It’s hard to say whether the patrons of Santa Cruz’s movie theaters over the winter holidays were searching for the future or yearning for the past. But it’s difficult to yearn for the past when the past is all around us.

Filmmakers from around the world partake in the 23rd Pacific Rim Film Festival, a week-long even in which artists present their films in Santa Cruz and Watsonville in order to spread awareness of cultural differences.

Tonight the Del Mar Theatre will be presenting “Ramen and Beer,” a film festival showcasing 12 short films from the next generation of UC Santa Cruz filmmakers. The compilation varies in both the types of films — from documentaries to narrative works — and content.

The 5th Annual Secret Film Festival at the Del Mar theatre came and went this past weekend. But the experience — 12 hours, 5 movies, no sleep — may be eternal. So how did I do it? And, most importantly, what did I learn? (Hint: nothing).

An army of students clad in fishnets, corsets and plenty of drag surrounded the Del Mar Theater on Friday and Saturday night for Slugs in Fishnets’ annual production of “The Rocky Horror Picture Show.” This year was the eighth annual showing at the Del Mar, and once again it sold out.

At Paramount Pictures’ request, the Del Mar Theatre in Santa Cruz was among only 12 theaters in the country — and the only theater in California — to premiere the low-budget, high-fright horror film “Paranormal Activity,” starting Thursday, Sept. 24.

Thrill-seekers, including folks from as far away as Los Angeles and San Diego, assembled downtown for midnight showings throughout the film’s opening weekend, with lines filling the sidewalk for an entire city block.