Dungog is the home of the James Theatre, the oldest fully enclosed purpose-built cinema continuously operating in Australia. It receives new movie releases soon after cinemas in more populated areas. The Dungog Film Society has been operating from the cinema since 1992 and screens fine films monthly to locals as well as bringing Flickerfest to Dungog and an AGOG weekend of foreign films in September. The theatre is the venue for the Dungog Film Festival, which is held annually.
It retains the simplicity of a Picture Theatre built in a small country town during the Great Depression. The building is architecturally significant as one of only four Picture Theatres in the New South Wales with Spanish Mission Style facades. The James Theatre Dungog Community Centre has been owned by the Dungog Shire Council since 1979.