ($500-a-ticket) evening to a week of public programming connected to the awards.
“Cinematic storytelling doesn’t just live on a screen—it’s out in our community and our world, literally everywhere you look,” Amy Dotson, PAM CUT’s director, said in a statement. “As PAM CUT continues to expand and share its unbound, inclusive spirit with local and global audiences and artists alike, it only makes sense that our Cinema Unbound Awards fun and celebration expand beyond the walls of the Portland Art Museum, too.”
From May 27–31, Portlanders have the chance to attend special events, such as a film Q&A with comedian Maria Bamford and subsequent performance of the Los Angeles-based comedy troupe Holy Shit! Improv, a live taping of Adventures in Moviegoing with previous winners Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen, and a Carte Blanche night with musician-author Michelle Zauner—the last of whom hasn’t even won a Cinema Unbound Award but certainly embodies the vibe.
Leading up to the official week, PAM CUT will host PAM CUT x Criterion, which begins with a series of Criterion movies at the Whitsell Auditorium: concert film Monterey Pop (1968) on May 23, vogue ballroom documentary Paris Is Burning (1990) on May 24, and road thriller comedy Something Wild (1986) on May 30.
Then from May 29-31, the Criterion Mobile Closet pulls up and parks. The prestige film distribution company bills its 18-foot trailer as a more intimate version of its own vault of classic titles. There’s no reservations, though, so this experience is first-come, first-serve. Meaning, your experience is going to be 99 percent standing in line. But if the company’s good and the stock holds strong—visitors can buy the titles at a 40 percent discount—a lucky few will snag three minutes to browse and even self-record their own Closet Picks video. Arguably, that’s the most popular form of multimedia storytelling today.