Opening a new movie theater in 2021 might seem counterintuitive. The exhibition business has taken a historic hit over the past year-and-a-half, with theaters going out of business, chains declaring bankruptcy and big multiplexes desperately looking for financial runway to recover from billions in losses. Box office revenue hovers around 70 percent compared with 2019. Attendance — already on a downward slope before the coronavirus pandemic — has done a similar nose dive. The rise of streaming has taken on exponential force, with studios either releasing their films in theaters and on streaming simultaneously or forgoing bricks-and-mortar theaters entirely. And yet, for a certain sector of the exhibition business, things look, if not blazingly bright, at least cautiously bullish. While not immune to the forces that have affected the greater industry, independent theaters and art houses have managed to weather the challenges of the past year and half, some with startling success. Doz...