After a Sold-Out Screening, the Clinton Street Theater Has Added Another Showing of “Cat Daddies”

Feline fanaticism is alive and well in Portland.

DADDIES0130 Jeff Judkins carries his cat Zulu while on a trial in Richmond, Calif. on Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2022. Both Judkins and Zulu are featured in Cat Daddies, a documentary about men who love their cats. The documentary will be featured in IndieFest from Feb. 3-13. (Brontë Wittpenn/The Chronicle)
By Bennett Campbell Ferguson

Apparently, the audiences that made Kedi (the 2016 documentary about street cats in Istanbul) a staple at Portland cinemas are more than ready to come back to the movies.

After selling out, the Clinton Street Theater has added yet another screening of Cat Daddies, a documentary about “a diverse group of men whose lives have been forever changed by their love of cats.”

On its official Facebook page, the Clinton posted, “OK, Portland. This is it. We said this afternoon’s screening was the last screening, but y’all sold it out almost immediately before we even announced it!”

The screening begins at 7 pm Thursday, Jan. 19. According to the Clinton, this will be the last time it can screen Cat Daddies (for real this time!). The film takes place in the early pandemic and checks in with cat owners across the United States.

The Clinton has enjoyed a renaissance since it was sold to then-new owners Aaron Colter and Tom Kishel last March (the full team of theater owners currently includes Susan Tomorrow, Morgan McDonald, David Gluck and Steven Willams and Jessica Barber). The theater has unleashed plenty of inventive programming in the past year, including a Bruce Lee film festival and Sound & Color, its current series (running through Jan. 31) featuring the likes of The Umbrellas of Cherbourg and An American in Paris.

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