‘Set It Off’ 30 Years Later: INSIDE Cinema Brings the Classic Film to Birmingham Public Library on September 8

 

INSIDE Cinema | Now Showing: Set It Off

What: INSIDE Cinema | Now Showing: Set It Off
Presented by: EPISODE LLC.
When: Tuesday, September 8, 2026
Time: Doors open at 5 p.m.; screening begins at 5:30 p.m.
Where: Birmingham Public Library, Richard Arrington Auditorium, fourth floor, 2100 Park Place, Birmingham, AL 35203
Admission: Free
Age: 18+
Bonus: Free popcorn

Register at this link: https://insidesetoff.eventbrite.com/

The screening is made possible by Swank. An optional donation can be added during registration to support INSIDE Cinema.

‘Set It Off’ 30 Years Later: INSIDE Cinema Brings the Classic Film to Birmingham Public Library on September 8

Birmingham, Ala. - Thirty years ago, movie audiences were introduced to four unforgettable women whose friendship, struggles and desperation made Set It Off one of the most talked-about films of the 1990s.

Now, Birmingham movie fans have an opportunity to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the acclaimed film together for free on the big screen and in a unique setting.

INSIDE Cinema, a new monthly film series at the Birmingham Public Library, on Tuesday, September 8, will host a special 30th-anniversary screening of Set It Off at 5:30 p.m. at the downtown Birmingham location, 2100 Park Place.

Presented by EPISODE LLC. and supported by the Birmingham Public Library, INSIDE Cinema offers free, lounge-style community film screenings designed to create a cozy and welcoming movie-going experience.

A New Kind of Free Movie Night at the Library

INSIDE Cinema is the brainchild of Timothy Quarshie, curator of The Ensley Childhood Project, a recent exhibition at the Birmingham Public Library that explored the historic Ensley neighborhood through family photographs, archived videos and written narratives.

Quarshie brought that same creative spirit to the idea of creating a community film series inside the library. The result is INSIDE Cinema, a monthly screening series inspired by traditional outdoor movie experiences but brought indoors to create a comfortable, lounge-style atmosphere.

For this screening, the series chose a film that still gives audiences plenty to talk about.

Celebrating 30 Years of Set It Off

Released in 1996, Set It Off stars Jada Pinkett Smith, Queen Latifah, Vivica A. Fox and Kimberly Elise in her film debut. The movie was directed by F. Gary Gray.

The story follows Frankie, Tisean, Cleo and Stony, four close friends living in Los Angeles who find themselves struggling with financial hardship and personal crises.

Each woman faces circumstances that push her to a breaking point. Frankie loses her job at a bank. Tisean faces the devastating loss of her child to child welfare. Stony struggles with the tragic death of her brother.

Eventually, the women turn to bank robbery as a desperate way to escape their financial circumstances. What follows is a story of friendship, loyalty, desperation and the consequences of choices made when people feel they have run out of options.

Three decades later, Set It Off remains a film that resonates because it is about much more than the bank robberies. At its heart are questions about friendship, survival, poverty, opportunity and the lengths people may go when they believe there is no other way forward.

That makes its 30th anniversary a fitting occasion to bring people together to watch the film… and perhaps see it through a different lens three decades later.

For each screening, the Richard Arrington Auditorium on the fourth floor of the Birmingham Public Library Research Library will be transformed into a cozy theater experience, with free popcorn and free admission.

Come Celebrate a Movie Milestone

The September screening is an opportunity for longtime fans of Set It Off to revisit a memorable film and for a new generation of moviegoers to experience it on the big screen.

There is something special about watching a favorite movie with a room full of people who know the story… or discovering it for the first time alongside a new audience.

Add free admission and free popcorn, and INSIDE Cinema offers another reason to make the Birmingham Public Library a destination for entertainment and community.

Ready to celebrate 30 years of Set It Off?

Thirty years later, Set It Off is still a movie worth talking about. And now, Birmingham has a place to watch it together.