ChaiFlicks, the prime streaming service for Jewish storytelling, has acquired the rights to premium Austrian limited series “Kafka” from Orf Enterprise, the global distribution arm of Austrian pubcaster Orf.
The six-part series is due to launch June 6 in North America for ChaiFlicks, to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the death of the world celebrated Bohemian author Franz Kafka.
Lending his features to the Prague-born author of “The Metamorphosis” is Swish actor Joel Basman. The Orf original series is helmed by David Schalko (“Braunschlag”) who co-wrote the script with German-Austrian novelist and playwright Daniel Kehmann, based on the definitive Kafka biography by Reiner Stach.
The show chronicles the life, love affairs, and friendships of the German-speaking Kafka viewed as one of the most influential writers of all time, whose name led to the familiar term ‘Kafkaesque,’ referring to the surreal, confusing and almost nightmarish situations described in Kafka’s novels.
The six-part series is due to launch June 6 in North America for ChaiFlicks, to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the death of the world celebrated Bohemian author Franz Kafka.
Lending his features to the Prague-born author of “The Metamorphosis” is Swish actor Joel Basman. The Orf original series is helmed by David Schalko (“Braunschlag”) who co-wrote the script with German-Austrian novelist and playwright Daniel Kehmann, based on the definitive Kafka biography by Reiner Stach.
The show chronicles the life, love affairs, and friendships of the German-speaking Kafka viewed as one of the most influential writers of all time, whose name led to the familiar term ‘Kafkaesque,’ referring to the surreal, confusing and almost nightmarish situations described in Kafka’s novels.
- 4/30/2024
- by Annika Pham
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: A premium documentary series about a scandal that led to the most significant upheaval in the history of American-Israeli government relations has found its streaming home.
Jewish streamer ChaiFlicks has picked up Pollard, which originally aired on local Israeli broadcaster Kan 11, and it will drop next month.
The acclaimed documentary series from Omri Assenheim concerns the controversial Israeli-u.S. spy scandal that rocked both nations, leading to the most significant upheaval in the history of American-Israeli government relations and coming as relations between the pair are under the microscope due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
Jonathan Pollard, a young American Jew with ambitions to save the Jewish State, was convicted of selling closely guarded U.S. secrets and highly classified intelligence material to numerous foreign countries in 1985. He admitted in the ensuing investigation that one of the recipient countries was America’s close ally, Israel, and the doc...
Jewish streamer ChaiFlicks has picked up Pollard, which originally aired on local Israeli broadcaster Kan 11, and it will drop next month.
The acclaimed documentary series from Omri Assenheim concerns the controversial Israeli-u.S. spy scandal that rocked both nations, leading to the most significant upheaval in the history of American-Israeli government relations and coming as relations between the pair are under the microscope due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
Jonathan Pollard, a young American Jew with ambitions to save the Jewish State, was convicted of selling closely guarded U.S. secrets and highly classified intelligence material to numerous foreign countries in 1985. He admitted in the ensuing investigation that one of the recipient countries was America’s close ally, Israel, and the doc...
- 1/22/2024
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
ChaiFlicks, a streaming platform dedicated to Jewish content, has acquired the rights to all three seasons of Yes Studios’ “Shtisel,” in addition to the studio’s drama series “Fire Dance.”
Season One of “Shtisel” will begin streaming on ChaiFlicks in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand on Dec. 14. “Fire Dance” will debut on the streamer in the U.S., Australia, New Zealand and Canada in early 2024.
“Ori Elon, Yehonatan Indursky and the team at yes assembled a phenomenal ensemble cast and created a global phenomenon with ‘Shtisel’ and ‘Fire Dance’ and Rama Burshtein-Shai’s first foray into television was one of the most anticipated Israeli dramas of the last decade,” ChaiFlicks’ Neil Friedman and Bill Weiner said in a joint statement.
Winning numerous awards, including best drama series from the Israeli Academy TV Awards, “Shtisel” follows the lives of the Shtisel family, a warm, tight-knit ultra-Orthodox family in Jerusalem,...
Season One of “Shtisel” will begin streaming on ChaiFlicks in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand on Dec. 14. “Fire Dance” will debut on the streamer in the U.S., Australia, New Zealand and Canada in early 2024.
“Ori Elon, Yehonatan Indursky and the team at yes assembled a phenomenal ensemble cast and created a global phenomenon with ‘Shtisel’ and ‘Fire Dance’ and Rama Burshtein-Shai’s first foray into television was one of the most anticipated Israeli dramas of the last decade,” ChaiFlicks’ Neil Friedman and Bill Weiner said in a joint statement.
Winning numerous awards, including best drama series from the Israeli Academy TV Awards, “Shtisel” follows the lives of the Shtisel family, a warm, tight-knit ultra-Orthodox family in Jerusalem,...
- 12/11/2023
- by Caroline Brew
- Variety Film + TV
Neil Friedman didn’t come to found ChaiFlicks “by accident.”
Though the streaming service devoted to curating Jewish and Israeli content launched in 2020, Friedman’s interest in its subject matter started back when he was in college where he focused on film and ethnicity. It was only by constantly challenging himself and ignoring typical career paths that he was able to turn his passionate interest into a business endeavor, Friedman told TheWrap for this week’s Office with a View.
Friedman has walked many paths throughout his career. After graduating law school, he worked as a corporate lawyer on Park Avenue “for a couple years” before moving to the famed entertainment firm Frankfurt Garbus Kurnit Klein and Selz (now known as Frankfurt Kurnit Klein and Selz). That led to a bout running business affairs for the home video company Vestron, followed by stints as the vice president of New Line Cinema,...
Though the streaming service devoted to curating Jewish and Israeli content launched in 2020, Friedman’s interest in its subject matter started back when he was in college where he focused on film and ethnicity. It was only by constantly challenging himself and ignoring typical career paths that he was able to turn his passionate interest into a business endeavor, Friedman told TheWrap for this week’s Office with a View.
Friedman has walked many paths throughout his career. After graduating law school, he worked as a corporate lawyer on Park Avenue “for a couple years” before moving to the famed entertainment firm Frankfurt Garbus Kurnit Klein and Selz (now known as Frankfurt Kurnit Klein and Selz). That led to a bout running business affairs for the home video company Vestron, followed by stints as the vice president of New Line Cinema,...
- 10/6/2023
- by Kayla Cobb
- The Wrap
With all of the talk going down about the prosthetic nose that Bradley Cooper wore while playing legendary conductor Leonard Bernstein in the forthcoming “Maestro” and Helen Mirren’s star turn as Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir in “Golda” (which opened Friday), it got me to thinking about what other films centered on famous Jews might be out there. I figured it had to be pretty minimal. Jews, after all, are estimated to comprise a population of a mere 18 million of the 8 billion people in the world, or a scant 0.2 percent. Of the U.S. population, only 2.4 percent identify as Jewish. So I mean, how many Jewish-themed projects could there be?
It turns out the answer is a lot more than I thought.
How do I know this? Because while surfing around, I discovered ChaiFlicks, which in August celebrated its third anniversary as a niche streaming service bringing viewers a...
It turns out the answer is a lot more than I thought.
How do I know this? Because while surfing around, I discovered ChaiFlicks, which in August celebrated its third anniversary as a niche streaming service bringing viewers a...
- 8/28/2023
- by Ray Richmond
- Gold Derby
Jewish streaming platform ChaiFlicks is launching an all-new slate of TV programs and films set to begin rolling out in August. Programming includes “Wartime Girls,” the Israeli series “The New Black (Shababnakim)” and drama series “Normal” from Lior Dayan and Dori Media.
The new program additions follow “The Lesson,” which debuted earlier this summer. Starting in August, documentary series “The Hebrews” (August 2) and drama film “Those Who Remained” (August 8) will debut on ChaiFlicks, followed by “The Elected” on September 7.
“Normal,” the semi-autographical story from Dayan (the son of Israeli actor/writer Assi Dayan and grandson of Israeli military leader Moshe Dayan), will join ChaiFlicks on October 4, and “Wartime Girls” Season 4 will hit the streamer in December.
On December 20, ChaiFlicks will premiere the fourth season of “Wartime Girls,” which centers on three young Polish women as they fight Nazi occupation during World War II.
ChaiFlicks is also hosting the inaugural Free Summer Film Festival,...
The new program additions follow “The Lesson,” which debuted earlier this summer. Starting in August, documentary series “The Hebrews” (August 2) and drama film “Those Who Remained” (August 8) will debut on ChaiFlicks, followed by “The Elected” on September 7.
“Normal,” the semi-autographical story from Dayan (the son of Israeli actor/writer Assi Dayan and grandson of Israeli military leader Moshe Dayan), will join ChaiFlicks on October 4, and “Wartime Girls” Season 4 will hit the streamer in December.
On December 20, ChaiFlicks will premiere the fourth season of “Wartime Girls,” which centers on three young Polish women as they fight Nazi occupation during World War II.
ChaiFlicks is also hosting the inaugural Free Summer Film Festival,...
- 8/2/2023
- by Sophia Scorziello
- Variety Film + TV
“The Lesson,” the Israeli drama series that was named best series at the 2022 Cannes International Series Festival, is set to premiere June 21 on streamer ChaiFlicks.
Created and written by Deakla Keydar, “The Lesson” is a deft socio-political drama revolving around troubled high school civics teacher Amir and Lian, a 17-year-old student in his class.
The series, which first premiered in January 2022, was also named best drama series at the Israeli Television Academy Awards in 2023. Maya Landsmann, who plays Lian, won best lead actress at that same ceremony.
Leib Lev Levin, Alma Zak and Dvir Benedek also star in the six-episode series, which is directed by Eitan Zur. Loosely based on a real-life incident, the focal argument in “The Lesson” spins wildly out of control thanks to an online post, capturing the zeitgeist of a society steeped in social media. The series explores the fiery aftermath of a politically-charged debate over racism,...
Created and written by Deakla Keydar, “The Lesson” is a deft socio-political drama revolving around troubled high school civics teacher Amir and Lian, a 17-year-old student in his class.
The series, which first premiered in January 2022, was also named best drama series at the Israeli Television Academy Awards in 2023. Maya Landsmann, who plays Lian, won best lead actress at that same ceremony.
Leib Lev Levin, Alma Zak and Dvir Benedek also star in the six-episode series, which is directed by Eitan Zur. Loosely based on a real-life incident, the focal argument in “The Lesson” spins wildly out of control thanks to an online post, capturing the zeitgeist of a society steeped in social media. The series explores the fiery aftermath of a politically-charged debate over racism,...
- 5/24/2023
- by Malina Saval
- Variety Film + TV
Beta Cinema has revealed that Menemsha Films has taken all rights to Ofir Raul Graizer’s critically acclaimed drama “America” for North America amidst strong interest for the territory.
The sensual, visually impressive melodrama about a tragic incident turning upside down the life of a Tel Aviv-based couple and their childhood friend was rewarded with an enthusiastic standing ovation at its world premiere at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, where it played in the Crystal Globe Competition, and radiant reviews in the trade and consumer press.
In “America,” Chicago-based swimming coach Eli returns to his homeland, Israel, after 10 years of absence. A visit to his childhood friend Yotam and his newly engaged fiancée Iris will set a series of events in motion that will affect everyone’s lives.
The film is directed by Graizer, whose feature film debut “The Cakemaker” was a worldwide festival and sales hit, collecting numerous awards,...
The sensual, visually impressive melodrama about a tragic incident turning upside down the life of a Tel Aviv-based couple and their childhood friend was rewarded with an enthusiastic standing ovation at its world premiere at the Karlovy Vary Film Festival, where it played in the Crystal Globe Competition, and radiant reviews in the trade and consumer press.
In “America,” Chicago-based swimming coach Eli returns to his homeland, Israel, after 10 years of absence. A visit to his childhood friend Yotam and his newly engaged fiancée Iris will set a series of events in motion that will affect everyone’s lives.
The film is directed by Graizer, whose feature film debut “The Cakemaker” was a worldwide festival and sales hit, collecting numerous awards,...
- 9/9/2022
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Menemsha Films has taken distribution rights in North America to Thomas Roth’s drama “Schächten – A Retribution” in a deal with Berlin-based sales company Picture Tree Intl. Pti has debuted the film’s trailer, and will hold an invitation-only private screening of the film for buyers in Cannes.
Neil Friedman, president of Menemsha Films, said: “The film ‘Schächten’ is a true discovery. We expect great results for the film upon its release in North America.”
Burkhard Ernst, CEO of the production company Cult Film, added: “Thomas Roth does an exceptional job of portraying the struggles of the post-war generation to obtain justice for Holocaust crimes, and we are very happy to have this film seen by North American audiences, and released by an experienced distribution company in this area.”
The film is set in Vienna in the 1960s, and deals with themes of law, justice and revenge. Young Jewish businessman...
Neil Friedman, president of Menemsha Films, said: “The film ‘Schächten’ is a true discovery. We expect great results for the film upon its release in North America.”
Burkhard Ernst, CEO of the production company Cult Film, added: “Thomas Roth does an exceptional job of portraying the struggles of the post-war generation to obtain justice for Holocaust crimes, and we are very happy to have this film seen by North American audiences, and released by an experienced distribution company in this area.”
The film is set in Vienna in the 1960s, and deals with themes of law, justice and revenge. Young Jewish businessman...
- 5/3/2022
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Global Screen has secured a presale of the female-led drama “Lost Transport” to Menemsha Films for the U.S. and Canada ahead of the European Film Market in Berlin.
Inspired by true events, the film tells the story of the final days of World War II when German soldiers abandon a deportation train, leaving the fate of its occupants in the hands of advancing Russian troops. The film centers on the chance encounter between three women, one German, one Dutch Jew and one Russian. Amid the ruins of war, these women must overcome their differences and work together in order to survive.
The film’s director, Saskia Diesing, “links real events with the fictional characters in the film to create a feminist and deeply human story about cohesion and friendship,” Global Screen said.
Diesing previously directed “Nena,” which earned a special mention at the 2015 Berlin Film Festival, where it played in the Generation 14plus section.
Inspired by true events, the film tells the story of the final days of World War II when German soldiers abandon a deportation train, leaving the fate of its occupants in the hands of advancing Russian troops. The film centers on the chance encounter between three women, one German, one Dutch Jew and one Russian. Amid the ruins of war, these women must overcome their differences and work together in order to survive.
The film’s director, Saskia Diesing, “links real events with the fictional characters in the film to create a feminist and deeply human story about cohesion and friendship,” Global Screen said.
Diesing previously directed “Nena,” which earned a special mention at the 2015 Berlin Film Festival, where it played in the Generation 14plus section.
- 2/10/2022
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Global Screen has closed a raft of sales for “The Conference,” a historically accurate drama about the Wannsee Conference in Berlin, a meeting that had only one item on the agenda: the organization of the systematic mass murder of 11 million European Jews.
The film has been acquired by Menemsha Films (North America), Pivot Pictures (Australia), The Klockworx (Japan), Swallow Wings (Taiwan), Rai (Italy), Flins & Piniculas (Spain), Films 4 You (Portugal), Arti Film (Benelux), Edge Entertainment, Iti Neovision (Poland), Rtv (Slovenia), Italian-speaking Switzerland (Rsi) and Red Cape (Israel).
At the invitation of Reinhard Heydrich, head of the Reich Main Security Office, which included SiPo, the Gestapo and the Security Service, a meeting is held at midday on Jan. 20, 1942 in the villa at no. 58 Großen Wannsee. It lasts approximately 90 minutes and is attended by representatives of the SS, the Nazi party and several government ministries. There is one item on the agenda:...
The film has been acquired by Menemsha Films (North America), Pivot Pictures (Australia), The Klockworx (Japan), Swallow Wings (Taiwan), Rai (Italy), Flins & Piniculas (Spain), Films 4 You (Portugal), Arti Film (Benelux), Edge Entertainment, Iti Neovision (Poland), Rtv (Slovenia), Italian-speaking Switzerland (Rsi) and Red Cape (Israel).
At the invitation of Reinhard Heydrich, head of the Reich Main Security Office, which included SiPo, the Gestapo and the Security Service, a meeting is held at midday on Jan. 20, 1942 in the villa at no. 58 Großen Wannsee. It lasts approximately 90 minutes and is attended by representatives of the SS, the Nazi party and several government ministries. There is one item on the agenda:...
- 2/7/2022
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Streaming service ChaiFlicks has acquired North American rights to three Israeli series from Shtisel and Fauda outfit Yes Studios.
ChaiFlicks, an SVOD service specializing in Jewish and Israeli entertainment, is lining up fall releases for Checkout, Significant Other and Asylum City, which will all be shown with subtitles.
Checkout, a ratings hit comedy created by Nadav Frishman and Yaniv Zohar and produced by July-August Productions, follows the antics of a diverse cast of customers and staff at a struggling Israeli supermarket. The cult sitcom’s third season is now airing on Israel’s public broadcaster Kan 11 and is on pace to become the channel’s most watched TV series. The show was nominated for an International Emmy and won Best Comedy at the Israeli TV Academy Awards. We’re told that local adaptations of the original format are currently in development in multiple countries.
Significant Other, produced by...
ChaiFlicks, an SVOD service specializing in Jewish and Israeli entertainment, is lining up fall releases for Checkout, Significant Other and Asylum City, which will all be shown with subtitles.
Checkout, a ratings hit comedy created by Nadav Frishman and Yaniv Zohar and produced by July-August Productions, follows the antics of a diverse cast of customers and staff at a struggling Israeli supermarket. The cult sitcom’s third season is now airing on Israel’s public broadcaster Kan 11 and is on pace to become the channel’s most watched TV series. The show was nominated for an International Emmy and won Best Comedy at the Israeli TV Academy Awards. We’re told that local adaptations of the original format are currently in development in multiple countries.
Significant Other, produced by...
- 9/17/2021
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Australian theatrical distribution company Moving Story Entertainment has acquired a significant minority interest in ChaiFlicks, the young streaming service launched by Neil Friedman and Heidi Bogin Oshin, who run Menemsha Films, and Bill Weiner, a former senior executive at New Regency.
The deal expands ChaiFlicks SVOD service beyond North American to Australia and New Zealand for ChaiFlicks, which launched in August. It declined to give numbers but said it’s seen a doubling of subscribers in the past three months from new content and growing consumer interest in streaming specialty fare. The service is aimed at lovers of Jewish and Israeli film and those who regularly attend Jewish film festivals.
Weiner called the agreement “a natural extension of our North American activities.”
Moving Story also owns and operates four upmarket cinema complexes in Melbourne and Sydney.
Friedman said Menemsha and Moving Story have had a long, close relationship. “We...
The deal expands ChaiFlicks SVOD service beyond North American to Australia and New Zealand for ChaiFlicks, which launched in August. It declined to give numbers but said it’s seen a doubling of subscribers in the past three months from new content and growing consumer interest in streaming specialty fare. The service is aimed at lovers of Jewish and Israeli film and those who regularly attend Jewish film festivals.
Weiner called the agreement “a natural extension of our North American activities.”
Moving Story also owns and operates four upmarket cinema complexes in Melbourne and Sydney.
Friedman said Menemsha and Moving Story have had a long, close relationship. “We...
- 4/16/2021
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Menemsha Films has grabbed North American rights to The Sign Painter, the Latvian historical drama which dominated nominations at the country’s national film awards this year.
The film is up for 15 awards at the Lielais Kristaps awards, which take place November 15. It is also set to have its international premiere at Estonia’s Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival on November 19, and its North American premiere at the Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival on November 19. Pic is a frontrunner to be Latvia’s submission to the International Oscars this year.
Written and directed by Viestur Kairish, the film follows the talented Ansis as he negotiates a national dictatorship, the Soviets, and the Nazis in his pursuit of an art career and the free-spirited Jewish Sisla, while settling for sign painting and the Christian girl Naiga. Kairish’s last feature, Chronicles Of Melanie, was Latvia’s Oscar entry in 2016.
You can...
The film is up for 15 awards at the Lielais Kristaps awards, which take place November 15. It is also set to have its international premiere at Estonia’s Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival on November 19, and its North American premiere at the Philadelphia Jewish Film Festival on November 19. Pic is a frontrunner to be Latvia’s submission to the International Oscars this year.
Written and directed by Viestur Kairish, the film follows the talented Ansis as he negotiates a national dictatorship, the Soviets, and the Nazis in his pursuit of an art career and the free-spirited Jewish Sisla, while settling for sign painting and the Christian girl Naiga. Kairish’s last feature, Chronicles Of Melanie, was Latvia’s Oscar entry in 2016.
You can...
- 11/3/2020
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
Los Angeles-based Menemsha Films has acquired North American rights from Italy’s Intramovies to Venice Critics’ Week title “Thou Shalt Not Hate,” ahead of the racial hatred-themed drama’s premiere Sunday on the Lido.
The film has also been picked up for Australia and New Zealand by Moving Story Entertainment.
Directed by Italian first-timer Mauro Mancini, “Thou Shalt Not Hate” (Non Odiare) stars Alessandro Gassman as Simone Segre, a renowned surgeon of Jewish origin who finds himself assisting a victim of a hit and run accident. When he discovers a Nazi tattoo on his chest, Segre abandons him to his destiny, but subsequently, the surgeon is filled with guilt, according to the film’s promotional materials.
Menemsha Films, a U.S. distributor of specialty titles such as British comedy “Dough,” is planning theatrical distribution of “Though Shalt Not Hate” in North America this fall/winter, Intra and Menemsha said in a joint statement.
The film has also been picked up for Australia and New Zealand by Moving Story Entertainment.
Directed by Italian first-timer Mauro Mancini, “Thou Shalt Not Hate” (Non Odiare) stars Alessandro Gassman as Simone Segre, a renowned surgeon of Jewish origin who finds himself assisting a victim of a hit and run accident. When he discovers a Nazi tattoo on his chest, Segre abandons him to his destiny, but subsequently, the surgeon is filled with guilt, according to the film’s promotional materials.
Menemsha Films, a U.S. distributor of specialty titles such as British comedy “Dough,” is planning theatrical distribution of “Though Shalt Not Hate” in North America this fall/winter, Intra and Menemsha said in a joint statement.
- 9/6/2020
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: ChaiFlicks, which bills itself as the first streaming service devoted to Jewish and Israeli entertainment, is launching in North America on Wednesday.
The platform was founded by Neil Friedman and Heidi Bogin Oshin, who run Menemsha Films, and Bill Weiner, a former senior executive at New Regency.
Menemsha’s recent releases have included The Women’s Balcony, Gloomy Sunday, Dough, The Rape of Europa and 1945. They’re among the 150 films, documentaries, shorts and series available on ChaiFlicks, which costs $6 a month or $66 a year, with a 14-day free trial. It will be available on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple iOS, Apple TV, Android and Android TV.
In an interview with Deadline, Friedman said the shifts in the industry had been pointing toward streaming for a while, but the fate of 1945 sealed the company’s plans to create its own service.
After successfully selling other films to Netflix, Menemsha...
The platform was founded by Neil Friedman and Heidi Bogin Oshin, who run Menemsha Films, and Bill Weiner, a former senior executive at New Regency.
Menemsha’s recent releases have included The Women’s Balcony, Gloomy Sunday, Dough, The Rape of Europa and 1945. They’re among the 150 films, documentaries, shorts and series available on ChaiFlicks, which costs $6 a month or $66 a year, with a 14-day free trial. It will be available on Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple iOS, Apple TV, Android and Android TV.
In an interview with Deadline, Friedman said the shifts in the industry had been pointing toward streaming for a while, but the fate of 1945 sealed the company’s plans to create its own service.
After successfully selling other films to Netflix, Menemsha...
- 8/11/2020
- by Dade Hayes
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Menemsha Films has picked up North American rights to Tribeca Film Festival entry Asia, starring Unorthodox actress Shira Haas.
The Israeli drama, directed by Ruthy Pribar and co-starring Alena Yiv, is a mother-daughter story of a young, free-spirited single mother named (Yiv) and her daughter (the fast-rising Haas), who is coming of age and living with physical disabilities. Producers are Yoav Roeh and Aurit Zamir.
Menemsha finalized the deal for the film this week from Italian international sales company IntraMovies. The distributor is planning a North American theatrical premiere at New York’s Film Forum in winter 2020-2021.
The Hebrew and Russian-language film premiered as part of the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival where it won awards for Best Actress in an International Narrative Feature (Haas), Best Cinematography (Daniella Nowitz) as well as the Nora Ephron Prize for Filmmaking (Pribar). The latter is a $25,000 prize awarded to a female writer or...
The Israeli drama, directed by Ruthy Pribar and co-starring Alena Yiv, is a mother-daughter story of a young, free-spirited single mother named (Yiv) and her daughter (the fast-rising Haas), who is coming of age and living with physical disabilities. Producers are Yoav Roeh and Aurit Zamir.
Menemsha finalized the deal for the film this week from Italian international sales company IntraMovies. The distributor is planning a North American theatrical premiere at New York’s Film Forum in winter 2020-2021.
The Hebrew and Russian-language film premiered as part of the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival where it won awards for Best Actress in an International Narrative Feature (Haas), Best Cinematography (Daniella Nowitz) as well as the Nora Ephron Prize for Filmmaking (Pribar). The latter is a $25,000 prize awarded to a female writer or...
- 6/24/2020
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Hungary’s Oscar© Entry for Best International Feature ‘Those Who Remained’ Directed by Barnabás TóthBarna, as Barnabás Tóth is called, has the rare occurrence of having two films in two consecutive years shortlisted for the Academy Award Nomination. Last year his short film, ‘Cuchotage’ and this year his international feature ‘Those Who Remained’ have been shortlisted.
The road Barna and his producer traveled to get this film made was long and arduous. I spoke with him on the phone from Budapest and again in the Q&a for the Academy members screening held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills before he and his lead actress, Abigél Szõke, left for Palm Springs Film Festival where the film will show again.
Those Who Remained reveals the healing process of Shoah survivors through the eyes of a young girl in post-World War II Hungary. It is a lyrical story of the...
The road Barna and his producer traveled to get this film made was long and arduous. I spoke with him on the phone from Budapest and again in the Q&a for the Academy members screening held at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills before he and his lead actress, Abigél Szõke, left for Palm Springs Film Festival where the film will show again.
Those Who Remained reveals the healing process of Shoah survivors through the eyes of a young girl in post-World War II Hungary. It is a lyrical story of the...
- 1/5/2020
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Global Screen has sold the distribution rights for North America for “Crescendo#makemusicnotwar” to Menemsha Films. The film, loosely inspired by the story of the formation of Daniel Barenboim’s West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, toplines “Toni Erdmann” star Peter Simonischek.
Global Screen also closed deals on the film for Spain (Adso Films International Management), Italy (Satine), Korea (Tcast) and Taiwan (Swallow Wings Films). Strong interest has also been signalled by distributors in other territories, Global Screen said.
The film, helmed by Dror Zahavi (“Everything for My Father”), was recently presented with the Rheingold Audience Award at the 15th Festival of German Cinema in Ludwigshafen am Rhein. Zahavi received a 1988 Student Oscar nomination for “Alexander Penn – Ich will allein sein.”
Simonischek plays world famous conductor Eduard Sporck, who accepts the job to create an Israeli-Palestinian youth orchestra, but is quickly drawn into a tempest of seemingly unsolvable problems. Having grown up in a state of war,...
Global Screen also closed deals on the film for Spain (Adso Films International Management), Italy (Satine), Korea (Tcast) and Taiwan (Swallow Wings Films). Strong interest has also been signalled by distributors in other territories, Global Screen said.
The film, helmed by Dror Zahavi (“Everything for My Father”), was recently presented with the Rheingold Audience Award at the 15th Festival of German Cinema in Ludwigshafen am Rhein. Zahavi received a 1988 Student Oscar nomination for “Alexander Penn – Ich will allein sein.”
Simonischek plays world famous conductor Eduard Sporck, who accepts the job to create an Israeli-Palestinian youth orchestra, but is quickly drawn into a tempest of seemingly unsolvable problems. Having grown up in a state of war,...
- 10/7/2019
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Gary Rubin, Executive Vice President at Cohen Media, has been tapped for the newly created position of Chief Operating Officer at specialty distributor Menemsha Films. Neil Friedman, President of Menemsha, unveiled the news today. Established in 1998, Menemsha specializes in Jewish and Israeli-themed films and is believed to be the largest in that sector. The addition of Rubin continues the growth of the company which is believed to be the largest in the Jewish and Israeli cinema. Rubin will continue working at Cohen and step into his new role as COO at Menemsha October 7.
“Our company has had great success over its twenty one year history and we are bringing Gary on board to continue to expand the company’s businesses and increase that success,” said Friedman. “Gary is a talented executive and has an impeccable reputation in the industry which will be a tremendous asset for Menemsha’s strategies for growth.
“Our company has had great success over its twenty one year history and we are bringing Gary on board to continue to expand the company’s businesses and increase that success,” said Friedman. “Gary is a talented executive and has an impeccable reputation in the industry which will be a tremendous asset for Menemsha’s strategies for growth.
- 9/18/2019
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
David Ofek and Yossi Atia directed black comedy.
Neil Friedman’s Menemsha Films has picked up North American rights from Go2films to the Israeli film Born In Jerusalem And Still Alive.
The dark comedy directed by David Ofek and Yossi Atia received its world premiere at the Jerusalem Film Festival in July, where it won the best first film award.
Atia stars in Born In Jerusalem And Still Alive, which follows a man’s journey to overcome his fear of terror attacks as he becomes a tour of terror attack sites along Jerusalem’s Jaffa Street in an effort...
Neil Friedman’s Menemsha Films has picked up North American rights from Go2films to the Israeli film Born In Jerusalem And Still Alive.
The dark comedy directed by David Ofek and Yossi Atia received its world premiere at the Jerusalem Film Festival in July, where it won the best first film award.
Atia stars in Born In Jerusalem And Still Alive, which follows a man’s journey to overcome his fear of terror attacks as he becomes a tour of terror attack sites along Jerusalem’s Jaffa Street in an effort...
- 9/11/2019
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Menemsha Films has confirmed a raft of acquisitions led by Tiff premieres Fig Tree and Redemption.
Menemsha Films has confirmed a raft of acquisitions led by Tiff premieres Fig Tree and Redemption.
The Los Angeles-based company is also celebrating its fifth $1m North American box office success in the form of Hungarian drama 1945, the latest in a string of recent box office hits for the distributor.
Fig Tree received its world premiere in Toronto in September. Films Boutique handles international sales on the Germany-France-Ethiopia co-production, which screened in Discovery at and takes place at the end of the Ethiopian Civil War.
Menemsha Films has confirmed a raft of acquisitions led by Tiff premieres Fig Tree and Redemption.
The Los Angeles-based company is also celebrating its fifth $1m North American box office success in the form of Hungarian drama 1945, the latest in a string of recent box office hits for the distributor.
Fig Tree received its world premiere in Toronto in September. Films Boutique handles international sales on the Germany-France-Ethiopia co-production, which screened in Discovery at and takes place at the end of the Ethiopian Civil War.
- 11/20/2018
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Wartime drama wins best foreign film at Michael Moore’s Traverse City Film Festival.
Us-based specialty distributor Menemsha Films is targeting its fifth $1m-plus Jewish-themed release as Hungarian black and white drama 1945 cruised past $800,000 last week.
The wartime drama, which just beat Oscar winner A Fantastic Woman and The Square to win the Best Foreign Fiction Film Founders Award at Michael Moore’s Traverse City Film Festival in Michigan (pictured), will join an elite club that includes Menemsha titles Gloomy Sunday, The Rape Of Europa, Dough starring Jonathan Pryce, and Israeli hit The Women’s Balcony.
Ferenc Torok directed 1945, which...
Us-based specialty distributor Menemsha Films is targeting its fifth $1m-plus Jewish-themed release as Hungarian black and white drama 1945 cruised past $800,000 last week.
The wartime drama, which just beat Oscar winner A Fantastic Woman and The Square to win the Best Foreign Fiction Film Founders Award at Michael Moore’s Traverse City Film Festival in Michigan (pictured), will join an elite club that includes Menemsha titles Gloomy Sunday, The Rape Of Europa, Dough starring Jonathan Pryce, and Israeli hit The Women’s Balcony.
Ferenc Torok directed 1945, which...
- 8/6/2018
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Wartime drama wins best foreign film at Michael Moore’s Traverse City Film Festival.
Us-based specialty distributor Menemsha Films is targeting its third $1m-plus Jewish and Israeli-themed release as Hungarian black and white drama 1945 cruised past $800,000 last week.
The wartime drama, which was just won the Best Foreign Fiction Film Founders Award at Michael Moore’s Traverse City Film Festival in Michigan, will join an join an elite club that includes Menemsha titles Dough starring Jonathan Pryce and Israeli hit The Women’s Balcony.
Ferenc Torok directed 1945, which takes place at the end of the Second World War as two...
Us-based specialty distributor Menemsha Films is targeting its third $1m-plus Jewish and Israeli-themed release as Hungarian black and white drama 1945 cruised past $800,000 last week.
The wartime drama, which was just won the Best Foreign Fiction Film Founders Award at Michael Moore’s Traverse City Film Festival in Michigan, will join an join an elite club that includes Menemsha titles Dough starring Jonathan Pryce and Israeli hit The Women’s Balcony.
Ferenc Torok directed 1945, which takes place at the end of the Second World War as two...
- 8/5/2018
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Ferenc Török’s drama explores postwar Hungary before the Communist take-over.
Menemsha has scheduled an October theatrical release for the recent world premiere that played in Panorama.
1945 takes place in the aftermath of the Second World War as two Orthodox Jews with mysterious boxes arrive in a Hungarian village where preparations are underway for a wedding.
The strangers trigger complex feelings among the villagers. Some feel remorse, while others harbour murderous thoughts.
Török wrote the screenplay with Gábor T. Szántó, whose acclaimed short story Homecoming formed the basis for the feature.
“It took 12 years to make this,” Török said. “It’s kind of a western, like High Noon. We wanted to find the link between post-Fascism and Communism. There were two or three years in Hungary when life could have changed. It was an interesting time.
“We shot in black and white but didn’t want black and white thinking: we were looking for shades of grey...
Menemsha has scheduled an October theatrical release for the recent world premiere that played in Panorama.
1945 takes place in the aftermath of the Second World War as two Orthodox Jews with mysterious boxes arrive in a Hungarian village where preparations are underway for a wedding.
The strangers trigger complex feelings among the villagers. Some feel remorse, while others harbour murderous thoughts.
Török wrote the screenplay with Gábor T. Szántó, whose acclaimed short story Homecoming formed the basis for the feature.
“It took 12 years to make this,” Török said. “It’s kind of a western, like High Noon. We wanted to find the link between post-Fascism and Communism. There were two or three years in Hungary when life could have changed. It was an interesting time.
“We shot in black and white but didn’t want black and white thinking: we were looking for shades of grey...
- 2/23/2017
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Menemsha Films has acquired North American rights to Israeli film The Women’s Balcony, while Kino Lorber has picked up North American rights to Son Of Joseph.
The Women’s Balcony recently received its world premiere in Toronto and stars Evelyn Hagoel, Igal Naor, Orna Banai, Einat Saruf, Itzik Cohen and Aviv Alush.
Pie Films and United King produced the story about female members of an Orthodox community who rally together after the collapse of the women’s balcony in a Jerusalem synagogue.
Emil Ben Shimon directed from a screenplay by Shlomit Nehama in their feature debut.
Menemsha Films brokered the deal with Pie Films and plans a theatrical release in the first quarter of 2017.
The film will open in Israel next week as the centrepiece film release for the Jewish holidays
“We just fell in love with this film from its first screening in Toronto,” said Menemsha’s Neil Friedman. “We are confident...
The Women’s Balcony recently received its world premiere in Toronto and stars Evelyn Hagoel, Igal Naor, Orna Banai, Einat Saruf, Itzik Cohen and Aviv Alush.
Pie Films and United King produced the story about female members of an Orthodox community who rally together after the collapse of the women’s balcony in a Jerusalem synagogue.
Emil Ben Shimon directed from a screenplay by Shlomit Nehama in their feature debut.
Menemsha Films brokered the deal with Pie Films and plans a theatrical release in the first quarter of 2017.
The film will open in Israel next week as the centrepiece film release for the Jewish holidays
“We just fell in love with this film from its first screening in Toronto,” said Menemsha’s Neil Friedman. “We are confident...
- 9/26/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Neil Friedman’s Los Angeles-based company has picked up North American rights to the Dutch dramedy.
Job Gosschalk’s film follows a young woman caring for her widower father and their family in a Jewish Dutch neighbourhood.
The return of a childhood friend inspires the woman to pursue her dream of becoming a singer – even if it involves bending reality here and there.
Menemsha Films plans to release the film theatrically across North America in February 2017 following a similar pattern to its recent breakout hit Dough, which has grossed more than $1.2m at the box office.
“Moos is the kind of film that Menemsha Films has made its reputation on,” said Menemsha president Friedman, who negotiated the deal with Media Luna president Ida Martins and said the dramedy was already scheduled to play in several film festivals across North America.
“The film is a hidden gem that we hope will become a box office success similar...
Job Gosschalk’s film follows a young woman caring for her widower father and their family in a Jewish Dutch neighbourhood.
The return of a childhood friend inspires the woman to pursue her dream of becoming a singer – even if it involves bending reality here and there.
Menemsha Films plans to release the film theatrically across North America in February 2017 following a similar pattern to its recent breakout hit Dough, which has grossed more than $1.2m at the box office.
“Moos is the kind of film that Menemsha Films has made its reputation on,” said Menemsha president Friedman, who negotiated the deal with Media Luna president Ida Martins and said the dramedy was already scheduled to play in several film festivals across North America.
“The film is a hidden gem that we hope will become a box office success similar...
- 7/27/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: The feel-good hit starring Jonathan Pryce, Pauline Collins and Jerome Holder struck a blow for the limited distribution space as it crossed the threshold in North America on June 14.
Neil Friedman’s Santa Monica-based distributor opened Dough in nine theatres in Florida on February 12 and kept the film exclusively in the state until it expanded nationwide on April 29.
The Menemsha chief is confident it will exceed $1m by some margin. “The film is booked in cinemas for new openings in not-yet-released locales for the remainder of the summer months and is still selling out shows at the cinemas it is presently playing,” he said.
The comedy centres on the owner of an ailing Jewish bakery whose business flourishes when his young Muslim apprentice drops marijuana into the mixing dough. John Goldschmidt directed.
“These are troubling times we are living in today and everybody is looking to escape the every day realities of the world’s problems...
Neil Friedman’s Santa Monica-based distributor opened Dough in nine theatres in Florida on February 12 and kept the film exclusively in the state until it expanded nationwide on April 29.
The Menemsha chief is confident it will exceed $1m by some margin. “The film is booked in cinemas for new openings in not-yet-released locales for the remainder of the summer months and is still selling out shows at the cinemas it is presently playing,” he said.
The comedy centres on the owner of an ailing Jewish bakery whose business flourishes when his young Muslim apprentice drops marijuana into the mixing dough. John Goldschmidt directed.
“These are troubling times we are living in today and everybody is looking to escape the every day realities of the world’s problems...
- 6/16/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
This year the Art House Convergence has seen a huge jump in attendance. Eleven years ago when Sundance initiated the Art House Convergence a small handful of arthouse theater owners were in attendance. Five years ago when I began coming, there were more exhibitors plus the distributors of art house cinema began to come to chat and discuss their offerings. The congenial mix of the two charmed me. It reminded me of the early days of Sundance in the late 80s when acquisitions execs all knew and liked each other and we were able to cover all the ground without stress.
This year there were so many more people - about 600 total - including vendors of everything an exhibitor must need plus a parallel event of the Film Festival Alliance, a great initiative of Ifp established in 2010 in which festivals get together to discuss mutual interests.
The confluence of the smaller regional festivals and the art house theaters is a natural fit since the festivals are held in the theaters and bring in the community, obviously a desired outcome of art house exhibitors. All that combined makes for a much larger event than ever before and points toward even greater growth for Ahc, something perhaps to be desired but also something which perhaps will not be quite so welcoming for newcomers as the earlier events.
The topics covered in the break out sessions are a large part about the logistics of U.S. art house operations from creating fan bases and membership. Another large part focuses on festival logistics from starting a film festival – and here I want to give a plug to Jon Gann, the founder of DC Shorts Film Festival for his new book, So, You Want to Start a Film Festival: Conversations with Top Festival Creators -- to the panel “Conversation with Sundance Senior Manager Adam Montgomery” in which Montgomery discussed Sundance’s process of accepting submissions, the work flow, planning, technology, usage tips and more.
Some awards by way of recognition to those who established indies as a going concern and are keeping it going through their hard work and devotion were Gary Meyer, founder of Landmark Theaters in 1975, Jan Klingenhofer and Chapin Cutter.
Niches and small business introducing themselves included the former Emerging Pictures executive Barry Rebo with his new startup CineConductor, along with his international partner Ymagis. The service for a $75 per month fee allows theaters to download unlimited DCPs (The Digital Cinema Package is a collection of digital files used to store and convey digital cinema (DC) audio, image, and data streams.) from all distributors – an easy and cheaper way for theaters to show more films at various times during the week.
Barry Rebo of CineConductor says, “We had a terrific Art House Convergence. We arrived with 51 high profile arthouse members and left with close to 65, maybe more once we re-connect with ones now tied up at the actual festival.
Current venues are both evangelizing our value to new venues and lobbying rights holders to deliver their booked film via the CineConductor service rather than hard drives. It not only save the venues money it makes their day-to-day operations ever more efficient.
We also have two high profile international film agencies we are servicing via the portal - UniFrance’s ongoing Young French Cinema 2 and Tiff & TeleFilm Canada’s upcoming See The North series.
More information about CineConductor: Click this link.
Considering we only debuted the system - really a 'soft opening' - at last year’s Ahc and connected the first batch of venues beginning in June of ‘15 getting to 51 quality sites by the end of the first indicates the service is being seen as being both highly cost effective (venues join on a Network Access Fee basis - no charge for equipment and only $75.00 per month for Unlimited Dcp deliveries of Specialty Film & Event Cinema programs offered by their rights holder via CineConductor.
Rights Holders (Rh) - traditional distribution companies; international film advocacy groups; international sales agents; the filmmakers themselves pay nothing today to post on the CineConductor portal. They pay only $50.00 per feature Dcp delivery Includes Kdm if requested) and $10.00 per Dcp trailer set (flat and scope) once they accept an engagement directly from a participating venue. It’s a great deal for both the exhibition and distribution sides of the arthouse field.
For the broader arthouse community - exhibitors, distributors and audiences - our decision to go this way was based on our belief that by offering a flat fee, more valuable content is made available on more screens. More onscreen diversity will drive a more diverse audience. I’m happy to report it’s already working as planned.
What we have created is truly and international platform. My investor/ parent company, Ymagis, is Paris-based and operates all across Europe. See www.ymagis.com "
Another endeavor of note is Benjamin Oberman’s (Film Festival Flix) mountain climbing film “Citadel” around which he can mobilize literally millions of outdoors sports folk through organizations he has formed alliances with in every region of the U.S. This type of specialized distribution is one excellent way into the future! Compared to his development of this last year, he has moved miles ahead.
Another to watch is Bobbi Thompson as she creates pop-up theaters in studio spaces with art exhibition for adults with learning disabilities and other handicaps.
An example of the new types of festivals is that of Gary Meyer, always a pioneer from his launching of Landmark theaters, of animation showcases, of Telluride Film Festival programming to his newest, Eat Drink Films. Based in a San Francisco his site discusses film and food and hosts recently Real Food Media also announced the launch of its third-annual contest with a call for submissions of super-short films on underreported issues, unique change-makers and creative solutions to foster a broad, public conversation about solving our global food system’s most intractable problems – from hunger to diet-related illnesses to environmental crises.
And Ahc has gone international. Last year a few folks from France, Europa Cinemas and the U.S. in Progress in Poland (American Film Festival’s Ula Sniegowska) and in France (Adeline Monzier of Unifrance) were here. This year they are here again and joined by Brigitte Hubmann of Telefilm Canada with film packages available directly to theaters via Barry Rebo’s CineConductor, a model that German films and all other national film entities should emulate. Also attending this year is Europa International, a consortium of 40 European international sales agents from 13 European countries looking to find direct outlets to theaters without the distribution middleman. This will become increasingly important at Netflix swopes down on worldwide digital rights acquisitions. TrustNordisk’s head of sales, Susan Wendt from Denmark represented Europa International here.
Europa International’s panel presented European case studies on ways to attract new audiences in the era of social media with an eye toward directing young people towards “quality” cinema and fostering critical minds while forming partnership strategies included Justin Camileri of Euro Media Forum, Fatima Djoumer of Europa Cinemas, Matts Gillmor of Palladium, Elisa Giovannelli of Cineteca Bologna and Justyna Kociszewska of Kino Lab.
U.S. distributor Neil Friedman’s Menemsha Films is here with the Jonathan Pryce film “Dough” a funny and feel-good trans-cultural mix proving ‘you don’t have to be Jewish’ to love this film. Representing Menemsha at Ahc is former United King acquisitions executive from Israel, Oded Horowitz, who has now moved to California with his partner and their 6 year old twin girls. Diarah N’Daw-Spech of ArtMattan is here among now old friends managing to inject some diversity into a little too homogenous population of film lovers.
This place is full of 'our' people, that is, we-the-now-older generation who got this thing going in the 80s: those I mentioned above plus Paul Cohen, Ira Deutchman, Anne Thompson, Mj Pekos (Dada Films), Larry Greenberg (Momentum/ eOne), Richard Abramowitz (Abramarama), Cary Jones (IFC), Peter Baxter (Slamdance), Peter Becker (Janus) (who was a young one when we began but was there - and our sympathy to him for his father’s passing… whose colleague Jonathan Turrell whose father Saul in those days in print distribution at Janus Films was one of New York’s most colorful figures), Ron Diamond (Animation Show of Shows), Peter Belsito (SydneysBuzz), Mark Fishkin (California Film Institute), Christian Gaines (ArtPrize), Larry Kardish (Board member and former head of NY Film Society, Lincoln Center, now with Chatham Film Club), Greg Laemmle of Laemmle Theaters, Los Angeles’ preeminent indie arthouse started by his grandfather Carl Laemmle, former head of Universal (!), Richard Lorber (Kino Lorber), Scott Mansfield (monterey media), Mike Thomas (Theatre Properties) and Michael Donaldson (Donaldson & Callif).
After the panel “Why Critics Matter: A Conversation with Anne Thompson and Sam Adams” moderated by Ira Deutchman, a discussion of contemporary film criticism and its importance within the independent exhibition community created a flurry of comments on the Ahc newsletter which you can read along with other year round commentaries of importance by subscribing to Google Groups "Art House Convergence". Sam Adams himself writes,
“In a national survey covering 25 art house theaters and 20,000 patrons, Avenue Isr's Woody Smith said that reviews were the third-most important tool in drawing audiences to theaters, just behind recommendations from friends. (Most-effective, by a wide margin: trailers.) 41 percent of respondents listed print reviews among the most important factors, with online reviews at 35 percent, although the former number drops dramatically when limited to viewers 35 or younger.
Speaking anecdotally to me, many exhibitors told me that Rotten Tomatoes plays a huge role in what films audiences select. In one medium-sized market, the local paper, which no longer employs its own critics, uses the Tomatometer to decide which review to pull from the wire services: If it's "fresh," they run a positive review; if it's "rotten," they run a pan. By pretty much any measure, that's a huge dereliction of duty — not to mention incredibly lazy journalistic practice — but the good news is that same exhibitor sought me out later to tell me he going to start a criticism contest for local students, bringing back dialogue to a community that's lost an outlet for those voices.”
At Ahc with a new panel discussion, one most worthy of notice is Hollie Mahadeo, General Manager of Enzian Theater in Maitland Florida. Her initiative, Starting Young: Hooking Youth on Cinema, discussed cultivating the next generation of filmgoers and film lovers. Amy Averett of Alamo Drafthouse, Mats Gillmor of Palladium and Hollie Mahadeo of Enzian spoke of their successes in this crucial area.
Hollie has spent 17 years building a home for youth in cinema. Art houses do not generally think about kids because the ones working in them are usually young and single and the ones attending them are usually grandparents. As Hollie and her colleagues grew, they married and now have children and so are concerned with how cinema and their own children will interact. Six years ago their audience was all over 40 and so they began programming to get 20-somethings in.
Then they started courting the children with their Peanut Butter Matinees, programming films to appeal to the children and their parents, like “Neverending Story”. These monthly matinees work well for parents with children from five to ten years who would not ordinarily go to cinemas. The room seats 220 but is filled with tables and chairs so some play while others eat and others sit enraptured by the cinema. They have 1,200 screenings in a year and are a $3.5 million organization in all.
The Peanut Butter Matinee has a kid friendly menu, balloons to take away, raffles to take part in and the film, always projected digitally. It has grown to special holiday celebrations for Christmas, Halloween, Easter and the children have also grown. The events are free for children under 12; all others buy $8 tickets.
Amy of Alamo states that it is cheaper to bring kids to the movies than to hire a babysitter.
Enzion has also instituted a Filmmaking Camp, a summer day camp now in its seventh year. It began as a one-week camp for 10 kids but now has a four-week camp, Thirty-two kids go to a two-week session in Camp 1 and another 32 go to a second two-week session. They have temporary staff of two filmmakers who bring in the equipment and one head instructor, a teacher from a local film school and a counselor to help with the scheduling, meals, and other issues. There are volunteer filmmakers from college and a junior counselor program for kids too old to be campers but too young to be filmmakers (yet). The oldest graduate of the camp is now in high school and looking at film schools. The youngest camper is in the fifth grade. At the end of the camp there are at least two world premiers.
Now they also have youth acting Programs. For grades 2 through 12, classes are held after school twice a week.
All in all, the Ahc was full and fun. The cold was bitter and when we left to go down the road to Sundance, about half of us were nursing our first winter colds which made for an even more fun filled Sundance Film Festival…well for me at least, my low energy level was no match of the excitement of the festival this year.
This year there were so many more people - about 600 total - including vendors of everything an exhibitor must need plus a parallel event of the Film Festival Alliance, a great initiative of Ifp established in 2010 in which festivals get together to discuss mutual interests.
The confluence of the smaller regional festivals and the art house theaters is a natural fit since the festivals are held in the theaters and bring in the community, obviously a desired outcome of art house exhibitors. All that combined makes for a much larger event than ever before and points toward even greater growth for Ahc, something perhaps to be desired but also something which perhaps will not be quite so welcoming for newcomers as the earlier events.
The topics covered in the break out sessions are a large part about the logistics of U.S. art house operations from creating fan bases and membership. Another large part focuses on festival logistics from starting a film festival – and here I want to give a plug to Jon Gann, the founder of DC Shorts Film Festival for his new book, So, You Want to Start a Film Festival: Conversations with Top Festival Creators -- to the panel “Conversation with Sundance Senior Manager Adam Montgomery” in which Montgomery discussed Sundance’s process of accepting submissions, the work flow, planning, technology, usage tips and more.
Some awards by way of recognition to those who established indies as a going concern and are keeping it going through their hard work and devotion were Gary Meyer, founder of Landmark Theaters in 1975, Jan Klingenhofer and Chapin Cutter.
Niches and small business introducing themselves included the former Emerging Pictures executive Barry Rebo with his new startup CineConductor, along with his international partner Ymagis. The service for a $75 per month fee allows theaters to download unlimited DCPs (The Digital Cinema Package is a collection of digital files used to store and convey digital cinema (DC) audio, image, and data streams.) from all distributors – an easy and cheaper way for theaters to show more films at various times during the week.
Barry Rebo of CineConductor says, “We had a terrific Art House Convergence. We arrived with 51 high profile arthouse members and left with close to 65, maybe more once we re-connect with ones now tied up at the actual festival.
Current venues are both evangelizing our value to new venues and lobbying rights holders to deliver their booked film via the CineConductor service rather than hard drives. It not only save the venues money it makes their day-to-day operations ever more efficient.
We also have two high profile international film agencies we are servicing via the portal - UniFrance’s ongoing Young French Cinema 2 and Tiff & TeleFilm Canada’s upcoming See The North series.
More information about CineConductor: Click this link.
Considering we only debuted the system - really a 'soft opening' - at last year’s Ahc and connected the first batch of venues beginning in June of ‘15 getting to 51 quality sites by the end of the first indicates the service is being seen as being both highly cost effective (venues join on a Network Access Fee basis - no charge for equipment and only $75.00 per month for Unlimited Dcp deliveries of Specialty Film & Event Cinema programs offered by their rights holder via CineConductor.
Rights Holders (Rh) - traditional distribution companies; international film advocacy groups; international sales agents; the filmmakers themselves pay nothing today to post on the CineConductor portal. They pay only $50.00 per feature Dcp delivery Includes Kdm if requested) and $10.00 per Dcp trailer set (flat and scope) once they accept an engagement directly from a participating venue. It’s a great deal for both the exhibition and distribution sides of the arthouse field.
For the broader arthouse community - exhibitors, distributors and audiences - our decision to go this way was based on our belief that by offering a flat fee, more valuable content is made available on more screens. More onscreen diversity will drive a more diverse audience. I’m happy to report it’s already working as planned.
What we have created is truly and international platform. My investor/ parent company, Ymagis, is Paris-based and operates all across Europe. See www.ymagis.com "
Another endeavor of note is Benjamin Oberman’s (Film Festival Flix) mountain climbing film “Citadel” around which he can mobilize literally millions of outdoors sports folk through organizations he has formed alliances with in every region of the U.S. This type of specialized distribution is one excellent way into the future! Compared to his development of this last year, he has moved miles ahead.
Another to watch is Bobbi Thompson as she creates pop-up theaters in studio spaces with art exhibition for adults with learning disabilities and other handicaps.
An example of the new types of festivals is that of Gary Meyer, always a pioneer from his launching of Landmark theaters, of animation showcases, of Telluride Film Festival programming to his newest, Eat Drink Films. Based in a San Francisco his site discusses film and food and hosts recently Real Food Media also announced the launch of its third-annual contest with a call for submissions of super-short films on underreported issues, unique change-makers and creative solutions to foster a broad, public conversation about solving our global food system’s most intractable problems – from hunger to diet-related illnesses to environmental crises.
And Ahc has gone international. Last year a few folks from France, Europa Cinemas and the U.S. in Progress in Poland (American Film Festival’s Ula Sniegowska) and in France (Adeline Monzier of Unifrance) were here. This year they are here again and joined by Brigitte Hubmann of Telefilm Canada with film packages available directly to theaters via Barry Rebo’s CineConductor, a model that German films and all other national film entities should emulate. Also attending this year is Europa International, a consortium of 40 European international sales agents from 13 European countries looking to find direct outlets to theaters without the distribution middleman. This will become increasingly important at Netflix swopes down on worldwide digital rights acquisitions. TrustNordisk’s head of sales, Susan Wendt from Denmark represented Europa International here.
Europa International’s panel presented European case studies on ways to attract new audiences in the era of social media with an eye toward directing young people towards “quality” cinema and fostering critical minds while forming partnership strategies included Justin Camileri of Euro Media Forum, Fatima Djoumer of Europa Cinemas, Matts Gillmor of Palladium, Elisa Giovannelli of Cineteca Bologna and Justyna Kociszewska of Kino Lab.
U.S. distributor Neil Friedman’s Menemsha Films is here with the Jonathan Pryce film “Dough” a funny and feel-good trans-cultural mix proving ‘you don’t have to be Jewish’ to love this film. Representing Menemsha at Ahc is former United King acquisitions executive from Israel, Oded Horowitz, who has now moved to California with his partner and their 6 year old twin girls. Diarah N’Daw-Spech of ArtMattan is here among now old friends managing to inject some diversity into a little too homogenous population of film lovers.
This place is full of 'our' people, that is, we-the-now-older generation who got this thing going in the 80s: those I mentioned above plus Paul Cohen, Ira Deutchman, Anne Thompson, Mj Pekos (Dada Films), Larry Greenberg (Momentum/ eOne), Richard Abramowitz (Abramarama), Cary Jones (IFC), Peter Baxter (Slamdance), Peter Becker (Janus) (who was a young one when we began but was there - and our sympathy to him for his father’s passing… whose colleague Jonathan Turrell whose father Saul in those days in print distribution at Janus Films was one of New York’s most colorful figures), Ron Diamond (Animation Show of Shows), Peter Belsito (SydneysBuzz), Mark Fishkin (California Film Institute), Christian Gaines (ArtPrize), Larry Kardish (Board member and former head of NY Film Society, Lincoln Center, now with Chatham Film Club), Greg Laemmle of Laemmle Theaters, Los Angeles’ preeminent indie arthouse started by his grandfather Carl Laemmle, former head of Universal (!), Richard Lorber (Kino Lorber), Scott Mansfield (monterey media), Mike Thomas (Theatre Properties) and Michael Donaldson (Donaldson & Callif).
After the panel “Why Critics Matter: A Conversation with Anne Thompson and Sam Adams” moderated by Ira Deutchman, a discussion of contemporary film criticism and its importance within the independent exhibition community created a flurry of comments on the Ahc newsletter which you can read along with other year round commentaries of importance by subscribing to Google Groups "Art House Convergence". Sam Adams himself writes,
“In a national survey covering 25 art house theaters and 20,000 patrons, Avenue Isr's Woody Smith said that reviews were the third-most important tool in drawing audiences to theaters, just behind recommendations from friends. (Most-effective, by a wide margin: trailers.) 41 percent of respondents listed print reviews among the most important factors, with online reviews at 35 percent, although the former number drops dramatically when limited to viewers 35 or younger.
Speaking anecdotally to me, many exhibitors told me that Rotten Tomatoes plays a huge role in what films audiences select. In one medium-sized market, the local paper, which no longer employs its own critics, uses the Tomatometer to decide which review to pull from the wire services: If it's "fresh," they run a positive review; if it's "rotten," they run a pan. By pretty much any measure, that's a huge dereliction of duty — not to mention incredibly lazy journalistic practice — but the good news is that same exhibitor sought me out later to tell me he going to start a criticism contest for local students, bringing back dialogue to a community that's lost an outlet for those voices.”
At Ahc with a new panel discussion, one most worthy of notice is Hollie Mahadeo, General Manager of Enzian Theater in Maitland Florida. Her initiative, Starting Young: Hooking Youth on Cinema, discussed cultivating the next generation of filmgoers and film lovers. Amy Averett of Alamo Drafthouse, Mats Gillmor of Palladium and Hollie Mahadeo of Enzian spoke of their successes in this crucial area.
Hollie has spent 17 years building a home for youth in cinema. Art houses do not generally think about kids because the ones working in them are usually young and single and the ones attending them are usually grandparents. As Hollie and her colleagues grew, they married and now have children and so are concerned with how cinema and their own children will interact. Six years ago their audience was all over 40 and so they began programming to get 20-somethings in.
Then they started courting the children with their Peanut Butter Matinees, programming films to appeal to the children and their parents, like “Neverending Story”. These monthly matinees work well for parents with children from five to ten years who would not ordinarily go to cinemas. The room seats 220 but is filled with tables and chairs so some play while others eat and others sit enraptured by the cinema. They have 1,200 screenings in a year and are a $3.5 million organization in all.
The Peanut Butter Matinee has a kid friendly menu, balloons to take away, raffles to take part in and the film, always projected digitally. It has grown to special holiday celebrations for Christmas, Halloween, Easter and the children have also grown. The events are free for children under 12; all others buy $8 tickets.
Amy of Alamo states that it is cheaper to bring kids to the movies than to hire a babysitter.
Enzion has also instituted a Filmmaking Camp, a summer day camp now in its seventh year. It began as a one-week camp for 10 kids but now has a four-week camp, Thirty-two kids go to a two-week session in Camp 1 and another 32 go to a second two-week session. They have temporary staff of two filmmakers who bring in the equipment and one head instructor, a teacher from a local film school and a counselor to help with the scheduling, meals, and other issues. There are volunteer filmmakers from college and a junior counselor program for kids too old to be campers but too young to be filmmakers (yet). The oldest graduate of the camp is now in high school and looking at film schools. The youngest camper is in the fifth grade. At the end of the camp there are at least two world premiers.
Now they also have youth acting Programs. For grades 2 through 12, classes are held after school twice a week.
All in all, the Ahc was full and fun. The cold was bitter and when we left to go down the road to Sundance, about half of us were nursing our first winter colds which made for an even more fun filled Sundance Film Festival…well for me at least, my low energy level was no match of the excitement of the festival this year.
- 2/2/2016
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Exclusive: Menemsha Films has taken Us rights to Alvaro Brechner’s second feature - Uruguay’s submission for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.
Mr Kaplan, which played at the Busan and London Film Festivals last month, is a dramatic comedy about an elderly Jewish man who believes he has discovered a Nazi war criminal living on the coast of Uruguay.
Menemsha founder and president Neil Friedman brokered the deal with Memento head of international sales and acquisitions Tanja Meissner.
The film is set to be released theatrically in the Us in February 2015.
Further deals have been concluded in the UK (Axiom) Spain (Avalon), Germany (Neue Visonen), Switzerland (Trigon) and Australia (Palace) as well as Greece (Feelgood), Israel (Lev), Brazil (Providence).
The film was released in Uruguay in August and is the country’s submission for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.
Mr Kaplan, which played at the Busan and London Film Festivals last month, is a dramatic comedy about an elderly Jewish man who believes he has discovered a Nazi war criminal living on the coast of Uruguay.
Menemsha founder and president Neil Friedman brokered the deal with Memento head of international sales and acquisitions Tanja Meissner.
The film is set to be released theatrically in the Us in February 2015.
Further deals have been concluded in the UK (Axiom) Spain (Avalon), Germany (Neue Visonen), Switzerland (Trigon) and Australia (Palace) as well as Greece (Feelgood), Israel (Lev), Brazil (Providence).
The film was released in Uruguay in August and is the country’s submission for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar.
- 11/24/2014
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Last year I became an advocate for a Mexican import called Nora’s Will that, I’m happy to say, is now available on DVD. It first came to my attention because I put considerable stock in Menemsha Films, the small, dedicated distributor that acquired it for U.S. release. Company founder Neil Friedman was so convinced that it would be a word-of-mouth success that he opened it in New York and Los Angeles—and did better business the second weekend than he did the first (despite a lone negative review from The New York Times. Now that the film is available for viewing…...
- 10/18/2011
- Leonard Maltin's Movie Crazy
Menemsha Films, the film distribution company founded by Neil Friedman, has acquired the North American distribution rights to the critically acclaimed documentary The Rescuers from Emmy winning director/producer Michael King and producer Joyce D. Mandell.
The Rescuers is a unique film with a powerful message. In the 20th century, over 100 million people died from genocide. The film traces the compelling journey of Stephanie Nyombayire, a young Rwandan anti-genocide activist who lost 100 members of her family in her country.s genocide in 1994. Traveling across 15 countries and three continents, Nyombayire and Sir Martin Gilbert, the renowned British historian, interview survivors and descendants of 12 non-Jewish diplomats who willingly sacrificed their careers, families, and livelihoods to go against their countries. polices to save tens of thousands of Jews from the unspeakable horrors that awaited them in the Nazi death camps. During the journey, Nyombayire discovers potential solutions for the ongoing genocide in Darfur and elsewhere.
The Rescuers is a unique film with a powerful message. In the 20th century, over 100 million people died from genocide. The film traces the compelling journey of Stephanie Nyombayire, a young Rwandan anti-genocide activist who lost 100 members of her family in her country.s genocide in 1994. Traveling across 15 countries and three continents, Nyombayire and Sir Martin Gilbert, the renowned British historian, interview survivors and descendants of 12 non-Jewish diplomats who willingly sacrificed their careers, families, and livelihoods to go against their countries. polices to save tens of thousands of Jews from the unspeakable horrors that awaited them in the Nazi death camps. During the journey, Nyombayire discovers potential solutions for the ongoing genocide in Darfur and elsewhere.
- 10/6/2011
- by Melissa Howland
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
In the Oscar documentary feature race, usually 80-90 films qualify for a shot at landing on the doc short list of 15. And when several films tackle similar themes and subjects, doc branch voters tend to pick one favorite. Take director/producer Michael King's Oscar-qualified The Rescuers, which I saw at the Ashland Film Festival, which was just acquired by Neil Friedman's Menemsha Films, which often reps doc award contenders, for North American release in theaters in early 2012. The film follows charismatic Stephanie Nyombayire, a Rwandan anti-genocide activist who lost 100 members of her family in her country’s genocide in 1994. She travels across 15 countries and three continents with Brit historian Sir Martin Gilbert to interview survivors and descendants of 12 non-Jewish diplomats who ...
- 10/6/2011
- Thompson on Hollywood
North American rights to "The Rescuers" by director Michael King have been picked up by Menemsha Films. The doc received the "Best of the Fest" award at the 2011 Palm Springs International Film Festival where it debuted in January. Full acquisition release follows: Menemsha Films, the film distribution company founded by Neil Friedman, has acquired the North American distribution rights to the critically acclaimed documentary The Rescuers from Emmy winning ...
- 10/6/2011
- Indiewire
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