Join us for some well-loved classics beneath the stars and above the streets of Iowa City from the summer through fall. You never know what we’ll add to each screening to butter up your Rooftop experience. Get your tickets early to these extra special screenings as seating is limited, and Rooftop shows do sell out!

Doors open for our fall season with seating and pre-show fun at 7:30pm. The screening starts at 8pm. In the case of inclement weather, the screening will occur indoors.

FEAR OF A BLACK HAT

"The best hip-hop film of all."—Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

"Provides a lot of laughs, and barbecues a few sacred cows."—Roger Ebert, The Chicago Sun-Times

A Tape Me Back selection | 30th Anniversary Screening

Written, directed and starring Rusty Cundieff, this landmark mockumentary gives hip-hop the This is Spinal Tap treatment. This is the story of NWH—think NWA with hats instead of attitude. Documentary filmmaker and sociologist Nina Blackburn (Kasi Lemmons), gets an unprecedented look at the legendary rap group, tracking their ascent to fame and everything that comes with it. Ice Cold (Rusty Cundieff), Tasty Taste (Larry B. Scott), and Tone-Def (Mark Christopher Lawrence) are an LA rap group in the mold of some of the biggest acts of the day. We get a behind the scenes look at their creative process, personal lives, wild performances, and a series of disappearing white managers as we follow the group on tour and visit their lavish homes. No rap cliche is left unskewered in this endlessly witty and incisive comedy.

Tape Me Back

When VHS beat Betamax in the tape wars, it set the course of home entertainment for the better part of the next two decades. By the 90s, the format was in its heyday and became synonymous with staples of the era. With this Rooftop mini-series we explore some of the archetapes of the moment on the format they were presented in. So come join us as we pop the tape into the VCR and travel back in time this summer.