One of LA's last family-owned cinemas is in limbo. Its fans aren't ready to give up

Most Wednesday nights, the 800-seat Gardena Cinema has only a handful of people sitting in front of its single screen.

But last week, hundreds of moviegoers almost filled the historic theater twice in one evening, for back-to-back shows as part of the Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. And that came days after another film organization hosted a special event, drawing about 500 guests to the cavernous space behind an unassuming front on Crenshaw Boulevard.

"I haven't seen that many people at the theater in probably a few decades," said Judy Kim, who runs the cinema, one of the last family-owned and operated single-screen theaters in Los Angeles. "I've been going nonstop with these special events."

The revival of the neighborhood cinema, built in 1946 and purchased by Kim's parents almost 50 years ago, was ignited a few months ago, when Kim realized she