Zeitgeist Films
American independent film distributor
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Zeitgeist Films is a New York-based distribution company founded in 1988 which acquires and distributes films from the U.S. and around the world.[1] In 2017, Zeitgeist entered into a multi-year strategic alliance with film distributor Kino Lorber.
Company typePrivately held company
IndustryFilm distribution
FoundedJune 1988
FoundersNancy Gerstman
Emily Russo
Emily Russo
 Zeitgeist Films logo | |
| Company type | Privately held company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Film distribution |
| Founded | June 1988 |
| Founders | Nancy Gerstman Emily Russo |
| Headquarters | New York City , United States |
Key people | Adrian Curry |
| Website | zeitgeistfilms.com |
Zeitgeist has distributed early films by directors such as Todd Haynes, Christopher Nolan, Francois Ozon, Laura Poitras, Atom Egoyan, and the Quay Brothers. Their catalog also includes filmmakers such as Marguerite von Trotta, Ken Loach, Guy Maddin, Derek Jarman, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Peter Greenaway, Yvonne Rainer, Andrei Zyvagintsev, Astra Taylor, and Raoul Peck. Previous Zeitgeist Films releases in association with Kino Lorber include Ken Loach's Sorry We Missed You, Ric Burns’ Oliver Sacks: His Own Life, and M.C. Escher: Journey to Infinity.
Five Zeitgeist films have been nominated for Academy Awards, of which Nowhere in Africa (2001) won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.[2] Their films have been featured in various film festivals including Cannes, Berlin, Sundance, Tribeca, and IDFA in Amsterdam. The Museum of Modern Art honored Zeitgeist with a month-long, 20th anniversary retrospective of their films in 2008. Founders Russo and Gerstman received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Art House Convergence in 2020.
Selected films
| Year | Title | Notes | Ref |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | Poison | Sundance Grand Jury Prize, directed by Todd Haynes | |
| 1992 | Careful | Directed by Guy Maddin | |
| 1993 | Blue | Final feature film of director Derek Jarman | |
| Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media | Featuring Noam Chomsky | ||
| 1997 | See the Sea | ||
| 2002 | Derrida | San Francisco Film Festival Golden Gate Award | |
| Nowhere in Africa | Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film | ||
| 2004 | The Corporation | ||
| 2005 | Ballets Russes | ||
| Sophie Scholl – The Final Days | Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film nominee | ||
| 2006 | Into Great Silence | Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Prize | |
| Manufactured Landscapes | |||
| My Country, My Country | Documentary about Iraq under U.S. occupation by Laura Poitras | ||
| 2007 | Billy the Kid | Winner South by Southwest Jury Prize | |
| Chris & Don: A Love Story | |||
| Jellyfish | Camera d'Or | ||
| 2008 | Examined Life | Directed by Astra Taylor, featuring Cornel West | |
| Fados | |||
| Harlan – In the Shadow of Jew Süss | |||
| Louise Bourgeois: The Spider, the Mistress and the Tangerine | |||
| Stranded: I've Come from a Plane that Crashed in the Mountains | |||
| Three Monkeys | Turkey's Academy Award submission for Best Foreign Language Film, directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Best Director Award Cannes Film Festival 2008 | ||
| Trouble the Water | Academy Award for Documentary Feature nominee | ||
| Tulpan | Kazakhstan's Academy Award submission for Best Foreign Language Film | ||
| Up the Yangtze | 2008 Best Feature Documentary San Francisco International Film Festival, 2009 Canadian Oscar Genie Award for Best Documentary, and 2008 Asian Oscar Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards for Best Documentary | ||
| 2009 | Act of God | Hot Docs Opening Night Gala | |
| Afghan Star | Sundance Film Festival People's Choice Award (the World Cinema Audience Award for a Documentary) and Best Director for a Documentary (the World Cinema Directing Award) | ||
| A Town Called Panic | Cannes Film Festival Official Selection, Fantastic Festival Audience Award | ||
| Earth Days | Sundance Film Festival Closing Night Film | ||
| The Horse Boy | Winner South by Southwest Audience Award | ||
| The Sun Behind the Clouds | Winner Palm Springs International Film Festival Best of the Fest award | ||
| 2010 | Last Train Home | Sundance Film Festival Official Selection | |
| Mid-August Lunch | Venice Film Festival Best First Film, Best Italian Film Award. London Film Festival Satyajit Ray Award | ||
| The Oath | Sundance Film Festival Best Cinematography Award: US Documentary, Berlin International Film Festival Official Selection | ||
| Vision | Toronto International Film Festival Official Selection | ||
| 2011 | Bill Cunningham New York | New Directors/New Films Festival Official Selection, Sydney Film Festival Best Documentary Film | |
| Paul Goodman Changed My Life | October 19, 2011 U.S. theatrical release date | ||
| Queen to Play | Tribeca Film Festival Official Selection, Palm Springs International Film Festival Special Mention for John Schlesinger Award for Outstanding First Feature | ||
| Something Ventured | Premiered April 24, 2011 at the San Francisco International Film Festival | ||
| The Tree | 2010 Cannes Film Festival Closing Night Film, Premiered at the 2010 Sydney Film Festival | ||
| !Women Art Revolution | Toronto International Film Festival Official Selection, Sundance Film Festival Official Selection, Berlin International Film Festival Official Selection | ||
| 2012 | China Heavyweight | January 20, 2012 premiere at Sundance Film Festival | |
| Elena | May 16, 2012 U.S. theatrical release date | ||
| Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters | October 31, 2012 U.S. theatrical release date | ||
| Koch | October 8, 2012 premiere at Hamptons International Film Festival, U.S. release in February 2013 | ||
| Let My People Go! | January 11, 2013 U.S. theatrical release date | ||
| Payback | January 20, 2012 premiere at Sundance Film Festival, U.S. release in April 2012 | ||
| The Salt of Life | March 2, 2012 U.S. theatrical release date | ||
| Uprising | December 2012 U.S. premiere and Golden Eagle winner at CINE competition | ||
| 2013 | Hannah Arendt | May 29, 2013 U.S. theatrical release date | |
| Let the Fire Burn | October 2013 U.S. theatrical release date | ||
| One Track Heart: The Story of Krishna Das | May 8, 2013 U.S. theatrical release date | ||
| The Pervert's Guide to Ideology | November 2013 U.S. theatrical release date | ||
| 2014 | Child's Pose | February 2014 U.S. theatrical release date | |
| Diplomacy | October 2014 U.S. theatrical release date | ||
| The Galapagos Affair | April 2014 U.S. theatrical release date | ||
| Rocks in My Pockets | September 2014 U.S. theatrical release date | ||
| Siddharth | June 2014 U.S. theatrical release date | ||
| Zero Motivation | December 2014 U.S. theatrical release date | ||
| 2015 | Court | July 2015 U.S. theatrical release date | |
| Every Last Child | June 2015 U.S. theatrical release date | ||
| Forbidden Films | May 2015 U.S. theatrical release date | ||
| My Friend Victoria | December 2015 U.S. theatrical release date | ||
| 2016 | A Space Program | March 2016 U.S. theatrical release date | |
| Call Her Applebroog | June 2016 U.S. theatrical release date | ||
| Don't Call Me Son | November 2016 U.S. theatrical release date | ||
| Eva Hesse | April 2016 U.S. theatrical release date | ||
| Innsaei | October 2016 U.S. theatrical release date | ||
| Old Stone | November 2016 U.S. theatrical release date | ||
| Vita Activa: The Spirit of Hannah Arendt | April 2016 U.S. theatrical release date | ||
| 2017 | Bombshell | November 2017 U.S. theatrical release date—Acquired in Partnership with Kino Lorber | |
| The Divine Order | October 2017 U.S. theatrical release date—Acquired in Partnership with Kino Lorber | ||
| Harold and Lillian: A Hollywood Love Story | April 2017 U.S. theatrical release date | ||
| 2018 | Love, Cecil | June 2018 U.S. theatrical release date—Acquired in Partnership with Kino Lorber | |
| Studio 54 | October 2018 U.S. theatrical release date—Acquired in Partnership with Kino Lorber | ||
| The Doctor from India | June 2018 U.S. theatrical release date—Acquired in Partnership with Kino Lorber | ||
| 2019 | The Garden (re-release) | May 2019 U.S. theatrical release date—Acquired in Partnership with Kino Lorber | |
| Recorder: The Marion Stokes Project | November 2019 U.S. theatrical release date—Acquired in Partnership with Kino Lorber | ||
| What Is Democracy? | January 2019 U.S. theatrical release date—Acquired in Partnership with Kino Lorber | ||
| Working Woman | March 2019 U.S. theatrical release date—Acquired in Partnership with Kino Lorber | ||
| Zen for Nothing | June 2019 U.S. theatrical release date—Acquired in Partnership with Kino Lorber | ||
| 2020 | Beyond the Visible -- Hilma af Klint | April 2020 U.S. theatrical release date—Acquired in Partnership with Kino Lorber | |
| My Wonderful Wanda | April 2020 U.S. theatrical release date—Acquired in Partnership with Kino Lorber | ||
| Sorry We Missed You | March 2020 U.S. theatrical release date—Acquired in Partnership with Kino Lorber | [3] | |
| The Woman Who Loves Giraffes | January 2020 U.S. theatrical release date—Acquired in Partnership with Kino Lorber | ||
| 2021 | Against the Current | June 2021 U.S. theatrical release date—Acquired in Partnership with Kino Lorber | |
| Hive | November 2021 U.S. theatrical release date—Acquired in Partnership with Kino Lorber | [3] | |
| In Balanchine's Classroom | September 2021 U.S. theatrical release date—Acquired in Partnership with Kino Lorber | [3] | |
| 2023 | The Old Oak | Premiered at Cannes Film Festival on May 26, 2023 (Main Competition); April 2024 U.S. theatrical release date—Acquired in Partnership with Kino Lorber |
Awards
- Trouble the Water – 2008 Academy Award Nominee for Best Documentary Feature
- Tulpan – Kazakhstan's 2009 Academy Award submission for Best Foreign Language Film
- Three Monkeys – Turkey's 2009 Academy Award submission for Best Foreign Language Film
- Into Great Silence – 2006 Sundance Special Jury Prize
- Nowhere in Africa – 2002 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
- Sophie Scholl – The Final Days – 2005 Academy Award nominee for Best Foreign Language Film
- Taste of Cherry – 1997 Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival
- Poison – 1991 Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner
- The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1996 re-release) – Academy Award nominee, Palme d'Or winner (1964)