Film Movement was established in 2002 by Larry Meistrich, founding member of the now-defunct film production company known as the Shooting Gallery. Based in New York City, Film Movement focuses on the distribution of meticulously curated American and international independent films, documentaries, and art-house works. The company’s repertoire consists of more than 250 feature films and dozens of short films from around the world. Over the years, the impassioned film distribution company has released Oscar-nominated pieces such as Theeb (2014) and Corpus Christi (2019), as well as a plethora of festival prizewinners from Cannes, Berlin, Toronto, Locarno, Sundance and other distinguished festivals. The company’s catalog contains titles by directors such as Andrzej Wajda, Ciro Guerra, and Hirokazu Kore-eda, together with repertory releases by directors including Peter Greenaway, Arturo Ripstein and Luchino Visconti. Film Movement’s catalog emphasizes New Queer Cinema works, Jewish films, coming-of-age tales, literary adaptations, Latin American films, African diaspora works, and erotic cinema.
Film Movement created one of the first subscription-based film services for home entertainment audiences. This inaugural platform marked a distinct shift in film consumerism, as it allowed for film enthusiasts—regardless of where they resided—to have the opportunity to watch theatrical-quality, first-run films without leaving their homes. This transition not only benefited consumers by creating greater accessibility to less-commercial works, but also provided an expanded outlet for films that, despite critical acclaim, were not finding their deserved audiences through traditional box office exhibition. From its notable beginnings, Film Movement became an award-winning theatrical film distributor within North America—specifically through arthouse cinemas—and in 2018 expanded its “DVD-of-the-Month” plan to a robust online streaming subscription service, Film Movement Plus. Film Movement also offers releases through a number of other innovative distribution channels incorporating non-theatrical agreements with universities, libraries and museums; partnerships with home video leaders such as Netflix and Amazon; programming via HBO, IFC, Showtime and other cable channels; delivery through cable video-on-demand and in-flight entertainment services; as well as streaming via online outlets including iTunes and Hulu. – Alexandra Vasile
About the Collection
Donated in 2020, the Film Movement Collection at the Harvard Film Archive consists of forty-seven 35mm release prints distributed by Film Movement from 2001 to 2012. The collection contains films from all over the globe—North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Middle East—including Mexican filmmaker Fernando Eimbcke’s Lake Tahoe (2008), French director Jacques Doillon’s Raja (2003) and Peruvian filmmaker Claudia Llosa’s Madeinusa (2006), to name a few.
Research
This collection is currently in-process; please contact the Collections Archivist for a list of titles. Additionally, many titles in this collection may be available on DVD, BluRay, or streaming copies, so researchers should research the availability of access copies prior to requesting research viewings of these 35mm titles at the HFA.
For licensing and public performance rights, please contact Film Movement directly.