New Yorker Films was established by Daniel Talbot in 1965 as an independent film print—and later DVD—distributor focused on the import of foreign films to the US market. The distribution company began as an addition to the highly influential, Manhattan-based New Yorker Theater, also owned by Talbot, which served as one of the primary education engines behind the “New Hollywood” movement. New Yorker Films acquired prints for first-time US distribution such as Bernardo Bertolucci’s Before the Revolution (1964), Jean-Luc Godard’s Les Carabiniers (1963), Ousmane Sembène's Black Girl (1966), Jacques Rivette's Celine and Julie Go Boating (1974), Chantal Akerman's Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975) and Werner Herzog's Aguirre, the Wrath of God (1972). Oftentimes, the works obtained by New Yorker Films were considered too “uncommercial,” socially controversial, or politically rebellious to be acquired by other US distributors. New Yorker Films was known for being the chief proponent in bringing New German, Latin American and Postcolonial African Cinema to American audiences and included French New Wave, Iranian, Asian and Eastern European filmmakers as well. New Yorker Films spurred the growth of educational film societies and independent cinemas throughout the United States, providing support and guidance to the non-theatrical cinema market. Apparently, many distributors, programmers, curators and cinephiles had their start in the film industry through exposure to New Yorker Films distribution catalogs.
New Yorker Films was purchased by Madstone Films in 2002, and by 2009, due to Madstone defaulting on a loan, New Yorker Films was forced to close its doors. After a year of closure, Aladdin Distribution acquired New Yorker Films, along with its collection of around 400 films, and the company recommenced its business under the direction of José Lopez, who previously served as the longstanding vice president of the company. In 2018, New Yorker Films came to a discreet end, after over fifty years of business. – Alexandra Vasile
About the Collection
The New Yorker Films Collection at the Harvard Film Archive represents only a portion of the distributor's output, encompassing just over twenty 35mm exhibition prints. These were purchased from New Yorker Films between 2011 and 2013. A full list of the titles in the collection can be found in the Harvard Library catalog.
Additional Resources
Columbia University holds a collection of the Daniel Talbot papers, composed of correspondence files that span more than thirty years, more than two decades of producer reports, contract files, files related to New Yorker Films, financial records, guest books dating back to 1960 and production related ephemera.